Dear Editor:
What is the purpose of a university? Apparently, there are many different views on this, but I believe that everyone can agree that the chief purpose of a university is to provide the best quality of education to its students. The best evidence for this is the fact that we receive embossed pieces of paper that we use to get better opportunities in the job market.
However, some die hard football fans seem to think that this one sport is so important to ETSU that I was just asked if I would be willing to pay $50 to $125 per semester to reinstate the football program. I am insulted and livid. I am willing to pay an extra $50 to $125 dollars per semester to help fund any academic program. I am willing to pay for improvements to ETSU’s buildings. I am willing to help fund art programs. I am willing to fund anything that would further enrich the atmosphere of higher education that hovers over ETSU. I would even be willing to help ETSU purchase something as practical as a parking garage. But I am NOT willing to pay for a program that will ultimately cost the university money and not provide any academic rewards to the participants or student body.
Tennessee now has the Hope Scholarship, so the argument that the football program would be providing an opportunity to underprivileged students is a moot point. Plus, whoever correlated the ability of an individual to catch a ball and bump into other people with academic ability had obviously taken too many tackles himself.
If the people that want football to return to ETSU can raise enough funds to fully reinstate the program on their own, and continue to fund the program without ETSU students having to pay for it, then by all means let them return it to ETSU.
However, the main concern of ETSU should always lie first and foremost with education.
In 20 years, no one remembers who caught what pass, but everyone thanks their lucky stars that they got their degrees.
Hagan Hensley

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