Have Universities Sold Their Souls to the Devil: The Unacceptable Costs of Prioritizing Athletics over Academics

The article will examine what it means “to win” in today’s university sporting world and what the prize to be won is. In examining how the meaning of winning has changed over time, the article will look particularly at some of the indirect or hidden costs of achieving athletic excellence in today’s highly competitive college sports. Ultimately, this article poses and attempts to answer the question: at what point does the cost to student athletes’ health and safety become too high to justify the prize of “winning”?