 | | | Dale Knobel
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AS NCAA DIVISION III ATHLETICS continue to grow, Denison President Dale Knobel wants to make sure priorities of the division still focus on the student first and athlete second. After speaking before a capacity crowd at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Convention in Washington, D.C., he’s assured that others are just as interested.
Knobel was on a panel featuring Division III coaches and athletes titled “Academics, Athletics and Today’s Sports Culture: Expectation and Realities,” and the session drew more than 500 people.
“For several years now, Division III has been going through a re-examination of itself because it has gotten so large,” Knobel said. “The question is: How do we retain the fundamental values of the division? It’s an important topic to deal with.”
Knobel, also the North Coast Athletic Conference president, reiterated that all Division III participants are non-scholarship athletes, meaning the focus should be on academics first. It’s an issue that deserves attention more than ever, with Division III closing in on 450 schools, by far the biggest division in the NCAA.
Some schools as large as 30,000 students and some as small as 500 are in the division, along with nationally recognized selective colleges like Denison. But Knobel believes where the first priority lies with each athlete must not be forgotten during this period of growth.
“I am concerned about Division III as we take in more colleges,” Knobel said. “The membership is becoming more diverse, and each has different views in the role athletics plays. The danger in that is we could pull away from our values.”
 Knobel is adamant about not adding things like redshirting to Division III, saying the focus should be on academics and graduating in four years.
But he also knows athletics play a major role in Division III, perhaps more than some realize. He talked about the opportunity to play a sport -- Denison offers 23 different sports -- at a high level while also getting a full and broad college experience. Of Denison’s 2,050 students, almost 550 participate in a varsity sport. To compare, only 900 of Ohio State’s 55,000 students compete in an NCAA-sponsored sport.
“For Denison, in a way, athletics is even more important,” Knobel said. “It is much of the student body, so it is critical we do it right.”
Doing it right in Division III means athletes are given the same opportunities as other students. Knobel said that requires vigilance on his part, with a focus on making sure the athletes admitted to the school have the same academic range as other students.
Other key items Knobel said each Division III school should be studying constantly range from looking at grades and progression to their degree, their majors and opportunities to study abroad.
“If you don’t ask those questions, differences can sneak up on you,” he said. “My message was, integration of the student-athlete is alive and well in Division III, but we can’t take it for granted.”
Knobel said it’s also important to make sure investments in athletic facilities aren’t more than other facilities.
But he also knows plenty about the importance of Division III athletics.
He talked glowingly of Denison’s broad base of programs and the opportunity it provides to be true student-athletes.
“They should be fully integrated into all the other learning activities of the college,” Knobel said. “We don’t create special privileges for those students, and we try to stick with that. With the sports-crazy culture of the United States, there are constant pressures to be like Division I.
“The goal is to provide as many opportunities for as many people in both genders.”
This story appeared in The Newark Advocate and was written by Josh Hachat, Advocate Sports Writer. It is reprinted with permission.
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