ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 9, 1996 TAG: 9601100090
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TARA BETTINGER
TONY Morrison, a Virginia Tech linebacker, was convicted in April by the campus judicial system of sexual misconduct and suspended for two semesters. He appealed the decision and was given a new hearing because of a technicality: At the time of his conviction, there wasn't a sexual-misconduct policy in the Tech student handbook.
At the second hearing, because the panel couldn't refer to the sexual-misconduct policy, he was found guilty only of abusive conduct, but his two-semester suspension was maintained.
At this point, university Provost Peggy Meszaros stepped in and said the punishment was too harsh because ``it was not consistent with sanctions levied for similar offenses.'' Meszaros changed the punishment to deferred suspension plus one hour of counseling. Morrison was reinstated just in time for the 1995 football season.
This whole situation has greatly upset people in Blacksburg, including me. I am ashamed to be a part of a university that would overlook violence to win a few football games. I am appalled that women are so little valued at this school, and I cannot wait to get out of here.
Why was it necessary for Tech to have a sexual-misconduct policy in its handbook to convict someone? Shouldn't it be enough that such crimes are against the law?
If Tech should neglect to include a section in its handbook forbidding murder, would that give someone leeway to commit murder and get away with it, simply because it wasn't explicitly prohibited by the school? Apparently, only if you're a highly recruited athlete.
More recently, in an unrelated incident, Morrison was suspended from the football team and couldn't play in the Sugar Bowl because he had engaged in conduct deemed "not in keeping with the standards of the university." Is sexual assault in keeping with the standards?
The provost called an open meeting on campus to try to quell some of the anger over this case. She pointed to new organizations and better lighting on campus as efforts the school has made to solve the problem of sexual assault. But better lighting doesn't do much good when people are being assaulted in dorm rooms. And what good is an internal judicial panel at a university if its sanctions can be thrown out by an administrator?
Support organizations are wonderful, but they are small comfort to a woman when she cannot expect to receive justice from the school.
Morrison's athletic status may not have been the only reason, or even the most important reason, for the administration to minimize this case. The more sexual crimes that show up in a university's statistics, the less parents will be inclined to send their children to that school, and the less money the school will make.
Parents cannot protect their children from crimes at college; they look to the university to protect them. Failing that, the university should at least try to see that justice is done. Tech hasn't done that.
If I were preparing to send my child to college, I would choose a university that values women as well as men, and that places importance on human beings rather than the almighty dollar. If you are looking for such a school, don't look in Blacksburg.
Tara Bettinger is a senior at Virginia Tech.
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