At colleges and universities across the nation, intercollegiate athletics is a key element of campus community. Almost since the first intercollegiate competition, athletic competition has brought students together as athletes and spectators in a manner different from the intellectual pursuits of the classroom, yet similar in embodying the core values of collegiality, hard work, integrity, and respect. Are athletics diluting the academic mission of universities? The preponderance of controversies, along with the pervasive media coverage of intercollegiate athletics, might suggest this is a rhetorical question. Yet, as the president of a university with many highly ranked academic and research programs, as well as 35 varsity sports, 900 student athletes, and an athletics department budget of $83 million, the author firmly believes that athletics enhance the academic experience for all students. In this article, the author describes what universities can do to alter both the perception and reality of the place of athletics in university life and be certain that athletics programs enhance the academic mission, offer innovative opportunities for the students' personal and intellectual growth, and foster effective community outreach for the university. (Contains 2 notes.)