The average graduation success rate for African-American football players at the bowl-bound schools is 65 percent, compared to 84 percent for whites, according to the annual report released Monday by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.
Richard Lapchick, principal author of the study and director of TIDES, says that the disparity is largely a reflection of the lack of quality education African-American players are receiving as adolescents.
“The news is really about America’s problem of solving the disparities between African-Americans and Whites in society,” Lapchick says. “Things like graduation rates keep getting better for both African-Americans and Whites but that gap (between them) can take the heart out of the good news about the improvement.”
Lapchick says the lack of quality education in primary and secondary level school systems is a major part of the problem.
“They get behind and it makes it tough for them to catch up in college,” he says.
Lapchick points out the most disturbing fact of the study is only 37 percent of the bowl-bound schools graduated 66 percent or more of African-American student-athletes. However, 99 percent of those same schools graduated at least 66 percent of White students.
