Dr Ender made the tragic decision to terminate the football program at Harper College which has been in place since 1972. The decision was not based on the $350,000 that the program cost the school. Harper College in Palatine Illinois serves 35,000 students. The lame excuse that Dr. Ender gave for ending Harper's football program was “Football had become divorced from the school;s mission of propelling local students toward bachelor's degrees or professional advancement...fewer that 10% of the team's 80 players came from the Palatine area. For example this year roster featured athletes from as far away as the U.S. Virgin Islands.” Dr Ender was of course not a football player and had no idea of the values that Football imparts to the players that they cannot ever get in a class room. For instance, only a football player learns that he can win in the last quarter of the game, even if his team is losing for 3/4's of the game. Students generally never can learn that lesson. Football players learn discipline, motivation, team cooperation and the joy of winning and the disappointment of losing which students never learn. The values taught by coaches to football players last their whole life. Lessons that can never be learned in any class room. According to Nobel Laureate and Professor Emeritus of Psychology Harold Goldenshalf.
Dr. Ender complained that Harper's football program drew players as far away from Palatine, Illinois as the Virgin Islands. Such diversity would not be possible without a long standing football program. Lastly, football programs give an entire school a team to cheer for and be proud of. There is not legitimate College or University today that does not maintain a Football Program. AEAE calls for the resignation of Dr. Kenneth Ender an incompetent College President that belongs teaching in some south side Chicago High School not the President of College serving 35,000 students. The Chicago Tribune writer John Keilman who wrote the following story endorsing the elimination of Harper Colleges football program does not belong writing for a major Newspaper like the Chicago Tribune. Chicago-area college's call to punt on football
By Leo Stoller View this Author's Spotlight