Cory Hersh

Qualitative Study on The Experience of Bucknell Student-Athletes

Abstract:

Minority student-athletes have drastically different collegiate experiences than their non-

athlete counterparts, especially at a small and private liberal arts university like Bucknell. This

qualitative study, based on interviews with five individuals, highlights important inequalities

between the lives of minority student-athletes and those of their peers. A series of questions

were created preemptively in order to guide interviews, but research participants were allowed to

guide the interview, to some extent, towards topics of their own interest. After transcription and

coding of the interviews, a few important themes revealed themselves about life at Bucknell for

the interviewees. Research participants noticed a favorable inequality in relationships with

professors to those of their peers, a perceived difficulty in making friends and connections

outside of their realm of comfort (race or sports team), the need to join Greek life in order to be

accepted socially, and a feeling of being misunderstood due to the lack of diversity in attendance

at Bucknell. A difference in backgrounds (private or public high schools, area they grew up in,

etc.) also influenced the participants in their perceived acclimation to the culture at Bucknell.

This qualitative study gives insight into the important cultural and educational inequalities of

being a minority as well as a student athlete at Bucknell University.

Participants and Interview Process:

I made an effort to interview people of different backgrounds whether that meant that

they played different sports, were of different minorities, or were of different genders. I was,
however, limited by the people available and willing to participate as well as my own comfort

level. I first reached out to minority student athletes with whom I was already friendly or

familiar with. After interviewing them, I asked them whether they knew of any other athletes

that they could point me towards that would be willing to participate in such a study. The

resulting study focuses on five participants (all participants names have been changed to protect

their identities):

1. Sam: Sam is an African-American male who is a junior at Bucknell University. He is

from Cleveland, Ohio and plays wide receiver on the football team. While originally

recruited to both run track and play football, his football coaches have prohibited his

participation in track activities due to the possibility of getting injured. Sam went to a

public high school where there was a variety of diversity, including that of race and

socioeconomic status.
2. Carlos: Carlos is a Brazilian male and a junior at Bucknell University. He was

recruited to be a member of Bucknells Mens Club/Varsity Crew Team. Carlos

rowed throughout high school and came to Bucknell to continue doing so. He comes

from a relatively wealthy family and frequently travels back to Brazil to visit his

family on college breaks. He did go to a public high school in Connecticut, however,

before ultimately attending Bucknell. His public high school was relatively non-

diverse and had a majority of white students.

3. Darren: Darren is an African-American male who is a sophomore at Bucknell

University. Darren is a special teams member on the football team and is originally

from Shaker Heights, Ohio. Darren comes from a modest backround and went to a

very diverse public high school.

4. Brittany: Brittany is an African-American female who is a setter on the Bucknell

Womens Volleyball team. She is a Senior from Virginia and went to a diverse public
 high school before transferring to a private school for her final two years before

attending Bucknell.
5. Rachel: Rachel is an African-Canadian female who is a right side hitter on the

Bucknell Womens Volleyball team. She is a Junior at Bucknell University and

attended a private Catholic high school in Canada before attending Bucknell.

By trying my best to switch up some aspect of my interviewees experiences, I hoped to

get either a more complete picture of what being a minority student-athlete is like and to get

individualized accounts based on their unique backgrounds. Based on an individuals

upbringing, sport of choice, gender, personality, race, etc. their experience here at Bucknell could

be drastically different. Even participants who had relatively similar backgrounds could have

had a variety of diverse experiences. Moreover, this study was designed to provide insight into

the distinctive experiences of minority student-athletes on the campus of Bucknell University.

All the interviews that I conducted utilized the same basic line of questioning chosen

beforehand to direct the discussion in a general direction. The discussion would begin with

basics regarding what sport the research participants played and where they were from in order

to create a level of relative comfort. After creating a comfortable base for which the

conversation could stem, questions began delving into more difficult and personal topics such as

racial and social inequality. These interviews ranged from 29 to 45 minutes. If the interviewee

was willing to open up and share a lot without a lot of prodding, usually the sessions went a lot

more smoothly and lasted longer, whereas interviewees who felt less comfortable required more

questioning and often gave less elongated responses.

