For the past two years student athletes at SMU have been forced to play by a different set of rules than the rest of the student body.  Unlike other students, athletes have been unable to drop a course.

But after The Daily Campus began asking questions about it, the Athletic Department abruptly canceled its no-drop policy. Athletic officials said they took this action after Provost Paul W. Ludden issued a memorandum last week to faculty and staff that made it clear that all students, including athletes, must be allowed to drop classes at will.

Provost Ludden issued the memo on Thursday, Oct. 28 a few hours after The Daily Campus spoke with Brad Sutton, the assistant athletic director for media relations. In that interview, Sutton said the Athletic Department had a no-drop policy.

But on Tuesday, Nov. 2 Sutton called the interview with The Daily Campus “out of date.”

“Let me be clear on this,” Sutton wrote in Tuesday’s email interview. “Athletics will follow the provost’s directive.”

Many student athletes felt the no-drop policy, which was adopted in the summer of 2009, was unfair because it forced them to remain in classes they were failing, and ultimately ended up hurting their GPAs.  

Former SMU football player Ben Goldthorpe was notified via email on the last day of the drop deadline last semester that he would be unable to drop a class. Dropping the class would have had no affect on his student athlete NCAA eligibility or financial aid status, but he was still forced to remain enrolled in the class, even though it was clear he would have trouble passing the class.

 “There was no verbal communication” about the drop process, Goldthorpe said.

The no-drop policy was enacted for many reasons, according to Sutton, including trying to decrease the number of classes student athletes drop to avoid the tuition expense incurred if he or she must take additional semesters to graduate.  Sutton called the policy “extremely positive” in his Oct. 28 email.

“The number of class drops has plummeted. In round numbers, student-athletes had 140 drops in the spring of 2009 and just 20 in the spring of 2010,” he wrote in the Oct. 28 interview.

In a Faculty Senate report dated Nov. 3, 2009, Athletic Policies Committee Chair Dan Orlovsky said that there was “controversy” among faculty members about the drop policy adopted by the Athletic Department. “On the one hand the new policy reinforces our desire to see fewer drops in the university.

On the other it treats student athletes differently than we treat the larger student body – a situation that we oppose,” Orlovsky said.

The provost made a point to single out student athletes in his memo:

“All students are encouraged to seek the advice of an academic counselor before dropping a course, but it is the students’ choice whether or not to drop a course.

“The Drop Policy defined in the Undergraduate Catalog also applies to student athletes… Student athletes who are considering dropping a course should consult with the Athletic Department because their eligibility for participation in intercollegiate athletics, as defined by the NCAA, may be affected by their choice to drop or add a course.    

“Student athletes who are concerned about losing scholarship support should consult with their academic advisor or the Office of the Provost.”

The provost’s office declined to comment on the Athletic Department’s policy or the memo, saying that Ludden was not accepting any interview requests this week.

At SMU there are 439 student athletes, 260 of whom are on scholarship.