[Goose]

I think it is important to realize that there is no "right answer" to the question "Should sport X exist at Stanford?". If all sports were removed from Stanford, it would still exist and be just fine as a University. It also can be argued that if there are people who want to participate then having sports at at least the intramural or club level is probably unavoidable, as people will form teams even if the University doesn't participate. When one gets into the area of Stanford University supporting teams financially with resources obtained for that purpose we enter a different argument space. When we add any form of admissions preference to sports participation the space changes yet again. These discussions are complex and lead in general to no completely accepted policy. Some sports we spend money on and recruit people who otherwise may not get in. Other sports we spend a little money and almost no preference on. Some sports we don't have at all. Lots of room for discussion here.

However, if we start talking about dropping or keeping a given sport because of the perceived value by the general public of the people who play that sport we are entering a fantasyland IMHO. The general public doesn't know or care if Stanford has a sailing team or a wrestling team (as many people have lamented over the years). The fact that a certain demographic may or may not gain admission advantage there is equally irrelevant to most people. There is enough fuel for discussion without going into these weeds. If the AD and the BoT seriously are looking at this area as definitive they are well off the track IMHO. The other controversies are quite enough. This argument is a red herring.

[Goose]

I think it is important to realize that there is no "right answer" to the question "Should sport X exist at Stanford?". If all sports were removed from Stanford, it would still exist and be just fine as a University. It also can be argued that if there are people who want to participate then having sports at at least the intramural or club level is probably unavoidable, as people will form teams even if the University doesn't participate. When one gets into the area of Stanford University supporting teams financially with resources obtained for that purpose we enter a different argument space. When we add any form of admissions preference to sports participation the space changes yet again. These discussions are complex and lead in general to no completely accepted policy. Some sports we spend money on and recruit people who otherwise may not get in. Other sports we spend a little money and almost no preference on. Some sports we don't have at all. Lots of room for discussion here.

However, if we start talking about dropping or keeping a given sport because of the perceived value by the general public of the people who play that sport we are entering a fantasyland IMHO. The general public doesn't know or care if Stanford has a sailing team or a wrestling team (as many people have lamented over the years). The fact that a certain demographic may or may not gain admission advantage there is equally irrelevant to most people. There is enough fuel for discussion without going into these weeds. If the AD and the BoT seriously are looking at this area as definitive they are well off the track IMHO. The other controversies are quite enough. This argument is a red herring.