Interviews were audio recorded so that I could go back, listen, transcribe and code them

after the interview had concluded. Coding included reading through the transcribed material and

making thematic notes. I attempted to normalize these notes as much as I could in order to
discern patterns amongst my findings across the board with all of my interview sessions. When I

went back through my coding for all my interviews, I was then able to find a few common

themes that each interview touched upon and examine them in the discussion portion of my

study in relation to my original question: what is the experience of a Bucknell minority student-

athlete like?

Findings and Discussion:

My findings are outlined thematically and incorporate parts of each participants

background and story in relation to reoccurring themes. I believe this approach will better

display the important similarities, and differences, in the lives of minority student-athletes that I

found.

Educational Inequalities?

While not all of the interviewees viewed it in the same way, almost all of them said that

they had witnessed or experienced some sort of educational bias based on their athletic status to

some extent.

In my interview with Darren, he focused a lot on his relationships with professors inside

and outside of the classroom. He thought that both being an athlete and being a minority had a

definite effect on the way he was treated and also perceived by his professors. Darren viewed

these inconsistencies in treatment as mostly positive, but did note that they existed. For example,

he said, they notice that youre an athlete and they mention sometimes in class, you know, they

use you as the examplefor certain things, so yeah I mean, but its never in a bad wayits

always, if anything its always helping me outthat they notice that Im a athlete. Moreover,
while he didnt have a problem with it, he admitted that he has been singled out in class for being

an athlete and sometimes asked for his perspective on something because of his race. Some

minority student-athletes might have a problem with being singled out in such a way, but Darren

did not. He also mentioned that he thought professors were more likely to extend a due date or

help an athlete in office hours because they understand the time constraints and responsibilities

that the athletes have in addition to the classes they take.

Like Darren, who said that he believed professors would lend a helping hand to an athlete

more often than they would to a non-athlete, Rachel said that she felt teachers were more

accommodating. With that being said, she did not have a positive view of this inequality.

Sometimes I feel likeI dont know, what about my situation makes me deserve this

more than someone else? Im sure other kidsother non-athletes have just as good of an excuse

as me to miss class or not be able to do homeworkI dont think its fair

While Darren viewed the extra willingness to help from professors as an accommodation

for the added stresses of being an athlete, Rachel seems to think that she shouldnt be offered a

handicap just because she plays a sport. Rather, she believed everyone has things that take up

time on any given day so everyone should be on the same level. It was surprising for me to hear

this from her because it does seem obvious that athletes have less time to offer to their work than

other students just because of the nature of their schedules. Furthermore, successful student-

athletes tend to be those that are excellent at time management simply because of the unequal

amount of free time they have to devote to home work and studying.
 That aspect of time management and the constraints placed on athletes was also

something that the participants all brought up repeatedly. Sam noted that the time that he needs

to devote to being on the football team ends up being a large factor in most if not all of his

decisions. While regular college students may have time to devote to extracurriculars of their

choosing, athletes must utilize most of their free time for work that other students may have

done already because they do not have athletic practice. Sams statement that football factors

into all of his decisions is a direct result of the amount of time he does not have due to being a

participant on the team.

Carlos came to Bucknell to row because he wanted to play a sport at the collegiate level,

but did not want it to consume his entire life. Thus, he decided to come to Bucknell where he

was recruited to row in a Division 3 (Crew at Bucknell is Division 3, rather than Division 1 like

the rest of the sports teams) program that would allow him to compete at a high level, but also

maintain a life outside of athletics. While Carlos mentioned, just like every other athlete, that

time constraints made things more difficult for him than the average student, he believed that the

demands of a Division 3 sport that didnt practice year-round were much less than that of other

sports teams. With that being said, Carlos was one of only a few recruits and was immediately

pulled to the varsity team instead of rowing with the other freshmen. With that added

responsibility, he noted that more of his time was devoted to crew than some of the other guys

and he had to learn more time management skills. Carlos added that he was thankful for the

added time constraints now because he has learned how to budget his time better as a result of

having less of it to do homework and hang out with friends.

Making Friends Outside of Realm of Comfort

 The minority student athletes interviewed also noted that they felt it was much easier to

make friends within either their race or sports team on Bucknells campus. For many, as a result

of spending the majority of time with their teams, they made their collegiate friendships on their

teams or through athletics.

