Editorial: When Athletics Tip the Balance—A Warning from Wittenberg

The struggles of Wittenberg University, as laid bare in Steve Dittmore’s recent piece, present a compelling case study in the precarious balancing act many small, tuition-dependent colleges now face: enrollment versus identity. As financial pressures mount and demographics shift, institutions like Wittenberg are turning increasingly toward what former university president Robin Capehart aptly calls a “sports enrollment strategy.” But as the saying goes, when you try to save the ship by patching a hole with water, you risk sinking faster.

The rise in the percentage of student-athletes at Wittenberg—from 33% to more than 58% in just three years—might look like a clever fix. After all, every athlete brings in tuition dollars. But this short-term gain masks long-term costs, both financially and culturally.

Athletes, as Dittmore points out, simply cost more. They require coaches, facilities, equipment, travel budgets, and compliance infrastructure. And when over half of a student body is made up of athletes, the economics start to wobble. The expenses rise while non-athlete enrollment often falls, diluting the broader student experience and potentially alienating donors or prospective students seeking a more traditional liberal arts culture.

There’s a deeper issue at play here, too—one that reflects a societal shift. Many families now view a college athletic experience as a perceived reward for years of youth sports investments. Colleges, feeling the pinch of enrollment declines, are happy to oblige. But when supply rises to meet this emotional demand, we risk reshaping the very nature of higher education.

Wittenberg’s story echoes the cautionary tale of Birmingham-Southern College, which leaned into this same model before it collapsed. The tipping point seems to hover around 44% athletes—beyond that, campuses become dominated by athletic schedules, team subcultures, and a narrow vision of student life. The liberal arts mission becomes an afterthought.

It’s time for schools to ask harder questions: Are we admitting students to serve the mission of the university, or are we shaping the university around who we can admit? Are athletics a component of a holistic college experience—or a lifeboat with a leak?

Dittmore’s reporting doesn’t just diagnose Wittenberg’s crisis; it highlights a systemic pattern. Athletics can be a valuable tool, but when they become the primary enrollment strategy, the costs—financial and cultural—may outweigh the benefits. The lesson from Wittenberg is not that sports are the problem, but that unchecked over-reliance on them might be. Schools that ignore that warning do so at their own peril.