Sunday, October 15, 2006

After Duke Case, College Athletes Are Put on Notice - New York Times



Duke case has colleges treading carefully.

After Duke Case, College Athletes Are Put on Notice - New York Times: "Last week, the University of Connecticut dismissed five football players for buying beer on a team trip to Florida. Earlier in the season, four Georgia players and two from Texas were suspended for as many as three games for off-the-field episodes involving under-age drinking and misdemeanor marijuana possession.

Oklahoma dismissed two football players, including the starting quarterback, after the university determined they had received money for no-show jobs at a car dealership. At Northwestern, the women’s soccer coach resigned and several players were suspended after photographs of a hazing ritual were posted on a Web site.
The vice president for student affairs at Fairfield in Connecticut has posted a letter on the university’s Web site that repeatedly mentions the Duke case, refers to reports of misconduct by former Fairfield athletes and warns current athletes of the consequences if such acts occur again. Fairfield also encouraged athletes to police teammates who act recklessly.

United Educators Insurance, a company owned by its more than 1,200 member colleges and universities, held eight seminars this year to advise member institutions on athletes’ misconduct. The seminar presents a hypothetical scandal involving a team and a coach with many elements reminiscent of the Duke situation, including a national news media frenzy. About 300 college officials have attended the seminars, most of them after the rape accusations by a woman some Duke lacrosse players had hired as a stripper.

A neighbor told the police in Durham, N.C., that during the afternoon of March 13, he saw several players drinking in the backyard of the house some of them were renting.