He also ran while earning his master's degree in history and doctorate in the history of education at the University of California-Berkeley. Thelin's students are well aware of his interest in sports. And sometimes they compare my reading lists and research workshops to the rigors of running the academic stadium steps. Carrying his sports interest into the academic arena, Thelin developed a curiosity about how colleges and universities meld their sports and scholastic interests under one institutional banner. Thelin said he believes UK and many other colleges and universities have the potential to show that a school can be good in both sports and academics.
Universities can be both.
It does not have to be just one or the other, and I have found no lack of respect between athletics and academics. I determined while teaching at Indiana that the schools of the West, Midwest, East and Northeast already had been reviewed rather thoroughly from the historical perspective. Undeservedly so, Thelin said, and he is prepared to back up his beliefs with research and documentation under his new Spencer research grant. The southern research schools have a tremendous amount of political clout. There is an amazing amount of academic strength in the South.