Tuesday, July 24, 2012

 

Penn State and Baylor

The extensive punishments meted out to Penn State by the NCAA were announced yesterday-- a $60 million fine, the loss of ten scholarships per year, and a ban from post-season play for four years. It was well deserved, for a school that was so enamored with football that it let awful crimes occur on campus.

A University should not favor football above all else. As Jesus taught, where your treasure lies, so does your heart (Matthew 6:21). A University, secular or religious, should not have its heart first and foremost in football.

HIdden behind the blockbuster news about Penn State was this little item:

Michigan wide receiver Darryl Stonum announced Sunday he is transferring to Baylor.

Stonum, who has one year of eligibility left, missed last season because of disciplinary issues.

He made the made the announcement on his Twitter account. Baylor has yet to confirm he is part of its football roster.

The Stafford, Texas, native was dismissed from the team prior to last season after his second drunken driving arrest and then violating his probation in 2010. He is expected to be eligible at Baylor as a graduate student in a program not offered at Michigan.

Stonum has 76 career catches for 1,008 yards and six touchdowns at Michigan. He broke the school's single-season kickoff-return yardage record in 2009 with 1,001 yards.


Sigh.

Comments:
Two things:

1) Are forgiveness and redemption two of the central themes of Christianity? The largest Baptist university in the world takes in a kid that has had off the field issues, and that is somehow a violation of their mission?

2) What is supposed to happen to this kid? He had two DWIs. I went to college with a friend that got two DWIs. He was allowed to finish graduate school, go get a PhD, and is now a college professor. His life didn't end because of it. But because this kid plays football he isn't supposed to get those chances? By the way, that other kid also went to Baylor. By the way, this kid already has a college degree from the University of Michigan and will enroll in graduate level classes at Baylor.

I think you're right, a university shouldn't place football above education as its mission. And a Christian university such as Baylor shouldn't place football over its central spiritual mission either. But I don't see how what Baylor has done in the case of giving a kid a second chance, a kid who made mistakes many college kids make, is evidence of Baylor doing that.
 
My name is AMT, and I approve RRL's message.
 
Mark makes a compelling opening statement for the prosecution. RRL offers a brilliant rebuttal. I think I will "punt" on this one and withhold judgment until I get a bit more information.
 
RRL--

Baylor seems to display forgiveness and redemption differently to athletes, and that inconsistency is not principled. It reflects a valuation of athletes above others, a fact which is also reflected in many other parts of the University. I am fairly confident that a non-athlete transfer or new graduate student with two DWIs and a probation violation would not be admitted (and I was a member of an admission committee at Baylor). The problem is NOT forgiveness, it is special treatment.

Second, remember that this is not a "second chance." His second chance was being allowed to play at Michigan after a DWI. His third chance was being able to stay at Michigan after another DWI. He didn't get a FOURTH chance at Michigan-- after violating probation.

You may well be right that there are other factors that should be considered, and this may be justified, but it would be a highly unusual case. Coming on top of the commitment of tremendous resources (and even taxpayer's money) to a stadium which will be far more expensive than any other building on campus... it just seems like the values at Baylor are becoming twisted by a short period of success that may well not be sustained.

Honestly, though, it also seems ridiculous that Baylor will take a kid like this despite such a criminal record-- but if he was gay he would be barred.
 
I agree that there is disparate treatment between athletes and students, but I think it is the other way around. Josh Gordon was an extremely talented WR at Baylor who many people thought had 1st or 2nd round NFL talent. After his sophmore year he got arrested twice for possession of modest amounts of marijuana. Art Briles begged the university to allow him to stay in school, but Baylor took away his scholarship and forced him to leave the university. This makes sense for the same reason Michigan had to get rid of this kid, because when a kid on the debate team gets arrested for possession or DWI nobody notices. When it's a kid on the football team EVERYONE notices, and if the school allows it to go on without doing anything then they are viewed in a negative light.

Lets compare that to an average student. As I explained earlier, while I was at Baylor I had at least one friend that was twice arrested for DWI. He was allowed to stay in school and allowed to finish. Josh Gordon was not, and I can't help but think that his visibility as a football player played a central role in that decision because the school wanted to send a message. Kicking out the communications graduate student sent no message. Kicking out the starting WR did.

As for how many second chances he has had, I guess that this is technically his fourth chance. How many is enough? I've read any number of articles and blog posts from you about clemency and redemption and forgiveness. Assume he met with the coaches and the administration and they felt he had a genuine change in his heart and an understanding that his previous behavior was wrong. At that point should they just say, "well, you've had three chances, so too bad, we only go up to second chances here." That doesn't seem right either.

Maybe I'm naive, but I don't know this kid and nobody asked me if they should let him into school. I have to trust the university, the coaches, and the administration to make good decisions about this kind of thing. But precisely because I don't know him as a person I would rather give him the benefit of the doubt than decide that mistakes he made when he was 21 or 22 years old should basically dictate his entire future.
 
Also... it looks like things worked out pretty well for Josh Gordon in the end-- which is great.

I think all systems should allow for forgiveness and redemption, and err on the side of inclusion. My issue with Baylor is that it seems to have a double standard in how it treats athletes v. non-athletes. This encompasses a lot more than this one case. I hope this Michigan guy turns out to be a fine student and representative of Baylor. However, I just don't think he would be admitted but for his prowess at football.
 
"I just don't think he would be admitted but for his prowess at football."

I agree.

But it seems to me that there are a lot of "but fors" in this life.

