Students that participate in physical activities face many health-related risks. These risks include a wide range of physical and mental harm. In many sports and performances, injuries are inevitable. These injuries are most severe when students are pushed beyond their limits.
We have witnessed peer institutions and national entities fail in their duties to protect those bound to them by scholarships and contracts. Institutions including our own must do everything in their power to protect these individuals. Regardless of if an individual is participating in an official or training capacity, the institution is responsible for their wellbeing.
Protocols to prevent injury must not only be enacted but enforced. While the best deterrence is prevention, accidents are inevitable. When an injury occurs, the institution must stand with the individual. There have been countless incidents of institutions covering up injuries to protect their bottom line.
Institutions must be honest and transparent regarding injuries. A player’s health is not something that should be glossed over. Failing to provide proper care for athletes on a departmental level is a failure on the institutional level.
Athletes must be made aware of the risks involved in their respective sports. Many national sporting organizations have a history of moral bankruptcy. These organizations have covered up scientific research and provided their own narrative at the behest of their athletes. Above anything else, we are an institution of knowledge and learning. Informing students of temporary, enduring and life-ending risks is essential.
Our university must put students’ health and safety before profits, recognition and fame. We call on the university to do all it can to prevent injuries. Our university culture must be one that fosters transparency and dialogue on these difficult subjects.
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