But Mr Jefferson would be proud if UVa made this a teaching moment. If the culture of privilege, and the culture of lacrosse, and the culture of college students, and the culture of abusive relationships and the culture of keeping secrets and the culture of alcohol were studied as they applied to this case, and if from this came presentations and websites and information about how to recognize a potential problem and speak out, all campuses and students could learn from this and another life could be saved. Take the bull by the horns. Investigate exactly what happened and why. What were the warning signs? How could this be prevented in the future.</p>
<p>In the same way that hospital errors are coming out of the closet, in the same way that a mistake in the OR is now a moment to explain to the family exactly what happened and why, triggering a change in how something is done hospital wide, system-wide and even nation wide, so too can this be a time to come out in the sunshine and put the details that are in the public record on the table and use that information to understand, to learn from it, and to educate. In retrospect there were many warning signs with regards to alcohol, anger management, abuse in the relationship and keeping secrets. Students can learn from this, coaches can learn from this, parents can learn from this. UVa can take the lead. A life does not have to be lost in vain.</p>
<p>*We can’t turn a blind eye to a particular culture that can nurture bad behavior. There are overlapping cultures here - the lacrosse culture, the culture of wealth and privilege, *</p>
<p>It’s not just the wealthy that can nurture bad behavior and attitudes…nor is it just lacrosse. The bad behavior can be found in other sports and amongst other income groups. For instance, there are middle and low-income star athletes that have been given special privileges by their high schools, also while being adored by their families who hope that their student athlete’s entrance into the pros will increase their family’s status.</p>
<p>Donna you are correct but when one poster calls another poster “RectumRoundNeck” the mother in me comes out and I thought those posters deserved a “time out” and “chill out” was the nicest comment I could think of.</p>
<p>MODERATOR NOTE…THE OFFENSIVE NAME CALLING POST HAS NOW BEEN REMOVED.
~COLLEGEMOM</p>
<p>Federal law allows law enforcement officers to run criminal record checks for law enforcement purposes. Any check outside of that instance would require a waiver from the subject of the check.</p>
<p>Each year, all Virginia colleges must submit names and social security numbers of enrolled students to state police who check names against the sex offender registry. Seems to me that the addition of criminal checks could be added with appropriate legislation from The state government. This would keep access to records limited to law enforcement and potentially give the colleges important information about students’ off-campus activity.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, a “winning” coach will often do otherwise. It amazes me that some of the top academic schools accept some of the athletes that they do. Here I go, using UVA as an example, but just look at some of the football players they recruited. You can’t, because several of them never had a chance to stay at UVA. They had their fingers crossed but it didn’t work out. I remember telling friends years ago that UVA would never have top football teams because they just wouldn’t recruit like that. I was wrong. </p>
<p>Winning still trumps everything else in far too many places.</p>
<p>Oy vey. There are many many many threads on CC about this and I truly don’t think this is the thread for that frequent admissions discussion. Just saying.</p>
<p>Maybe the merits of lacrosse should be addressed directly. If it is not contributing to intellectual development OR to development of character and discipline, it has no place in a university. Seems that lacrosse has a uniquely bad reputation among sports for the type of male athlete it attracts.</p>
<p>I have to agree with SunnyFlorida, and also thought of the awful Phoebe Prince case, which happened nearby. It is only by shining the light into these dark places that we can begin to change for the better.</p>
<p>sorghum - there are many wonderful people playing lacrosse. My neighbor was a coach for years at one of the top colleges in the area. His son was a top player at another nationally ranked college. One of my best friend’s husband was a college lacrosse star and their son is also. </p>
<p>The sport needs to be cleaned up - as many do. The team should be held to a higher standard. The coaches need to discipline the kids more, but they need cover from the administration. If top players are suspended and the team suffers, they lose their job. If top players are suspended, then recruiting suffers. Parents and players don’t necessarily want their kid going to a school at which the team is watched closely. </p>
<p>Maybe canceling the season is one of the only ways to get their attention and have them clean house - or maybe it would cause them to close ranks more and be more secretive out of fear of losing a season.</p>
<p>Casteen has now said that UVa will check the public records for all students once a semester. Maybe other colleges will do this and it will help. </p>
<p>And another sad update–looks like there may have been a public argument earlier that night between Ms. Love and Huguely</p>
<p>I don’t think people are offering to blame others - this is one man’s action, but there is a level of learned behavior. Being allowed to break the rules and not paying the consequences. Most things will take years to fix. The only thing that can be fixed now is a troubled relationship. If a girl now feels threatened in the least or feels like their boyfriend is getting very possessive - they need to get out. They need to tell their parents and friends and CHANGE that situation immediately.</p>
<p>I think that part of the reason for the huge interest in this thread is that the two of them were college students and we all have college students, or students who will be there in the next few years, or students who have just left. I think it’s not so much blame as reflection - if this could happen to those kids there, could it happen to ours? Is there a way to prevent it with respect to our own kids?</p>