In any case, in my experience both as Ombuds and roommate of NUMEROUS student athletes (basketball and swimming being the main sports), I would say that most student athletes I’ve come across at UBC are students first, and athletes second. Of course, they get deference from their respective faculties so they can leave the city (and their studies) to compete while still being able to catch up in school, but the trend I’ve seen is for student athletes to be athletes for the 5 years that they’re allowed, and finish school in roughly the same time frame.

Anyhow this is just anecdotal but more information never hurt anyone, right? Well written article, btw.

(as Ombuds and having lived in a swimmer-dominated house for 2 years), most of the swimmers and/or basketball players I’ve lived with

The debate over Athletic Financial Aid in the CIS falls roughly along the lines of a dichotomy on how a student athlete is conceived of. Is a student athlete a student first, one who happens to also compete in athletics while taking classes? Or is a student athlete an athlete first, one who happens to attend university while competing?

The full-ride scholarship model espoused by UBC is based on the latter. Most Canadian schools view their students as students first. Rather than accepting that this is a perfectly valid, though different perspective, UBC often views schools that don’t believe in the full-ride scholarship model to be naive and disinterested in athletic success. As long as that’s the diplomacy used, there’s no way other CIS schools will ever see it UBC’s way.