Should Student Athletes Be Paid?

Topic: Should student athletes be paid

General Purpose: To persuade

Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience about the numerous complications with paying student athletes.

Hook: In the United States, over 100,000 collegiate student-athletes annually participate in a variety of sports and currently do not receive paychecks for their performances. The question of whether or not college athletes should be paid has been the subject of much controversy. To preserve the integrity of collegiate athletics, the answer must be no.

Thesis: student athletes should not get paid because they have the obligation to be a student first and an athlete second. Everyone comes to college to get an education, so therefore that should be the main goal of the college or university. Institutions would be sending the wrong message if they promoted athletics over academics and it also would not be fair to cater to student athletes, leaving out the majority of all the other students. Also, college athletes already get more assistance from the institution, both academically and financially. Student athletes can receive academic and athletic scholarships and they are also entitled to tutors to help them in all of their classes. Another question that arises from this issue is that if we were to pay students athletes, what would make them different from professional athletes.

Claim 1: The main reason colleges exist is to allow people the chance to obtain a higher level of education and earn a degree.

Evidence: Just as other students are involved in clubs or groups, athletes play sports. Those students are students first and members of extracurricular clubs second.

Warrant: Some might argue that the only reason they can pay for college is through sports and getting results athletically.

Refute: While that may seem true initially, Student athletes have to uphold serious grade point averages and put in a lot of hours into studying in order to keep those scholarships. Just because they got an initial athletic scholarship does not mean the school will keep them if their grades slip. Dr. Steve Chen, a professor in Sport Management at Morehead University and writer of “Should Student-Athletes Get Paid”, feels the same way when it comes to paying college athletes. Chen believes that a college’s primary objective is to provide students with a quality education that prepares them to be equipped with the tools to succeed in the real world. Paying athletes would take too much attention away from the education and defeat the purpose of higher learning.

Transition: Another reason on why student athletes shouldn’t get paid is

Claim2: college athletes already get more assistance from the institution, both academically and financially

Evidence: Many full-ride athletes receive everything they need to succeed in the classroom and on the field. They can receive everything from free books, room, board, and special academic advising. Most athletes will have team only apparel, like hoodies, sweatshirts, warm-ups, book bags, and sometimes even shoes. They receive all of this free of charge. In addition to all of this, athletes will eat only the best food available.