Several weeks ago, the Editorial Board wrote that “admittedly, Hopkins may not have much school spirit” to begin a piece about the campus’ collective pride over a rise in Hopkins’ national ranking. While there is no quantitative data to reveal our lack of school spirit, it appears to be a word-of-mouth consensus that few disagree with. I believe this is one of many indicators that Hopkins would greatly benefit from a Division 1 athletics program for all varsity sports. As of now, Hopkins has been granted a rare exception by the NCAA to have one Division 1 sport: lacrosse.
Contrary to popular belief, the distinction between Division 1 and Division 3 is not made by athletic talent but rather by funding and effort put in universities and coaches into their athletic programs. Many schools have made the jump.
In 2019, Duke University had a $109 million athletic budget compared to Hopkins’ roughly $11 million athletic budget. When thinking about the cost of upgrading facilities, athletic scholarships and increased coaches' salaries, it is clear that a move to Division 1 sports would be expensive. Our Division 1 program would initially not be as expensive as Duke's because our athletic brand isn’t there yet: Duke’s men’s basketball team alone has won 5 championships and created multiple NBA all-stars. You can see non-Duke alumni repping their gear walking down the street: building a Hopkins sports culture that resembles that will take time. Our finances would initially likely more closely resemble Georgetown University, whose athletic department breaks even financially.
What, then, is the benefit? The Hopkins brand. It is difficult to predict how Division 1 programs would lead to donors and boosters for the University, but I believe it is a guarantee that Division 1 programs will make Hopkins more noticeable. Not many people outside the East Coast have likely heard of Hopkins outside of the medical context. It’s time to change that and embolden our university to be one where excellence is bred in all forms, athletics included.
An old rumor used to circulate that Hopkins was invited to be part of the Ivy League Division 1 program but declined. This rumor holds little water, and any conversation that did happen between Hopkins and the Ivy League was not seriously pursued by either side. The Ivy League is unlikely to expand so as not to diminish the old academic brand associated with the athletic conference.
Hopkins, however, has already proved itself to be of the academic caliber of Ivy League schools, ranking higher than five of the eight Ivy League schools in this year’s U.S. News rankings of best national universities. Our Division 1 program should strive to be a premier Division 1 academic school, like Duke, Northwestern University or Stanford University. NCAA sports are not all students would see. Stanford sent 59 representatives to the Olympics last year and won 12 gold medals. Imagine Hopkins athletes at the Olympics: at the very least, school spirit would surely benefit from such a move.
In recent years, our University has prided itself on being a place for social mobility, going need-blind and being one of the first of its peers to eliminate legacy admissions. Athletic scholarships would advance this value, given that 86% of collegiate athletes live below the federal poverty line. Giving new avenues for low-income students to receive world-class education would help Hopkins be a leader in social mobility, even if most athletes are not going pro.
The Dickinson College student newspaper wrote in 2022, “Johns Hopkins has set itself apart as the top competitor in Centennial Conference Track & Field. It would only be fair to properly acknowledge their superior abilities by moving Hopkins Track & Field up to a Division I or II conference.” Hopkins has won the Learfield Directors Cup, a compiled ranking of university performances for all sports in the individual divisions, for the last two years in NCAA Division 3. While perhaps our performance is not yet on the level of Division 1 conferences, investment into creating a Division 1 program, with more recruiting and better facilities, would allow us to eventually compete with these programs.
Homewood Field has more than double the capacity of Division 1 Georgetown’s football field. Certainly, some facilities would need upgrades to make the transition to Division 1 smooth. Optimistically, I would like to see us compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), competing against two of our peer academic institutions, Duke and Stanford. Alternatively, we could join the Big 10, where our men’s and women’s lacrosse teams currently compete against neighboring colleges like the University of Maryland.
In the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the Big 10 paid out roughly $60 million to schools, while the ACC paid upwards of $40 million. Realistically, we would play in the Patriot League before any sort of move to a Power 5 conference would be considered by the respective conferences. In the Patriot League, we would play against neighboring Loyola University Maryland and Georgetown. Our revenue from a non-Power 5 conference would certainly not be as significant, but I believe donors would be more attracted to our University and the Hopkins brand would be bolstered by any kind of broad Division 1 participation.
Further, Division 1 sports would be beneficial to our sometimes lacking school spirit and student life. Tailgates and events where thousands of students come out to cheer on a team would be amazing for the Hopkins culture.
A multi-year plan for Hopkins to move from Division 3 to Division 1 would greatly benefit the University’s brand and student life in the long run. After that, I would like to see Hopkins become a Football Bowl Subdivison school (the highest level of NCAA football which allows schools to hand out up to 85 athletic scholarships). Additionally, Hopkins should strive to consistently make the annual “March Madness” basketball tournament, and eventually move to a Power 5 conference like some of our academic peers (Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, University of California, Berkeley). Athletics and athletes have for too long been undervalued at our school despite their intangible contribution to university life and reputation. It's time athletics became a central part of the Hopkins brand. Your move, Hopkins.
Neil Mahto is a sophomore majoring in Chemistry and English. He is the Opinions Editor for The News-Letter. Chakor Sankaran Rajendra is a sophomore majoring in Economics. He is on the Hopkins men’s tennis team.