Sam repeatedly said it was difficult to make friends and form meaningful relationships

with people who didnt also play a sport on this campus and he gave multiple reasons. First off,

he relayed that athletes and non-athletes honestly just have different interests and while you

have your occasional friend here and thereits just tough to find friends that you wanna hang

out with that have the same interests as you. Sam said that while athletes are concerned with

school and practice, other students simply have to focus on school and otherwise can choose

what they are interested in doing. Athletes dont really have the time to search for other niches

that they might be interested in so they dont really mingle with non-athletes that often. This

lack of interest and general apathy on both sides (athletes and non-athletes) seems to perpetuate a

type of segregation on this campus.

In terms of the relationships he forms, he says that its easier and more comfortable to

find friends on sports teams because they understand the time constraints better than non-athletes

do and are simply around each other more often whether that be in practice, during regular meal

times, etc. In terms of making friends on the football team specifically, Sam assured me that his

best friends at Bucknell were on the football team.

since I see them every day for about four/ five hours a day, you gotta like those people,

you gotta love em, cause if you dont then youre just gonna be miserable.
 What Sam said really made me think about how little interaction there is between athletes

and non-athletes. If he truly believes that he would be miserable if he didnt get along with his

teammates, it can be gathered that he believes he wouldnt have many meaningful relationships

otherwise. He even mentioned that his friends and relationships outside of athletics usually were

still related to sports anyways. For example, he said that he had friends in the pep band and also

Greek life because certain members of the team were involved in fraternities. Without the outlets

that football gave Sam to branch out and form non-athletic relationships, his experiences could

have been more limited had he not made friends on the team to begin with.

While Darren said he definitely noticed that it was difficult to make relationships outside

of the football team, he didnt seem to see at as much of a problem, unlike Sam. Darren seemed

to think it was only natural and fair that the football players tended to get along better with each

other than non-athletes.

I think we just find more things in common whether its our passion for sports or the

type of communities we come from, the type of schooling we went through or, you know, things

like that, the areas we grew up in so I just think we tend to be with each other, its just more

comfortable that way.

Darren also explained that he thinks theres a maturity difference between the athletes and

non-athletes. He posited that athletes, through their sports and responsibilities, have learned

discipline, respect, time management and other useful skills that non-athletes just havent needed

to learn to the same extent. With those inequalities in maturity levels, at least as he perceives

them, he believes it is hard for athletes and non-athletes to mingle effectively. In other words, at
least some portion of the separation between athletes and non-athletes at this school is self-

imposed by the athletes. Darren obviously believes that if athletes truly wanted to branch out

they would, but they just have different interests and would rather clump together than branch

out.

Carlos also seemed to have a different relationship with the Bucknell community as a

whole than Sam. He didnt care that Bucknell wasnt the most diverse school and said,

Bucknell is a good school with good academics and good programs and a good crew team and

that was the biggest thing for meif there were 100% Brazilian students or 100% white

students, 100% whatever, that wouldnt have been a huge determining factor. The fact that,

right off the bat Carlos had a different perception of the rest of campus might have had

something to do with the experiences that Carlos has had in his life. Sam viewed the schools

undiversified nature as a negative from the beginning and couldnt bring himself to see past it as

a problem, whereas Carlos seemed to brush it off and wanted to focus on things that he believed

mattered more.

Carlos also seemed to have a positive view about being a minority at a school with such

an undiversified majority. When I asked him about making friends and forming relationships

with other minorities and non-minorities he had this to say:

I think its easier to make friends that are minorities because they kind of like, have gone

through the same thing that you have gone through. I think its kind of like a new territory for

them, like a newthey never really lived in the U.S. for this longfor me its different cause I

lived in the U.S. for a while, but I can still kinda relate to them cause myall my family is in

Latin America so whenever I go back home I have to go visit themI have gone to the airport
with some of these minority studentsand so its nice cause you have an underlying connection

withto each otherand even if like thats the only connection we have, we can kind of build off

on that and Ive done that a couple times, especially my freshman year when I first got hereI

met a bunch of minority friends, Ive met some kids from like, all over Latin America, some

European students as welland with the Bucknell students who arent minority students, I think

making friends with them is the same thingand ifand for some people its differenteasier

than otherssome minority students Ive talked to have easily made friends with allstudents of

all different colors, all different home townsother minority students have really struggled

making friends cause theyre so different, but I think all in all making friends at Bucknell is, is

more or less pretty straightforwardcause there are so many different outlets

For Carlos, as an outgoing and friendly person, he has found being a minority not to

hinder his abilities to make friends, but rather aid him in making more meaningful connections.

