THE QUESTION: Should college football players be housed in athletic dormitories apart from the rest of the student body?
JESS NEELY
Head football coach
Rice Institute
No. Football players are an important part of the student body. If they are segregated they're nothing but athletes. Scholastic work becomes secondary. I tell our freshman players each year that I want them to lose their identities as athletes except when they are on the football field.
JOE RECTOR
Former end
University of Oklahoma
I preferred being housed apart from the student body because the squad had more unity and closer communication We built great friendship that way. But we saw the other students every day in the classrooms, too, and on the campus and we enjoyed our association with then very much.
SAM JOYNER
Football captain
Purdue University
No. At Purdue the football players live with the student body. I think this is better. It gives the other students the opportunity to associate with the players. If we were housed in separate dormitories, the students would be justified in thinking of us as a gang of hired-in work animals.
DON FLOYD
Football captain
Texas Christian University
No. Every school I've seen where the football were housed by themselves they just tore the place apart. It makes the players feel too important. When the other players, there is more spirit for the team. TCU no longer segregate the players.
AL KELLEY
Head football coach
Colgate University
No, because this is contrary to the basic principles of education. Athletics are a part or a supplement of the educational system. When football players are segregated they are deprived of some social and cultural contacts that would be of great benefit both to the players and the rest of the student body.
BILL ORWIG
Director of Athletics
University of Nebraska
No. An athlete should take his place among the student body and be shown no favoritism. An important aspect of college life is the social development of the individual and you cannot attain it by athletic segregation. Parents do not want their sons to know only the other athletes on the campus.
DICK WALL
Football official
Formerly Bates College star
Definitely not. It is much better for the football players to live and room with other students. They contribute more to college and campus life when they are an integral part of it. I have never heard of other college groups being housed as separate units because of similar interests. Why should football players be?
NOVICE G. FAWCETT
President
Ohio State University
I am strongly opposed. These men are, first of all, students. As such they have much to gain from sharing in all phases of university life. This they cannot do if they are set apart from the rest of the campus by a policy of segregation, whether accomplished by separate housing or by other means.
FOSTER GROSE JR.
Football official
Pittsburgh
On the larger campuses like UCLA, where living quarters are spread everywhere, students with similar interests and taking the same subjects are kept together. But that doesn't mean the football team should live in one dormitory. The players can live in the same general vicinity and still mingle with other students.
DR. JAY F.W. PEARSON
President
University of Miami
We've tried it both ways at Miami. Our football players are now housed with the rest of the students in dormitories and fraternity houses. The players are happy with the new arrangement and the other students apparently like it better. We feel this is far more satisfactory for all concerned.
ELEVEN PHOTOS