Darthmouth Athletics PDF Download

The first class I took in the MALS program was Oral History in Theory and Practice. Not only was the genre of oral history new to me, but this was also the first time I had been in a classroom in nearly a decade. Needless to say, I wasn't sure what to expect. To my surprise, I discovered that my natural curiosity to learn about the past through first-hand accounts was ideally suited to the field of oral history, where one tells a story through the words of others. Equally surprising was that Professors Harvey and Myrna Frommer were excited about my role in the athletic department and they encouraged me to explore a final project that related to my career. As a result, I chose to tell the story of the 1970 Dartmouth football team. On the surface, it was a tale about one of the greatest seasons in the history of the College. But I recognized that the story went much deeper than the limited scope I was permitted for a class project and I wanted to learn more. What I found most fascinating was the behind-the-scenes decision making that proved instrumental to the team's success on the field. As an aspiring athletic director, I wanted to further explore the topic and learn more about building a great team, a great department, and a great experience for young men and women. But I wanted to do so at an institution that places tremendous value on the undergraduate education - a seemingly rare combination these days. My thesis explores the idea that it is indeed possible to have both a successful Division I athletic program and high academic standards. Using Dartmouth as an exemplar of this balance, I interviewed coaches, administrators, admissions officers, faculty members and student-athletes and explored both the process of running a program effectively as well as the philosophical underpinning necessary to maintain the proper academic-athletic balance. I hope this work will grant the reader a behind-the-scenes look at the struggles necessary to achieve an ideal that in some respects may be considered a dying notion.