Professor Stock to athletes: āThere are many ways to be a heroā
For high school and college seniors, the cancellation of winter sports championships and entire spring seasons is āa particularly bitter pill. But it is also an opportunity,ā Professor Catherine McNicol Stock writes in a .
āIt is all too rare in the United States today for young peopleāor any of usāto be asked to sacrifice on behalf of the common good or a common goal. This was the lived experience of the āgreatest generation,ā not the boomers, Generation X, millennials or Generation Z. And yet, here it is,ā writes Stock, the Barbara Zaccheo Kohn '72 Professor of History.
Stock points out that the cancellation of sporting events isnāt completely unprecedented in our lifetimes. No collegiate athletic contests were played in New Orleans in the fall after Hurricane Katrina, and many college and professional teams suspended play in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
Still, the abrupt end to a seniorās athletic career, without āa senior game to celebrate, or a careerās worth of stats to calculate,ā is devastating to many. Stock admits that if she were a parent of a senior this spring, āI would be inconsolable.ā
āBut staying calm in the face of the end of a season so that the nation can mitigate this epidemic ā¦ is an achievement far greater than anything that can be done on the field,ā Stock writes.
āTime for players and all of us to step up to the plate and recognize that we must sacrifice for the common good. There are many ways to be a hero.ā
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