Students to Debate De-Emphasis of Football
STUDENTS at Linfield College of McMinnville, Ore., have been engaging in a series of debates in recent weeks over a complete de-emphasis of football at Linfield. Dr. Harry Dillin, president of Linfield, described the debates as part of “the quiet revolution” taking place at Linfield and other colleges pointing toward greater de-emphasis in collegiate Sports. Linfield, with 500 students, is a member of the Northwest Conference.
The student debates grew out of a move to shift a greater part of the cost of athletics from the students to the college administration. Paul Little, student-body president, said 57 per cent of the student activities fee, $17 a semester, foes into the men’s athletic fund, mostly for football. Of this $2, which is matched by the college administration money, goes to pay the annual deficit, estimated at $2,000, and attributed mainly to football. The de-emphasis move is aimed at bringing down the cost of athletics nearer to the amount allowed for other extracurricular activities.
Linfield won two football games and lost three in the past season, ending fourth in the six-member Northwest Conference.
