Step up to plate, NWACC
As a former Northwest Arkansas Community College student and faculty member, I was very excited to listen to the Sanctioned Sports Committee’s report to the NWACC board of trustees last Monday afternoon. The report stated NWACC could field intercollegiate teams for men’s baseball, women’s volleyball, and women’s fast pitch softball without requiring financial support provided by the college.
Each year, there are thousands of athletes who graduate from high school and decide to attend community colleges to see if they can compete in sports at the junior college level. Most of these student-athletes graduate with an associate degree, continue their education at a four-year college or university, and become future leaders.
NWACC’s founding president, Bob Burns, did an excellent job of starting our community college. But NWACC is not the same institution it was back in 1989. Over the last three years, enrollment at the college has declined from 8,500 to 7,200. The declining enrollment can be reversed, at least in part, by recruiting a new kind of student — “the student-athlete.”
Many people in Northwest Arkansas believe this is the ideal time to implement an intercollegiate sports program for talented athletes who have finished high school. Some of these athletes are recent graduates while others have completed one or more tours of duty in our armed forces. Unfortunately, many gifted athletes leave Northwest Arkansas to attend other community colleges that have intercollegiate athletic programs. College administrators across the country understand that college sports are the “front porch” of their school and are one of the first things many students notice when visiting college campuses.
A program that features intercollegiate baseball, volleyball, and softball will help market NWACC and aid in recruiting new financial contributors for the college. The three sports already have the community interest and support to compete in and succeed at the junior college level. Adding intercollegiate sports will make NWACC a more complete college and will help put NWACC on the regional and national map. NWACC already has fine music, arts and drama departments. Adding sports at a higher level would complement, not replace, these programs.
The sports program will be funded by donors from the community and not the college. Frankly, I don’t see a problem with this. Intercollegiate baseball, volleyball and softball at NWACC will be a “win-win-win” proposition. A win for our students, our college and our community.
DR. RICK HEBAR
Bella Vista
letters@nwadg.com