CSUN Handling of Suspect Not Usual in Survey

Cal State Northridge, which is allowing a football player charged with attempted murder to remain on its team, is out of step with the common disciplinary practice followed by major universities nationwide, according to a survey of athletic departments conducted by The Times.

Most schools contacted said student athletes arrested for alleged crimes, especially serious ones, typically are suspended from their teams pending resolution of their legal troubles. And CSUN’s own football handbook says suspension is an option the university can consider.

“Most schools do go to the option of suspending the player or asking them to leave the team for some period of time,” said Kathryn Reith, a spokeswoman for the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. The NCAA oversees intercollegiate sports, but leaves such decisions to schools.

Thus far, however, CSUN officials, based on legal advice, have declined to issue a suspension to Jonathan G. Beauregard, 22, CSUN’s starting offensive right guard. He is accused of shooting and wounding his former girlfriend and a male companion outside a San Bernardino bar on Aug. 29.

“We follow the U.S. Constitution which says people are presumed innocent until proven guilty,” said Stephen McCarthy, a spokesman for the 20-campus Cal State system, citing advice from a Cal State attorney. “What if a person is exonerated? You’ve suspended them and they haven’t done anything.”

In fact, CSUN’s football handbook states, “Any trouble with the law will be dealt with on the basis of presumed innocent until proven otherwise.” But it also adds: “However, suspension during litigation will be an option that can be taken,” university officials said.

Because of CSUN’s stance, after a scheduled court hearing on the charges next Friday in San Bernardino, the 5-foot-11, 270-pound senior, who is free on $100,000 bail, is expected to travel to Cedar City, Utah, for the Matadors’ game against Southern Utah University the next day.

The team does not play today.

Athletic officials elsewhere maintained that coaches routinely suspend players for various reasons, and don’t need a guilty verdict to justify such decisions. “I don’t think we would do it if we thought there was a problem,” said Marc Dellins, a UCLA spokesman, of post-arrest suspensions.

UCLA has periodically taken the step of suspending athletes promptly after their arrests. Other campuses that have taken similar steps in recent years include Notre Dame, USC, the University of Miami, the University of Missouri-Columbia and the University of Louisville, officials there said.

In the Cal State system, where campuses are free to set their own policies, the Fullerton and San Diego campuses also have both suspended athletes for alleged criminal conduct, officials at those campuses said.

The latest episode nationally occurred this week when the University of Miami Hurricanes placed reserve defensive back Tremain Mack on indefinite suspension. He was arrested last Sunday on suspicion of battery on a police officer, resisting arrest and driving under the influence after a traffic stop.

“We do not consider participation in intercollegiate athletics to be a right. We consider it to be an opportunity and a privilege that can be withdrawn unilaterally by an institution,” said Athletic Director Paul Dee, who was the university’s chief attorney for 13 years.

He concurred that suspensions have become the common response by universities when their student athletes are arrested. The decision is not meant as a judgment of guilt, but to preserve a campus’ public image, shield the team from distraction or other factors, various athletic officials said.

Of nine major universities contacted by The Times (other than Cal State Northridge), only the University of Missouri-Columbia reported having a standard policy. At that campus, any athlete charged with a felony is suspended at least to start, said Athletic Director Joe Castiglione. One of the schools, Fresno State, typically allows athletes to keep playing despite arrests.

Missouri’s Castiglione said the university adopted the suspension policy several years ago to warn athletes in advance of the consequences and provide a clear road map for university officials. Since then, Castiglione said, the campus has had “much fewer problems” with alleged criminal conduct.

For Cal State Northridge, which fields a Division 1-AA football team that has a small following on campus, the Beauregard episode, whether he is guilty or not, has been an unwanted dose of publicity on the heels of the campus’ recovery from the January earthquake.

Said Faculty Senate President Nancy Owens of the episode, “It’s embarrassing for the university. We are interested in being portrayed in a better light.”

The controversy also comes at a time when the CSUN athletic program’s funding is under review.

Students last week voted down a proposal that would have generated $2.25 million annually for the athletic department. University administrators are now studying budgetary options that include the possibility of severe cuts in athletics.

Bob Hiegert, CSUN’s athletic director, said Northridge officials will not be swayed by what other universities do. “The policies of those institutions and the policies of those departments are theirs alone,” he said. CSUN President Blenda Wilson did not respond to requests for comment.

Beauregard was arrested Aug. 29 on suspicion of shooting his former girlfriend, Dunyella Darshell Smith, and a man with her, Von Eric Thompson, several hours earlier while Smith and Thompson were sitting in Thompson’s truck outside a San Bernardino bar.

Smith, 21, of San Bernardino, was hit once in the hip. Thompson, 26, of Rialto, a guard at the bar, was shot in the arm.

A second shot hit Thompson “right about where his heart would be” but was blocked by the bullet-resistant vest he was wearing, police Detective Roy Izumi said.

Campus athletic officials have said they did not even learn of Beauregard’s arrest until more than a month after the shooting took place. The matter became public after news reporters raised questions about it. A few days later, campus officials said they would not suspend the player and planned to monitor his case.

After an Oct. 19 hearing, when his bail was raised from $15,000 to $100,000, Beauregard was jailed in San Bernardino. He was released Tuesday after posting bail and attended football practice in Northridge a few hours later.

This past week, CSUN public relations director Bruce Erickson gave a more precise campus position based on legal advice: Beauregard would not be suspended unless he were ordered to stand trial after a preliminary hearing, or earlier were to enter a guilty plea to end the case.

* QUESTIONS RAISED: If a player is in trouble, how much should a coach know? C1