This week, the students in my Honors English class have been avidly following the news: specifically, the trial of two high school athletes for the rape of another high school student in the town of Steubenville, Ohio. The connection to our reading was circuitous, though no less thoughtful for that: In Montana 1948, the novel they've just finished reading, most of the major conflicts center around a charismatic, handsome, war-hero doctor who is molesting and raping the Native American women during routine check-ups. Because of his high social status in the town, and because of the institutionalized prejudice against Native Americans, the doctor's crimes have gone unpunished for years. My students likened this to high school and college athletes whose social status on their respective campuses renders them seemingly impervious to normal social rules--in this case, rules concerning the treatment of women as sexual objects.

It is important to note that no such "jock culture" exists on our campus. I believe this is due to a couple of factors: the division of the campus into many "small schools" (thus undermining a type of jingoistic unity on which I believe jock culture thrives), and the fact that--with the exception of the lacrosse team three years ago, which the vast majority of students looked at with perplexity--none of our sports teams are stand-outs in our league. The kids who play sports enjoy them, and even sometimes gain scholarships in the process (we have had some individual stand-out athletes); in addition, the sports teams serve as an effective means of pushing kids to keep up their grades. But there's no widespread idolization of a football team, or football players. The kids know about this phenomenon, but their knowledge comes from TV shows like Friday Night Lights and other popular media--not from experience.

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