Athletics in Admissions - Open Office Hours Recap

On Monday, November 4, faculty representatives Professor Gil Refael, Chair of the Faculty Board, Professor Jennifer Jahner, Dean of Undergraduate Students, and Professor Omer Tamuz, Chair of the First Year Admissions Committee, hosted open office hours for students who wanted to hear more about the changes to Caltech’s undergraduate admissions practices. These changes involved reinstating standardized testing and reducing the role of athletic recruitment in admissions.

Before taking questions, all three professors emphasized that every student at Caltech deserves to be here and has the support of the faculty.

According to Caltech’s bylaws, the faculty is primarily in charge of admissions policy and curriculum. They are guided by the mission of Caltech, which is “to expand human knowledge and benefit society through research integrated with education.” In terms of athletics in admissions, Professor Refael stated that “the preference that was given to athletes over the last few years will be gradually diminished, such that admissions will be based solely on academic merit and excellence.” This gradual ramping down will occur over the next three to four years. He noted that “this is not a policy that can be reversed.”

In recent years, the extent of athletics in admissions has been the following: after a student passed the pre-read, coaches would fill out a form stating that this is somebody wanted, for example, on the men’s water polo team. The Athletic Director could then tell admissions that the men’s water polo team has very few players and is at risk. Admissions would receive this information on a spreadsheet that illustrated each team’s status.

This recruitment process was less frequently used for athletes in the past, but has been employed for upwards of 90% of athletes in recent years. Regarding this process, Professor Tamuz stated that admissions stands by every decision, “but we did give preferential treatment to those who were pushed forward by the coaches. So, if you were somebody that was needed on a team because they needed more people, and you have the role of the pitcher, for example, which is very specialized, this was something that was actively pushed forward in the admissions process.” This process was not implemented by any discussion among the faculty and it was only last year that “the faculty discovered this.”

By reducing the weight of athletics, a student who is not actively recruited by a coach will go through the same process as somebody who has been, such as a guitar player who dedicates 20 hours a week to music and shows the same discipline as an athlete.

Professor Jahner acknowledged that, for the student-athletes in the room, “it probably feels like the faculty have just decided that this thing that you’ve invested so many hours and so much of your life in is now less important." However, it is important to remember that it does not “take away from anything that [current student-athletes] bring to this campus.”

A concern was raised about how admitting fewer or lower-quality athletes might impact current teams and NCAA eligibility. Professor Refael stated that for those expecting incoming teammates at the same level, the policy will be gradually implemented over the next three to four years. Only when most current students graduate will the full effect of the policy come into play. Regarding NCAA eligibility, a school of Caltech’s size requires 10 teams. Even with the recent admissions change, it is expected that the requirement can still be met.

In response to questions seeking clarification behind the driving force of this policy change, Professor Refael emphasized that the aim is to have a fair and balanced admissions process. In the past, the process was fair in the sense that all applicants were considered based on academics. This was the policy that the faculty voted on and approved years ago, and by reducing the weight of athletics in admissions, the policy is being restored to what it was. Professor Tamuz added that, despite what people may think, the change was not initiated by comparing the GPA of athletes to other students. A key factor driving the change was the fact that the wider faculty and Faculty Board “had no idea [increased involvement of athletics in admissions] was happening.”

Given that admissions policy is under the purview of the faculty, as per the bylaws, a question was raised about how they could have been unaware of the involvement of athletics. The increased involvement “sort of happened organically through the bureaucratic creep” and was not decided by the faculty, according to Professor Tamuz. As the impact of athletics in admissions increased, it took time for the faculty to notice. Additionally, during COVID, the previous Chair of the Faculty Board was occupied with overseeing efforts to set policies on campus in such a way that would not impede research and, as much as possible, education. As a result, some issues received less attention, including the core curriculum, Honor Code, and admissions.

When Professor Refael became Chair of the Faculty Board, he sought to better understand the admissions process, as it is one of the main responsibilities of the faculty. Upon reviewing admissions data, it became clear that Caltech’s admissions were unbalanced. This revelation sparked discussions about admissions priorities, with the goal of realigning the process “to what the faculty believes it should be, which is an admission process that’s based on academic merit and potential.”