He is quickly able to form relationships with other minority students, especially those with

similar Latin American backgrounds, due to shared experiences. However, he also feels that his

unique-ness as a minority student allows him to bridge gaps between himself and the majority of

Bucknells student population.

Brittany actually mentioned some initial problems with forming relationships on the

volleyball team, which I thought was interesting in relation to what the other athletes had said.

In all of my other interviews, the participants mentioned that the only times that they truly felt

comfortable were when they were with their teammates who accepted them for who they were.

Brittany had a different experience at least to begin with and explained that the volleyball team is
relatively non-diverse and more representative of the Bucknell population than many of the other

teams.

I did kind of have a disconnect with my teammates thats in my class year my freshman

year, partially because I was shy, but I dont know just since I was like the only black girl out of

the four of them and they just kept, I dont know, they justwere always trying to socialize and

socialize with people I didnt really care about or justI dont know, justI dont know, do stuff

where I would be like the only, I guess, black girl present in that group of friends or things like

that

It is interesting to look at how race plays a role on the volleyball team, whereas on the

other athletic teams, interviewees told me about how the diversity on their teams allowed them to

have an outlet for diversity and feel as though they belonged and could be entirely themeselves.

The volleyball team being so similar to the rest of the school didnt offer Brittany that escape that

the others experienced and actually ended up creating more problems for her, at least at first.

She assured me that things are much better between her and her teammates now, but she had to

venture out and make her own friends outside of the team during her freshman year, which

offered an interesting exception to the general rule. Brittany told me that she didnt feel

comfortable initially doing things with her teammates because they had different interests to

begin with. For example, she said that her friends liked to go out and party, but she didnt feel

welcome because she was among the minority at the parties and she didnt like to go to them

either. That being said, it seemed easy for her to go out and make friends in other minority

groups even though she was an athlete and they werent.

 Brittany also offered an interesting aspect on her relationships with coaches that were

different from what I had heard from the others. She said that sometimes it felt like being an

athlete was an occupation and the coaches sometimesI dont want to say treat it like a job, but

its a business I guesseven at the college level. With that added pressure of having to treat the

sport you love as a job instead while also having to understand that the coaches are there to do

their jobs as well, athletes surely must be stressed more than the average student. That added

stress could definitely affect the lives of athletes in a way that no non-athlete has to experience

during their college experience.

Social Acceptance(?) and Greek Life

In the event that the research participants felt that they reached common ground and

acceptance with their non-athlete peers, it was most often due to participation in Greek life to

some extent. In other words, interviewees mostly felt that if they were to venture outside their

comfort zones, in order to truly be accepted they would have to participate in Greek life. It was,

sadly, not uncommon for these athletes to have had experiences in which they felt that they were

discriminated against.

For example, Sam told me that his experience here has definitely changed as a result of

being a minority. He believes that he experiences racism in the form of micro aggressions on

the regularnot that vulgar[but] probably once every day. As for more major examples of

discrimination, he did tell me about a specific incident that occurred that truly opened his eyes to

the racial tensions on this campus:

 so last year it was me, my starting quarterback and a lineman. The lineman Brandon,

blackand the quarterback Nathan, whiteso two black kids, one white kidwere walkin

downtown, not really doing anything, we just got done with a game I think we werewere just

out to have a good timego to a house, knock on the door and, kid came outjust belligerent,

just drunk, like it was bad, it was badand then he states, no niggas allowedget these niggas

off my porch, so like we didnt want any trouble so I go like, lets get outta here and Nathan, he

hes ride or die bro, hes ready to fight at any time if he feels like somethingssomethings not

likesomeone or some people arent being treated right, hes gonna say how he feelsand

usually thats how I feel, but I dont want any trouble at that point, justlets get outta here. So

the kid runs inside, Nathan takes his back foot and just starts bangin on the door, kid comes out

and hes like, what are these niggas still doin on my porch, soall in alla fight almost breaks

out, we had a lot of chicks hold us back and that kinda stuff andyeah thats pretty much the end

of that

I found Sams experience to be extremely appalling, but attempted to keep my composure

as a researcher. Realizing full well that being a member of the white majority made my

experience very biased, I could not fathom such an exchange taking place on the same campus

that I have made my home for the past three years. When he noticed that I found his story to be

rather shocking, Sam made sure I realized that that kind of thing doesnt happen all the time, but

it has happened to him and other minority students here on campus. When I went back and

examined my interview with Sam it became obvious as to why he might sometimes re-think his

choice to come to Bucknell based on some of the experiences he has had here. In addition to the
seclusion he experiences as an athlete, he also has to deal with the added isolation of being a

minority here on a campus where there are so few others with his background.

