The Lincolnian

Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: Features

Members of the cheerleading team at Lincoln.

While many students at Lincoln University are safe asleep, members of the cheerleading squad are up at 5:45 a.m. preparing for a long, enduring practice.

Amber Newton, a sophomore and cheerleader tried out for a month to make the squad. The squad practices two days a week early in the morning, and at 5:30 p.m. on other days.

She and her teammates run about a mile and a half before stretching and doing pushups and jumps.

"The coach pushes us to hard," said Raisa Griffith, a sophomore on the squad. "We are still students. We are exhausted from practicing and conditioning," she said.

Griffith, who is majoring in biology and pre-med has a full schedule. She is taking Plants and Animal Systems, Biology 104, World Literature I, and African American Experience.

Balancing hours of practice and a rigorous academic schedule has proven too much for some students. But many students like Newton feel torn.

"If I didn't have cheerleading, I would go crazy," said Newton. "It keeps me proactive in school."

Dr. William Bynum, Vice President of Student Affairs at Lincoln said that he understands the rigors for student athletes. While attending Duke University and Davidson College, Bynum played football for four years and wrestled for a year.

"I was a very serious student and I knew academics were first," said Bynum.

Here at Lincoln, Bynum said that the athletic coaches share his belief that academics must always come first. Bynum and others point to recent research that indicates that student athletes have a higher graduation rate compared to students who don't play a sport.

That news brings comfort to Nichole Render.

She has been cheerleading since the age of 10 and can't imagine giving it up. This year the sophomore did not make the squad, though she was on the team last semester.

"I was upset because I have more cheerleading experience," said Render, who says that she has plans to transfer to Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta.

As the university prepares to transition to Division II, athletic coaches say that student athletes have to boast higher academic achievement.

"There is a difference between Division III teams and Division II," said Natasha Wilson, the Assistant Athletic Director and Senior Women's administor. "Division II is stricter and they want people who are good academically."

Wilson is responsible for athletic compliance, a process that ensures that all students are academically eligible to play a sport on campus. Wilson said that currently students must have at least a 2.0 grade point average, but said that she believes the standards should be raised.

"I feel it is too low," she said. "I've been in programs in which the GPA was 2.4."

Wilson, who played basketball at Winston Salem University in North Carolina said that she knows the challenges that student athletes face.

"My coaches were strict academically, but I had study hall to help me," she said. "I slipped during my freshman year in college, but I did better my second year."

University officials said that student athletes must practice good time management skills as they balance academics with their athletic schedules.

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