i Jeffrey L. Engbers Health Exercise and Sports Science This ...

win at all cost mentality by establishing a zero tolerance policy for coaches who have
demonstrated inappropriate or unethical behavior at other schools.
The problems commonly associated with some high-profile Division I programs
are not necessarily indicative of the wide variety of intercollegiate programs found across
the nation. Athletic and academic goals can coexist and in fact be mutually beneficial and
reinforcing. This mutually beneficial coexistence will most often exist in non-scholarship
schools and Division III institutions, but may be present in any athletic and academic
institution (Simon, 2008).
In recent years, the distinct athletic culture commonly found in Division I
athletics has trickled down to lower levels and has surfaced in Division III athletics
(Lapchick, 2006; Shulman & Bowen, 2001). There may be “trouble in paradise at the
Division III level” (Thelin, 2008, p. 79). Although Division III has traditionally been a
refuge from the many problems associated with intercollegiate athletics, the problems
have permeated this level. The problems may not be in the spotlight as they are at major
Division I universities, but they do exist (Draper, 1996). Richard Walsh, Hilbert College
basketball coach and AD, believes it is the coaches who are "bent on their own career
advancement that are driving the win at all costs mentality at some Division III schools
and that there are some coaches who cheat in Division III" (Steinbach, 2002, para. 13).
Collegiate ADs are at the crux of these issues. The nature of their jobs and
responsibilities in the NCAA control, in part, the future of intercollegiate athletics.
Description of Division III Athletics
During its growth, the NCAA struggled with how small colleges would fit with
larger universities (Washington, 2004). The solution was to create separate divisions for
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