Brittany told me just like the other minority athletes that she feels misunderstood and

sometimes feels that other students judge her unfairly before they even know her. When I asked

her about whether she thinks she gets treated differently because of being a minority student

athlete she responded:

I havent had anything too extreme happen to me, which I dont know if its cause of my

height or people just seem like intimidated by me (laughs) or somethingI mean its like a lot of

people say a lot of stereotypical things, but nothing extremely racistbut, I dont know, I just

think from what I know about other peoplewith minorities on campus, they just feel a little lost

I guess

It seemed through her explanation that she thinks people are wary of her. She described

thinking that people sometimes seem as though they are intimidated by her height or may say

things that indicate that they dont understand her background or experiences.

Unlike, Brittany and Sam, Carlos and Rachel tended to view the campus as very

accepting all around. When prompted as to why they felt that way, both credited their

involvement in Greek life as the primary reason for their relative comfortability at Bucknell.

Carlos admitted that his involvement in fraternity life has definitely aided him in his ability to

feel comfortable talking to other people. On this campus where most of the social scene is run

by Greek life, he feels it is important to be involved, even as an athlete, if you want to form

meaningful relationships. Furthermore, through his assessment it seemed like one of the only
routes for minority students and athletes to escape their isolation is to join a Greek organization

so that they are offered a non-athletic outlet in which to socialize.

Rachel also commented on the usefulness of Greek life in making more meaningful

connections outside of the athletic realm. Rachel did not have trouble making friends on the

volleyball team like Brittany did, however she did note that she had similar interests as the rest of

her team which is why she ended up in Greek life.

I love my teammates, yeah all my best friends are on the team and in my sororitythere

are girls on the team who dont get involved in Greek life and they have a tougher time making

friends I thinkI just think being in Greek life trains you how to interact with the rest of the

community and not just the other athletes

Culture Shock (or not) Based on Background

Although my sample size was small at five participants, it is worth noting that some

participants felt much more at home on Bucknells campus right away. Those that felt most

comfortable often attributed it to their backgrounds and experiences in dealing with crowds as

non-diverse as Bucknell. Those that went to private school beforehand, or public schools that

exhibited a white majority, felt more comfortable rather than shocked at the state of Bucknells

campus upon arrival.

Because Sam went to school at a relatively diverse and integrated high school in

Cleveland, Ohio, he seemed to say he was caught off guard when he came to a school as

undiversified as Bucknell.
 Its funny cause when I first started lookin here, we didnt even look at the race

breakdown solooking back, I probably would say that I probably shouldve paid more

attention to thattheres a lot of things going to college that a lot of people just doesnt even

look into

Because of his history in a diverse public high school Sam did not know what to expect

upon arrival as a student. Others, like Rachel and Brittany, who had previously attended private

schools were relatively used to the disparity in race. Carlos also went to a high school that was

not very diverse, even though public. When I questioned what their reactions were to the racial

breakdown at Bucknell, they similarly responded that while obviously not diverse at all, they

were kind of used to it. Their ability to assimilate into Bucknell culture, however was very

different. Whereas Rachel utilized her private school background and Carlos used his high

school to their advantage in order to fit in with the, similarly white, kids at Bucknell, Brittany

mentioned difficulties at first. Perhaps this was due to her initial years in public school, or rather

a different racial breakup of the sports teams she was a part of during high school.

Darren told me that he had to change the way he portrayed himself before ultimately

learning to fit in on campus. His background in a diverse community and in a poor

neighborhood had taught him to walk around without a smile and to look through people.

