Accused Football Player Should Be Removed From CSUN Team

As a CSUN alumna, I was shocked and disgusted to learn through The Times that an attempted murder suspect remains a member in good standing of the CSUN football team.

A student-athlete who has been awarded an athletic scholarship has an obligation to the university to maintain good standing as a student and to train and develop his athletic skills for which he has won a scholarship. Beneath these obvious requirements, that student has the obligation to carry himself in a manner befitting a university representative; to behave in a way that will not embarrass or disgrace himself and the university.

I would argue that as the student sat until recently in the San Bernardino County Jail, he was not bringing favorable publicity to CSUN. For this reason alone, he should be suspended from the football team pending resolution of his legal problems.

Similarly, the university has an obligation to the student-athlete. I hardly think that a full-time student with serious criminal charges pending against him should be spending his extra time on the football field. If CSUN fails to admit that the student should be suspended on moral principles then it should at the minimum suspend him for his own good so that he can focus his energies on his schoolwork and his legal dilemma.

It is difficult to tell if CSUN’s position of not taking action is one of sheer greed or sheer stupidity. Is the university trying to get every last dime out of its scholarship investment by keeping him on the team? Does the university truly believe that suspending this player from the team pending a resolution of his legal difficulties will be in violation of his rights? Either position is wrong.

I am not asking that the university convict him before his trial, nor am I suggesting that he is entitled to anything less than due process. However, he should not have the privilege of participating in college football during this time.

The best and the brightest are honored to represent the university, in academic competitions, the arts and intercollegiate athletics. It is a disgrace to all those individuals who have earned that honor, past or present, when someone who has been charged by the state of California for double attempted murder gets to stand in that same spotlight.

TARA M. FLANAGAN

Santa Monica

Flanagan was captain of the CSUN women’s basketball team in 1985-86.