The graduation gap between white and Black and football players on bowl-bound teams is increasing.
The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport found that among the 56 teams playing in bowl games in this pandemic-affected season, white athletes graduate at a rate 16.3% higher than their Black teammates.
“Generally, those numbers had been going up for any number of year,” study primary author Richard Lapchick said Tuesday. “The gap between Black and white student athletes had been narrowing, but this year it went up.”
Lapchick acknowledged the study was impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Last year’s report included 39 bowl games (78 teams) instead of 28 games in 2020.