Toward Establishing Sports Integrity in the Keio University Tradition

The Keio University Athletic Association was founded in 1892 with seven departments as a pioneer of student sports in Japan. As of 2022, the Athletic Association consists of 59 sections across 43 departments. In recent years, the number of members belonging to the Athletic Association has hovered around 2,700, which accounts for 10% of all Keio students.

Article 2, "Purpose," of the Constitution of the Keio University Athletic Association states: "The purpose of this Association is for Keio students who wish to devote themselves to sports and contribute to the development of the Juku to cooperate, with the support of senior Keio University alumni, to refine their skills, improve their physical condition, cultivate their character, and fulfill the true purpose of student sports."

What is the true purpose of student sports specified here? The Board of Directors of the Athletic Association discussed this many times during the 2021 academic year. Members of the Athletic Association tend to become immersed in their daily club activities. With the hope that these members will once again consider and practice the significance of being involved in student sports as models for Keio students, we decided to place sports integrity at the core of the Athletic Association.

Integrity generally means honesty, sincerity, and nobility. The Board of Directors of the Athletic Association believes that Keio's sports integrity is not an abstract concept but is derived from the basic philosophy of the Juku. That is to be a "source of honorable character" and "a paragon of intellect and morals for the entire nation." Based on this philosophy, Shinzo Koizumi left the famous words for Athletic Association members: "Practice makes the impossible possible." Furthermore, Koizumi said, "A genius is a person who can make an extraordinary effort." This can be described as the attitude required of Athletic Association members, including players, managers, and staff.

In the summer of 2021, while the Board of Directors was discussing sports integrity in this way, we received a designated donation to the Athletic Association through Give2Asia, a non-profit organization, from Mr. Tsuyoshi Yokota, a senior alumnus of the Athletic Association Equestrian Club (a 1966 graduate of the Faculty of Economics, or as Mr. Yokota puts it, a graduate of the Equestrian Club).

Mr. Yokota began equestrianism during his time at Keio Senior High School and trained daily at the Hiyoshi Stables. While literally covered in bruises and injuries, he lived his life with horses and was a member of the winning team at the 8th All Japan Intercollegiate Equestrian Championship during his senior year of university. After graduating, he studied as a member of the first graduating class of the Keio Business School and served as the director of the Equestrian Club for two years starting in 1975. He moved to the United States in 1978 and founded the educational organization "Intrax" in San Francisco in 1980, developing Japan-U.S. cultural exchange and educational programs.

After 42 years of living in the United States, Mr. Yokota now resides near the Mita Campus. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Yokota in person twice at the end of last year. Despite his small stature, he spoke with great passion when it came to the Athletic Association. He said that he was raised by the Athletic Association and that it became the foundation of his subsequent life. The Athletic Association exists because of the Juku, and each club exists because of the Athletic Association. He expressed his desire for the Athletic Association to rediscover the "newness" of the Fukuzawa spirit and to create an environment where Athletic Association members take pride in being models for Keio students. History and philosophy are important. Love for the Juku and love for the Athletic Association overflowed from his words.

At the same time, based on Mr. Yokota's life experience, he emphasized that in the current digital age, human connections are becoming increasingly important. To that end, he encouraged the Athletic Association to realize this through club activities and clarify what it should be for a new era. He also offered a piece of constructive criticism, stating that to achieve this, the Athletic Association needs to increase its ability to communicate externally. By promoting the appeal of the Keio University Athletic Association, its existence should be recognized not only by Keio students and Keio University alumni but also by society. He says that efforts in this area are insufficient. I felt that this point accurately struck a sore spot for the Athletic Association.

Using the donation from Mr. Yokota as capital, the Athletic Association decided to provide education regarding sports integrity starting from the 2022 academic year in cooperation with various departments. A working group (WG) was formed for this purpose. The lineup is led by Toshiaki Sakai, Associate Professor at the Institute of Physical Education (Vice Director of the Athletic Association and Director of the Athletic Association Tennis Club), and includes Hiroyuki Ishida, Professor at the Sports Medicine Research Center (Dean of the Graduate School of Health Management), Mitsuhiro Umezu, Professor at the Faculty of Business and Commerce (Professor at the Graduate School of Business Administration and the Graduate School of Health Management), and Takaaki Kato, Professor at the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies (Vice Director of the Athletic Association).

Some of the specific plans for sports integrity education discussed by the WG have already begun to move forward. Its basic philosophy consists of two points: "drawing a big picture as something to be tackled by the entire Juku" and "considering operations with a mechanism that reaches the people we want to reach."

As for the efforts of the entire Juku, it is necessary to discover and bring together human resources in the form of faculty members related to sports, sports medicine, and sports science that are "dormant" within the Juku. Of course, the cooperation of people active in sports-related environments, including Keio University alumni of the Mita Athletic Association, is also indispensable. Since we cannot forget that the history of the Juku itself is integrity, we will also call for the participation of faculty members related to the history of the Juku and the history of the Athletic Association.

As for the mechanism to reach the intended audience, we have decided to apply to the Keio Research Center for the Liberal Arts to conduct experimental classes in the 2022 academic year as a preliminary stage to establishing an endowed course. We want not only Athletic Association members but also general Keio students to participate in sports integrity education with great interest. Although it is labeled as education, sports integrity is something that Keio students acquire and practice themselves. This is an area that requires the initiative of Keio students and is an attempt to embody the basic philosophy of the Juku, "learning while teaching, teaching while learning."

In this way, the Athletic Association is taking a major step forward in seeking sports integrity in the Keio University tradition and showing the ideal form of rapidly changing student sports as a leader of society.