Harbor: No Additional Sanctions Against Pierce for Its Part in Brawl

The Pierce College football program has been cleared by the Western State Conference in the latest and, apparently, final round of allegations against the Brahmas for their part in a brawl after their game against Harbor in Wilmington on Sept. 25.

Aviva Kamin, the conference commissioner, said Wednesday that she reviewed a report sent to her earlier this week by Richard Moyer, assistant dean of academic affairs at Pierce, and concluded that her initial decision on the incident was appropriate.

Kamin said she requested the report after receiving a number of letters from people saying she had overlooked facts in the case that showed Pierce wasn’t blameless in the fray.

That point also was raised by Harbor administrators at a WSC meeting Oct. 6, in which they appealed to a hearing board the sanctions imposed by Kamin against the school.

But Kamin disagrees.

“I’m satisfied with their (Pierce’s) findings,” Kamin said. “They did a thorough job and did a lot of investigating. It clearly shows that what I had done with them and Harbor in my original report was correct.”

Marian McWilliams, the athletic director at Pierce, was happy to hear about Kamin’s decision, but reacted cautiously.

“I think it’s the end. I hope it’s the end,” McWilliams said. “We thought that the sanctions were correct the first time. We are glad to have it over with.”

Kamin’s decision did not sit well with Harbor officials, though.

“The notion that they are blameless is ludicrous,” athletic administrator Charlie Bossler said. “If they choose not to do anything about it, that’s their choice. I’m glad the commissioner and Pierce have concluded that they are blameless for the incident, but we at Harbor know what we saw.”

Bossler said the decision sends the wrong signal to colleges.

“I think it sends a message that if you continually deny everything you’re better off,” he said. “I don’t think that will solve their problems (at Pierce), judging from their history in these things. If that’s the message they want to send, then I would suggest they’re going to have problems in the future.”

Kamin had placed Harbor’s football program on probation for two years and banned the team from postseason play. She put Pierce on supervisory probation for one year and instructed both schools to have either their athletic administrator or athletic director present at football games and remain there until all players and coaches have left.

She also ordered Harbor to send her a weekly written report after each game outlining, among other things, the behavior of the staff and students.

Harbor, however, was able to successfully appeal to the hearing board Kamin’s original ruling, pending another review by the board at the WSC meeting on Nov. 29, after the conference football season is over.

A 10-person hearing panel composed of a representative from each of the WSC member schools (Harbor and Pierce were not permitted to vote) agreed unanimously Oct. 6 to reduce Harbor’s probation to one year. But Kamin said there won’t be a final determination made until the regular season ends.

“We will then look over the rest of the (current) season and the hearing board will make a final decision (on Nov. 29),” Kamin said.

Kamin said the letters she received accused Pierce Coach Bill Norton of fueling the fracas and hitting Harbor player Tyrone Coleman. A police report supports the allegation. Two witnesses, including a police officer, saw Norton throw down his clipboard and strike Coleman on the left side of his neck. Norton has repeatedly denied the allegation, and Kamin said she found no evidence to corroborate those claims.

“In this situation, (Norton) was fine,” Kamin said. “He did what he had to do in order to protect himself and his fellow coaches and his players.”

Bossler disagreed.

“That’s just absolutely absurd,” he said. “The police officer saw him strike the player and we have four other people who saw him strike him. Whether or not it’s prosecuted is beside the point. It’s never acceptable for a faculty member to strike a student. To say a coach is not punishable for striking a student for any reason is just wrong. It’s something we wouldn’t stand for if it had been one of our coaches.”

Staff writer Mitch Polin contributed to this story.