He said that at home, walking around smiling or without caution could be interpreted as

weakness and it is important to seem confident and solemn. At school, however, he quickly

learned that seeming unapproachable was a very quick way to become an outcast to the rest of

the student body. It was his relationship to his teammates, however, that he credits for the ability

to realize the differences between Bucknell and his hometown.

Conclusion: Thoughts and Reflection

In the end, there were several things that emerged as the most important things to take

note of from all of the interviewees. I made sure to take note of things that were true across the

board and also how different each participants individual experience here at Bucknell is, even

when their backgrounds were fairly similar in nature. The first thing that I noted was that

depending on how the interview perceived themselves, the relationships they formed could have

been limited. For example, Darren talked a little bit about how people view him as

unapproachable when he walks around campus, so he feels as though he could make more

friends if he didnt mistakenly portray that. That also played into the next concept that touched

on how athletes believe others perceive them. If they believed that others perceived them in a

negative light or rather one that they did not believe was accurate, it was unlikely that they would

approach that person and attempt to form any sort of relationship.

An athletes background and childhood growing up before coming to Bucknell also had a

lot to do with what they experience from day to day. Some participants grew up in very diverse

neighborhoods and went to public and diverse high schools. So, when those athletes came here

they received a huge culture shock and had to learn how to adjust to such a non-diverse

community that they werent used to. Other minority athletes grew up in the same kinds of

settings as they experience here at Bucknell. Those athletes went to private school and

experienced being a minority in high school as well. Therefore, when they came to Bucknell

they werent as shocked and were more easily able to fit in and find people that they could form

friendships with.

An athletes friendships were largely determined by their time constraints across the

board. Even the athletes involved in Greek life talked about how much more time they have to
devote to their sports lives than their social lives. Thus, the most amount of time in their weeks

are spent with the other athletes and they form their most meaningful relationships with them. If,

however, the athlete is involved in Greek life on campus, their attempts to make friendships

outside of sports seemed to be grandly more feasible. In the end, it was way that the athletes

structured their activity outside of an athletic setting that seemed to truly impact whether they

had non-athletic relationships. Most athletes seemed to choose the easier route and stick to their

original group and spend time with other athletes even in their free time. Some, however few,

chose to join Greek life or seek out other minority students in order to find other opportunities.

Every single athlete had a drastically different experience here based on a number of

different factors as explained above. Some had opinions as drastic as saying that they would

have changed their decision to come to Bucknell if they had known about how undiverse the

population was and what that meant for the community. Others thought that even though

Bucknell isnt a diverse school they consider it one of the safest places for anyone to go to school

and the similarity of the community didnt bother them.

In the introduction section above, I mentioned in my theoretical framework that there are

certain structures in place that perpetuate a certain level of segregation and structural constraints

that cause the same. This was true across the board for the athletes. They all explained that

because a lot of the influx of minority students to this school is due to athletics, their main

interactions with other minority students here on campus took place in an athletic setting. Many

said that they felt more comfortable talking to other minority students even if they werent

athletes, but those interactions were minimal. Moreover, a large portion of minority students is

part of the athletic community here at Bucknell, which keeps the community somewhat

segregated. The time constraints and structure of athletic schedules also perpetuates that
segregation. Since athletes are on the same schedule and dont have as much time to spare as do

non-athletes, they tend to stick together even outside of athletic settings just because they

understand each other and are interested in similar things.

Doing this study I learned quite a few valuable lessons about doing a qualitative study.

First and foremost, I learned that you might not come out to find a single answer but rather a

more complex combination of a bunch of factors that results in the experience that you are

studying. In my case, I gained knowledge about the different backgrounds and experiences of

five minority student-athletes here at Bucknell and, while their experiences were all different,

they all helped reveal more about the subject of interest. I also learned that my own relationship

with an interviewee had an effect on the quality and longevity of the answers I received.

Furthermore, the participants that I already knew and had relationships with beforehand were

much more likely to open up and share with me so our interviews went more smoothly and

offered a greater amount of information. The student-athletes that I had never met before were a

little bit more closed off and nervous.

Knowing what I do now, if I were to continue this study, I would interview each

participant more than once and develop different lines of questioning for each successive

interview in order to develop comfort between the interviewee and myself. If I had more

questions and a greater comfort dynamic in all of my interviews, I suspect I could find out even

more information about the experience of a minority student-athlete here at Bucknell as there is

definitely much more to learn.

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