Thu 22 Jun 2006
Three years ago it was a feat so rare it had never been accomplished.
Now, it’s been three years since it hasn’t been done.
Williams College was awarded the U.S. Sports Academy Directors’ Cup presented by NACDA for the academic year 2005-2006. It is the eighth straight Directors’ Cup for the Ephs, whose athletic program has won 10 of the 11 Directors’ Cups awarded at the Division III level.
That has allowed the Ephs to be deemed No. 1 nationally both in academics (U.S. News & World Report) and athletics (Directors’ Cup) for the third consecutive year — a feat which had never been done by any other of the 1,053 NCAA member institutions at any level before Williams accomplished it during the 2003-2004 year.
Thanks to Dick Quinn for the tip. Note that I was sceptical that the Williams streak would continue, given the decreased emphasis on athletic excellence in admissions. I was wrong.
Congratulations to all.
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:08 pm
Give it some time.
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:10 pm
The reason Williams will consistently win the “Sears Cup” is that they are carried by the Women’s sports teams and the Men’s Individual sports teams. Check out the scoring.
http://nacda.cstv.com/sports/directorscup/spec-rel/061906aah.html
The decreased emphasis on athletics really only falls on Men’s TEAM sports like football, hockey, baseball, lacrosse, and basketball. None of these teams scored for Williams in the cup standings. Wrestling and soccer were the lone teams to score. Admissions believes the Men’s teams cause most of the problems around campus and you can see that the teams are getting worse but the problems still remain.
Anyway, congrats to the women’s teams once again for carrying Williams to another cup.
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:12 pm
The previous link was only the Spring scoring. Please see below for the season breakdowns.
http://nacda.cstv.com/directorscup/nacda-directorscup-current-scoring.html
June 22nd, 2006 at 5:06 pm
I don’t really know how else to post this, but I just saw this article in the NYTimes that realyl reminded me of some of the issues we see at Williams (which I think David is really right in pointing out) regarding alumni participation (or hobbled participation) in the ‘election’ of individuals to governing boards.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/21/education/21dartmouth.html?ex=1151121600&en=418d2c73d3cebc06&ei=5087%0A
June 21, 2006
Dartmouth Alumni Battles Become a Spectator Sport
By DIANA JEAN SCHEMO
HANOVER, N.H. — Back when Daniel Webster, class of 1801, defeated an attempt by the governor to take control of the Dartmouth College board, his argument before the Supreme Court gave rise to a line famous among Dartmouth students: “It is, sir, as I have said, a small college. And yet there are those who love it.”
Now those passions for the Ivy League institution have it embroiled in a new and bitter battle over its board, this time pitting alumni critical of the college against loyalists who have risen through the ranks of the Alumni Association.
The fracas has drawn the attention of conservative bloggers and publications all over the country.
It began when candidates for the governing board of trustees endorsed by the Alumni Association were unexpectedly defeated two years in a row by outsiders who got on the ballot by petition. The outsiders accused the college administration of sacrificing free speech to political correctness and of abandoning Dartmouth’s historical focus on undergraduates to turn it into a “junior varsity Harvard.”
June 22nd, 2006 at 6:02 pm
Love the “junior varsity Harvard” line. When one of my sons attended Williams in the early to mid-1980s he accused the administration of desiring to turn Williams into MIT West.