Set the sports standard

Late winter is usually the time to celebrate inter-collegiate basketball rivalries and gear up for March Madness. But this season, college football has cornered the market on madness. In Denver, three alleged rape victims are suing the University of Colorado in federal court over claims the school turned a blind eye to sexual assaults at football recruiting parties. Florida State withdrew its scholarship offer to a recruit who was recently arrested with two other young men and charged with performing "lewd and lascivious acts with a minor." A top Miami recruit was just released on bond in Gainesville, Fla., after he surrendered to authorities on charges of misdemeanor criminal mischief and misdemeanor battery -- which in layman's terms, means he's accused of grabbing a woman against her will, punching a man at a nightclub and vandalizing his hotel. \nIt's no secret many college athletic programs have tolerated rogue behavior for years. The revenue from merchandise and television contracts and the prestige associated with championship caliber football and men's basketball programs have led university administrators to turn a blind eye to recruiting violations, illegal booster donations to athletes, academic improprieties and even crimes committed by athletes. What's disturbing about this spring's rash of arrests, accusations and lawsuits is the nature of the alleged crimes. \nIt's tacky -- but not shocking -- to hear of recruits being taken to strip clubs or players organizing private parties with exotic dancers. But it is horrifying to think women are used as unwitting recruiting tools. Underage athletes are taken to local hotspots and told if they come to State U Tech they'll be the Big Man on Campus. If that permissiveness extends to leading athletes to believe female students are there to amuse them and satisfy their sexual needs, then serious action needs to be taken within college athletic programs. \nI don't believe athletes are role models, but can't they at least be held to the same standards as other students? Athletic departments are arms of the university, not private enterprises. Is a college or university serving its mission by looking away while athletes entertain recruits with strippers and encourage boorish and criminal behavior? Can coaches plead ignorance and shirk responsibility for the behavior of their players?\nThis past September, Chancellor Gordon Gee of Vanderbilt University restructured the athletic department in part to raise academic standards and make Vanderbilt's varsity and intramural sports programs more accountable to the university and its mission. While a bold move, Vandy hasn't been an elite athletics program for some years. Vanderbilt has less to lose than Miami, FSU, or even Colorado, but those embarrassed schools have more to gain by following Gee's lead. \nLast year, we had Larry "Party Boy" Eustachy of Iowa State. Summer saw the murder of a Baylor basketball player and a thwarted smear campaign by the coach to cover up NCAA violations. Last fall, the story was Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett's suspension because of a laundry list of unethical and extralegal behavior. What were once sporadic scandals are now a steady stream of stories about the reprehensible behavior of athletes and their coaches. \n Teenagers and young adults can be counted on for making poor decisions, if nothing else. The mission of a university is to educate the young and turn out well-rounded, productive members of society. If universities like Duke and Stanford can run elite varsity athletics programs without scandal, and Vanderbilt can pull its athletic department under more direct university control, why don't more administrators take decisive action towards reigning in rogue programs? \nUntil more university presidents and chancellors take up the fight started by Chancellor Gee, don't be surprised when more and more college athletes trade stat sheets for rap sheets.