As an athlete who went through the intensive recruiting process at Georgetown University, I can assure you that stereotypes about student-athletes being accepted solely to play a sport are simply untrue. These misperceptions are an inaccurate standard to measure the qualifications or abilities of Hoya athletes. Though incredibly common in today’s society and on Georgetown’s campus, such stereotypes are ultimately unhelpful and even divisive when taken as truth. While sporting ability certainly can impact how an athlete makes their way to the Hilltop, student-athletes are still held to rigorous academic standards in order to be accepted and allowed to commit.
Making any community at Georgetown feel as though they are less deserving of being on campus is hurtful and unacceptable. I call on all members of the Georgetown community to resist stereotyping each other — regardless of what the stereotype is about.
The academic baseline for recruited athletes is, to be clear, lowered — but it is not far off from the academic standard for all applicants. Considering that student-athletes sacrifice dozens of hours of time each week in high school to travel to tournaments or games, practice regularly and find ways to build their rankings in order to be considered a suitable recruit, a slightly lowered standard is clearly a balancing mechanism rather than an advantage.
In my case, I’ve spent the last decade missing holidays and playing in tennis tournaments around the country all summer to make up for missed playing time during the school year. I spent one Thanksgiving at a Waffle House in Dayton, Ohio with my parents while playing in a national-level tournament. Some players I know were homeschooled in order to achieve a higher level of tennis while still balancing academics. Amid all these sacrifices, I remained committed to my studies. And from my experience at Georgetown, I know that my teammates are also academically-motivated individuals. This is why each of our players were not only accepted to Georgetown but thrive academically — with an average team GPA of 3.79 in Fall 2023, our athletic and academic standards are quite high.
When I underwent the recruiting process, one of the first things my coach asked me for was my high school transcript and SAT score so he could send them to admissions and see if my scores were high enough to be accepted as a student. We could not move forward in the recruiting process until he got the approval from admissions to recruit me.
Once I was accepted into the school and arrived on campus for my first year, I was made aware that the NCAA had its own academic regulations. However, my team decided to raise the academic standard above the NCAA’s baseline. In order to play in upcoming matches, players on Georgetown’s women’s tennis team must have a minimum 3.3 GPA. Many teams on campus have a similar rule in order to hold themselves to high academic standards in addition to high athletic standards. It is my strong belief that not only every student-athlete, but every student deserves to be at Georgetown academically.
Stereotypes appear in all aspects of life outside of this example and should not be taken at face value. It is important to teach yourself that not everything you hear is true. It’s like the saying goes: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Don’t immediately judge someone based on a stereotype regarding their race, gender, religion or athletic status.
Ashley Kennedy is a sophomore in the School of Health. This is the third installment of her column “Athlete’s Corner.”
