The North Carolina General Assembly set a dangerous precedent during the last session by slipping in a provision at the last hour that funds 20 athletic scholarships at all 10 historically black colleges, public and private, in North Carolina.
This provision, worth $500,000, was inserted into the budget by Sen. Charles Dannelly of Charlotte, and each individual scholarship will be worth $1,250. The provision states that athletes will have to show outstanding leadership and meet high academic standards to qualify for the scholarship. Wanting to get past the idea that athletes are only strong, brawny and dumb individuals has been a justification from Dannelly when he has been asked about his 11th-hour scholarship provision.
With all due respect to the athletes and schools that will receive these scholarships, the way Dannelly handled this provision is reminiscent of how former Speaker of the House Jim Black used to operate. Without debate, he would add bills benefiting a few groups at the last minute. Dannelly’s provision was literally slipped in at the last hour — most members of the General Assembly didn’t even realize the provision was in the budget until they already voted. Had this provision been debated in committee, it would have never been included in the budget.
North Carolina taxpayers should not be funding athletic scholarships until every single academic need is met. Yes, athletics are wonderful to watch and I love college football and basketball more than anything else, but the UNC System’s primary mission is to educate and develop its students — not fund athletic endeavors, which should be left to private athletic booster organizations.
Rather than giving special groups small scholarships, North Carolina needs to provide its resident students with a merit-based award such as the HOPE Scholarship in Georgia. With a lottery that provides a mere drop in the bucket to most counties for construction costs and class-size reduction programs, the government could easily change the formula and put lottery money toward tangible results in the UNC System.
Unfortunately, the North Carolina government is controlled by Democrats who seem to be more interested in keeping themselves in power by funding special projects in their districts and special provisions to keep constituents happy.
The goal of North Carolina’s budget is not to defeat a stereotype that athletes are “strong, brawny and dumb” but instead to provide for the general welfare of its people. Until a real class of leaders step up to the plate, Democrats or Republicans, we’re going to continue to see money wasted on special projects such as Dannelly’s athletic scholarship fund.
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