“The List” revisited

By Val Henderson

The Stanford Athletic department was recently put under scrutiny when The Stanford Daily produced an article discussing “The list,” a catalog of supposedly easy classes that the Athletic Academic Resource Center made available to student-athletes for years. According to the article: “Stanford officials said the list was designed to accommodate athletes’ demanding schedules and disputed that the list was made up of easy courses,” however the article insinuates otherwise. Most notably, the article quotes Professor Donald Barr as having said: “(Stanford) accommodates athletes in the manner that they accommodate students with disabilities.”

Since the article’s publication, there have been countless responses as to the purpose and meaning of this list, entitled “Courses of Interest.” The validity of the information used in the article has been challenged, including Professor Barr’s claim that he was “egregiously misquoted,” but the integrity of the student-athlete experience has been put under critical review all the same.

In order to get some truths behind ‘the list’ as well as an honest view of the student-athlete experience at Stanford, I interviewed Marisa Abegg and Ali Riley, two former Stanford soccer players. These two women are prime examples of world-class athletes who had amazing collegiate soccer careers while keeping their academics a priority. (more…)

March 23, 2011 | Categories: OGM Extras | Tags: Ali Riley, Donald Barr, FC Gold Pride, Marisa Abegg, Stanford, The List, Washington Freedom, WNY Flash | Leave A Comment »