I don't think he would have been admitted but for his...

grandfather's contribution to this university

unique life experience and how his diversity might enrich the experience for these other students

recommendation from someone who is really important to us

high score on a standardized test

beautiful smile. He really interviews well.

his ability to pay the tuition, which happily coincides with our need for a couple more bodies to reach our quota.

Life is not cut and dried. People are not always treated the same--and that is not necessarily synonymous with injustice or unfairness. This fellow (a Texan I might add) has football. I doubt he is rich or well connected, but he has football. I encourage him to get as far as he can with it. And, like you, Mark, I wish him well.
 
as an outsider looking in, i've enjoyed watching baylor's run of athletic success.
but it's also very obvious to me that baylor has accepted that to successfully compete athletically with the big boys, they have to stoop to their level. and that includes (but is not limited to, of course) turning a blind eye to top athletes' off-the-field transgressions. just yesterday, i was discussing with a colleague baylor's impressive (and not necessarily in a good way) run in recent years of bringing in players with highly questionable backgrounds and major character red flags in an effort to win games. and that conversation was just limited to the football team. they have three guys coming in this year alone, including this michigan castoff, who are transferring after being thrown off their former teams. it takes a lot to get thrown off a college team if you have talent that can help them.
again, baylor is far from alone in overlooking character issues in an effort to win games-- show me a successful ncaa athletics program and i'll show you a dirty one-- but to act as if baylor is doing it out of the Christian-ly goodness of their hearts is disingenuous at best.
sorry, rrl. i still heart you.
 
Can many interested individuals provide more than insight or answer that is other than a well articulated opinion?

Hopefuly those in positions to decide admission issues seek to off-set personal missteps with accomplishments that speak to positive personal growth. If a tapestry of growth and contribution, over time, remains mostly ascending, inclusion - incentive laden as it should be - might be a deserved "new beginning."

Recognition, broadly developed and earned, should be the ultimate goal - an opportunity for growth, to excell, in body, mind and spirit - for today, and more importantly, for many tomorrows...
 
What’s the big deal about this fellow’s potential vehicular manslaughter, when “he has football” like Waco Farmer iterates and when Football with its heroes and its mythical powers over the American psyche gets away with murder. Um, literally. Remember O.J. Simpson anyone?
 
Marta may have just jumped the shark. It is bad enough that we have to labor under a headline anticipating Baylor as the next Penn State. But now this poor fellow is OJ Simpson.
 
NFL star's brother transfers to Baylor

By JOHN WERNER
jwerner@wacotrib.com
Tuesday July 24, 2012
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Another transfer has decided to make Baylor his next home.

Junior linebacker Mike Orakpo is transferring to Baylor after he was expelled from Colorado State in the spring.

Mike Orakpo is the latest of a string of transfers to the Baylor football program.

Orakpo and two teammates were dismissed from the Fort Collins school in May following an off-campus fight that involved 10 Colorado State students and one non-student. Orakpo and the two teammates were reportedly charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

The 6-1, 225-pound Orakpo collected 124 tackles, two sacks and an interception in two seasons for Colorado State. Orakpo, who played high school football at Houston Westbury, will have to redshirt this season under NCAA transfer rules.

Orakpo is the younger brother of former Texas all-America defensive lineman and current Washington Redskins star Brian Orakpo.

Orakpo is the third recent transfer to Baylor who had been dismissed from his former college football team.

Former Michigan receiver Darryl Stonum was dismissed from the team in January after he was ticketed for driving with a suspended license following two drunken driving arrests.

Former Penn State defensive end Shawn Oakman was dismissed from the team in February. He was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment and retail theft at a store.
 
Waco Farmer, I didn't say this “poor fellow” is OJ Simpson! Quite the opposite, I said what’s the big deal in the grand scheme of the American Football Shrine.
On a different note, thanks for teaching me another expression..."jump the shark"...I like that. Hope you don't mind my jumping the shark, it's nothing personal.
 
Mark - I understand your concern with the different treatment of athletes versus non-athletes, which is why I addressed it with a specific example of how that can work against athletes. I think athletes can benefit from their talents, I think they can also suffer from exposure.

Woods - I'm not laboring under the impression that Baylor is doing this as some redemptive act of forgiveness. I'm not naive. And I never said that. However, I don't see how letting a kid into your school when he has made mistakes in the past is inherently out of line with the educational or Christian message of the school. That was my point, not that Baylor is doing this because they are Christian university, but that doing it doesn't indicate their priorities are inconsistent or otherwise screwed up.

By the way, the kid from Penn St. shoplifted a sandwich because he had no money, a misdemeanor, and the kid from Colorado St. has yet to be charged with anything. Not exactly the University of Miami or anything.
 
Baylor is only going down the well-trodden path of all other schools who want to win sports championships. Christian principles are no match for money and trophies! You would think that the basketball scandal a few years ago would have been a wakeup call.

A new stadium, admitting unqualified athletes with or without criminal histories, encouraging the athletic tutors to write papers and otherwise cheat to help them stay eligible - sad, but the norm in athletic programs today.

And yes, I do have direct evidence of the tutor pressure at Baylor, and no, I won't be specific, because that would just bring retaliation and denials. The tutors don't get paid much, but it helps them pay for their education.

Lee
 
rrl, read the article above. the "kid from colorado st.," who happens to be the younger brother of nfl star brian orakpo, actually was charged with something.
beyond that, he was expelled from school. they call fort collins, where CSU is located, "fort fun." it's because kids do a lot of wild and rowdy things there. it's not an easy place to get kicked out of. if you do, you've likely earned it.
 
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