From today’s Washington Post (and follow the link to the original Chicago Tribune article for more details):
“Evangelical college football players face arrest over hazing incident”
Seems like the Chicago Tribune is closer to the source than the Washington Post.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-wheaton-college-football-hazing-met-20170918-story.html
The incident, as described in the Chicago Tribune, hits a number of other hot buttons in addition to bigotry: hazing, sexual assault, football team, administration response to the incident, and criminal charges. The incident occurred on March 19, 2016, but arrest warrants were signed on September 18, 2017. The charges are aggravated battery, mob action and unlawful restraint.
The first black woman to gain tenure is forced out over a FB post, yet their football players get away with assault… and they have to a set of moral standards (no drinking, smoking or sex outside marriage). Why is it that the prominent evangelicals all pick and choose? Homosexuality (not the sex acts, but just loving someone of the same gender is a huge sin, apparently professing solidarity with someone of another religion is too. Yet assaulting another student is only worthy of community service and an 8-page essay which they probably had someone else write for them. I hope the criminal justice system treats them a bit more harshly. According to another news report http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-wheaton-college-football-hazing-met-20170918-story.html
it should have been a title IX case, because they sexually assaulted him with an object. (I guess that doesn’t constitute sex outside of marriage, because that would violate their moral standards).
The level of hypocrisy is pretty astounding, I agree.
Wow, as a Christian I am really appalled by the hazing story. Community service and an essay? Why weren’t they expelled?? This story makes me so sad.
Me too, @MaineLonghorn - I’m also a sad, appalled Christian. I’m also angry. Angry at the hypocrisy and very angry at the “punishment” that Wheaton thought appropriate for this reprehensible behavior.
Wheaton should do the right thing, and make a huge statement, by suspending football for the remainder of the season. Also, the head coach should be fired.
I am so dismayed by my fellow Christians these days. I know I’m not perfect either, but it seems that evangelicals are trying their best to make God as bigoted and hateful as possible.
These football players are despicable but those are found in all demographics. The biggest issue I have is how the coach and college handled it. Why are these students still on the team? Why were they not expelled? How is the campus any safer today?
I haven’t read many reports. I hope the local police have been professional.
I read the Chicago Tribune article; it appears to me that Wheaton hid behind FERPA rather than acting decisively or in accordance to their stated principles as a evangelical college.
I would contrast it with St. Olaf, which as a college from the Lutheran tradition is viewed by some evangelicals as not being Christian enough, that when hazing and underage drinking was reported as initiation for freshman baseball players in 2015 took the immediate action of cancelling the entire season for the entire team.
I don’t normally get on a high horse for these stories, but this one really hit me in the gut…
Todd Beamer (Flight 93, “Let’s Roll”) and his wife are alumnae of Wheaton College…their son David now plays football there. The football team adopted the “Let’s Roll” slogan as their motto. Although Dave Beamer started playing after the hazing incident, I’m saddened and appalled that the school and football coaches handled this with such blatant disregard of the tremendous sacrifice given by Todd. The football players involved do not deserve to continue being part of a team that supposedly values evangelical beliefs while honoring one of their own selfless act of courage. The coaches and college have disgraced Todd Beamer’s name and what all those passengers stood up for on that day.
UNREAL.
Normally, I’d say these are just allegations, but something happened because the college imposed sanctions. If the gist of the allegations is true, and the punishment was 50 hours of community service and writing an essay, then the president of Wheaton College should be fired immediately.
UPDATE: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-wheaton-college-hazing-met-20170919-story.html
Players are now suspended from team. One of the accused claims he was “exonerated” by the college.
Another account http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2017/09/20/wheaton-college-hazing-football-players-surrender/
Exonerated? Maybe if he was the one driving the car he was deemed not guilty of some of the sexual assault-related acts. At best.
Disgusting! I have no other words. I can’t believe these shining examples of future manhood weren’t expelled and that it took 18 months for charges to be brought against them. I don’t even know if I can say the rest of what I am thinking…
An update–says college felt victim wasn’t credible.
Appalling. I expect, and certainly hope, applications to Wheaton will drop like a rock this year. I cannot imagine entrusting my child to a school administration that disbelieved such an obvious victim of assault. This poor kid immediately reported the assault, went to the hospital, had documented injuries, was so distraught the nurse called the police, and left the school the next day. Can you imagine how they would deal with the much more common he said/she said type of case?
Wow. Awful.
The college felt the victim wasn’t credible, but the police and the DA did. Is this really about the school not finding the victim credible or more about it trying to push the situation away?