Happy New Year! In this our third year of operation, we are going to mix it up a bit. In addition to posting longer one subject articles chock full of info, GCP will be doing quick posts of interesting bits–news items, parenting things to think about, etc.–on a more regular basis. The goal is to post more regularly, and post more info. So stay tuned.

Black Male Student Athletes and the 2014 Bowl Championship Series: Just ran across this really interesting piece (thanks to GCP Dad Roy Johnson) in which Shaun Harper of UPenn’s Center for the Study of Race and Equity in Education examines the graduation rates for the black college football players in the recent bowl championship series. Hate to bum out all of you guys celebrating FSU’s impressive win last night, but the school has a pretty dismal graduation rate for its Black football players. You can find the report here. Most of these college players don’t make the NFL, and leaving college after four or five years with no degree really limits their options. It is a travesty that more attention is not paid to this issue, and kudos to Harper and his Center for focusing on this in a timely fashion. With all the crazy money these schools make on these bowl games, why don’t they just give these guys a free pass to stay in school as long as it takes them to graduate?