Surprise, surprise. More University of Georgia athletes are showing up for their classes, thanks to a strict new attendance policy the athletics department began enforcing last month, according to the Athens Banner-Herald.
Under the policy, athletes who miss more than two classes in the same academic course will be suspended for roughly 10 percent of their team’s games. And if athletes miss more than one tutoring or academic-counseling session, they must pay $10 to a charity for each additional no-show.
The fines are working, Damon Evans, Georgia’s athletics director, told the newspaper. During a three-week stretch last September, athletes skipped 421 tutoring sessions. But last month, they blew off just 46.
Class attendance has improved, too. Athletes skipped class 19 times in January, compared with 82 misses in September.
So far no athletes have drawn suspensions, and only a handful have been docked pizza money.
