People will literally complain about anything nowadays.
Fairleigh Dickinson University caught everybody’s attention in the NCAA March Madness men’s college basketball tournament after becoming only the second team in history to be a No. 16 seed beating a No. 1 when they took out Purdue in the first round, but that attention is now bringing criticism towards the school.
After ultimately being eliminated by the Florida Atlantic Owls (shoutout to Boca!) in the second round, FDU is now in hot water because of Jordan Sarnoff, the school’s Director of Athletic Media Relations. And that’s because he’s actually a student at the university — a junior, to be exact — and normally that role is filled by someone with a lot more experience on their resume, and it’s also considered full-time work.
And though I personally have no problem with it, this actually made a load of people angry:
As great of an opportunity this is for Jordan and I hope it opens many doors for him, this def should not be glorified.
Colleges and universities nationwide should put money behind their athletic communications departments, not rely on underpaid student workers. https://t.co/s5pKmvtVzP
— berto (@albvrto_) March 20, 2023
With all that great work experience, he’s going to graduate into a job that pays $11.20/hour until they replace his job with a video guy or an intern.
This is not a feel good story. Ask any actual SID or former SID about it, and we can all see what’s going on here. https://t.co/eVU8A2oExb
— claybraham lincoln (@ClayLaSoul) March 20, 2023
Oh we’re having discourse on this finally?
This isn’t a feel good story about a smaller program on the big stage – it’s glorifying the way students and young professionals are exploited in college athletics (likely because they were too cheap to hire). https://t.co/aPMUQw4kL8
— Alli Pinter (@allipinter) March 20, 2023
Many collegiate athletic departments have someone like Jordan. This is what these kids want to experience.
This is a major issue though in all of college athletics. Athletic departments and universities need to value these roles and put money behind it. Not a student worker. https://t.co/B4fy5TSeA8
— andy b. (@andybowers_) March 20, 2023
While we at @CollSportsComm are all very proud of Jordan, this isn’t a typical setup nor should it be. Students are meant to help and learn from full-time staff members. They should not be the full-time staff member while being a full-time student. https://t.co/qnVYCkWbPN
— JessPoole (@JessPooleA2) March 20, 2023
I’m willing to guarantee that Jordan isn’t happy with a single one of these people “defending” him, because all it’s doing is ruining an opportunity for him. I remember being that young and ambitious (though I still have the latter, I’ve lost my youth), and I would have viewed this as a huge resume booster before I even got out of college.
And what if the school worked out a deal with him where he’s both getting paid and college credits for doing the job? And if he is underpaid (but is getting college credits), what’s the problem if the kid has no problem with it? The kid gets plenty of resume experience, and the school gets to save some money, I see it fair and transactional if a deal is worked out. (RELATED: Hailey Van Lith Proves In Tense Moment That She’s Not Just A Barbie, She’s Also A Bit Of A Brawler)
I like how people have to get mad about literally every single thing and just blow things up bigger than they need to be, somebody always has to go on a rant or tirade. I swear people just like to hear themselves spew a bunch of bull.
Personally, I’m all for it. Keep up the good work, Jordan. And shoutout to FDU.