Dean of athletics Daniel Smith says athletic scholarships are not handed out based on race at Cerritos College, rather they are earned through an athlete’s work ethic, talent and education level.

“Race is not an issue for athletic scholarships,” he said. “There is no discrimination for any race or gender.

An influence or a bias toward a certain race or gender for an athletic scholarship is a concept that is prevalent among schools and athletes.

Athletic director Dan Clauss echoes Smith’s statements on the Cerritos College mindset.

“Mostly, our scholarships are based off of academic performance and talent,” he said. “As far as race is concerned, scholarships aren’t based off of that.”

Clauss added, “The school services any athlete or student that attends with open arms.”

For athletic scholarships, student athletes must maintain passing grades in their classes and train for their respective sports. Along with the faculty and staff at Cerritos College, the coaches largely maintain the viewpoint of the school.

“Race is a non-factor,” men’s soccer head coach Benny Artiaga said. “I think it’s more about talent and how athletes are scouted.”

He continued, “It’s different for each sport. In some sports you want the bigger and stronger athletes, and in others, like soccer, you want the small and faster ones.

He added, “I think it’s great to expose our athletes at the junior college level. Here at Cerritos, kids who get passed up in high school, we pick up those kids and build one of the best programs in the country.”

Earning an athletic scholarship boils down to work ethic and committment to one’s respective sport.

Smith said, “The interesting thing about race and these scholarships we have for athletes is that these coaches are racial blind. There’s only one thing they’re worried about, they want the best athlete possible.

“They couldn’t care what race they are. They’re under so much pressure to win games that its really nice because race isn’t really an issue in any of these athletic scholarships.”

Clauss added, “Race has nothing to with it. It all boils down to having the right GPA and having the talent.”