Posted on: Tuesday, July 2, 2002
Senator wants UH to offer degrees in sports
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Imagine earning a bachelor's degree from the University of Hawai'i in ... sports.
State Sen. Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo), made that proposal yesterday at the Honolulu Quarterback Club.
"Sports is a huge industry here in Hawai'i as well as all around the world," Hemmings said. "Why not be able to get a degree in it?"
In Hemmings' proposal, UH would start a College of Sports, much like the College of Education or College of Business Administration.
Within the College of Sports, students could choose from three major areas of discipline:
• Sports management, coaching and facility management.
"Think of how many coaches and athletic directors there are across the nation who could benefit," Hemmings said.
• Sports medicine, science and technology.
"That would cover doctors, trainers, rehabilitation trainers and technicians, as well as research and development experts," he said.
• Sports marketing, merchandising, communication and history.
"There are so many opportunities out there for people wanting to go into that area of employment," Hemmings said.
No university or college in the United States offers a degree in sports.
"College is supposed to prepare young people for life," said Hemmings, a former world champion surfer. "Well, a lot of people are choosing sports as a way of life."
Hemmings emphasized that he has no plans of proposing the idea to the legislature anytime soon.
"I think if (UH president) Evan Dobelle and his people determine that this is an idea worthy of pursuit, they should blueprint it," Hemmings said. "We at the Legislature can help them, but we certainly don't want to dictate this idea to them."
Dobelle was out of state yesterday and unavailable for comment. But Paul Costello, UH's vice president for university relations, said a "strategic plan" for UH was recently completed, and a College of Sports was not discussed.
"The first thing is, I would hesitate to say that we can just welcome something that wasn't discussed in the strategic process," Costello said. "The other thing to remember is that we have limited resources, and we can't just do everything people want us to do."
A new film school is one of the proposals in the strategic plan.
Hemmings suggested soliciting outside sponsorship to start a College of Sports.
"It would be something unprecedented, so I think there would be some interest," Hemmings said. "I'm just trying to plant the seeds here. It's going to take leadership and imagination to make it happen."
