ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 23, 1996 TAG: 9604230123
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
FRANK BEAMER told the board of visitors that it needed to let the internal campus judicial system do its job.
Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer made a rare appearance before the university's governing board Monday to assure its members that all's well with his 112-member squad - despite news stories and headlines that may seem to the contrary.
"I'm very committed to giving you the quality of program you expect," Beamer told the board of visitors. And that includes "having the right type of people represent Virginia Tech off the field."
This year, Beamer led Tech to perhaps its greatest season ever, capped by a victory in the Sugar Bowl. But the postseason has been marred by a civil suit filed by a former student who alleges that two players raped her in a dormitory suite while a third was present. More recently, the starting quarterback was charged with malicious wounding and a former starting linebacker was charged with assault and battery following a fight outside a bar.
A Montgomery County grand jury decided not to indict the two players accused of rape in the civil suit. The two players charged in the fight go to court next month.
Tech president Paul Torgersen said he invited Beamer, a Tech alumnus, to speak so that board members would have all the information they need when constituents ask them what's going on with the team.
"I happen to believe coach Beamer and his staff are recruiting student athletes that we can take some pride in their performance both on and off the field," Torgersen said after the meeting. "I wanted [the board] to hear what he does."
For his part, Beamer informed the board of an event that received no press attention: The departure from New Orleans of a young redshirt player who broke curfew the first night the team was in town for the Sugar Bowl.
"Sure enough," Beamer said. "We put that guy on a bus and sent him home."
Beamer said he and his coaching staff work hard to ensure that student athletes realize they're in the spotlight, and that they can take steps these next four years to correctly shape their lives. He said he disciplines team members on a case-by-case basis, and he declined to comment on specific cases.
"They do make mistakes," Beamer said of his squad. "How large a mistake sometimes gets out of focus when it gets into the media."
Board members interviewed after the meeting said they supported the coach and his staff. But, as member Jim Turner said, "No one can be proud of these situations."
"Given that situation," Turner said, "I think it's prudent we and other leadership be involved in setting proper policy and make sure we have people to carry it out."
Both Turner and vice rector Henry Dekker were asked if they were concerned about the football team, and both answered the same way.
"I'm always concerned about all students," Dekker said. "I'm concerned about the alcohol problem."
Beamer spoke soon after the board received an update on Tech's tough new alcohol-use policy, which was instituted this school year. The report contained some encouraging news: 31 students were required to complete an alcohol education program; of the half who completed it in the first semester, none was referred to the judicial system during the spring semester for any violations.
Beamer also told the board that it needed to let the internal campus judicial system do its job.
Departing board member Richard Bagley said he was not concerned about Tech's football team "because the nature of a young athlete is going to put you in a certain number of situations.
"I don't think they're bad boys. I don't think they're the best boys in the world, either."
Bagley said he believed Beamer was a man of integrity. And, he added about the Tech players, "I don't think they're going to play football for Coach Beamer if they don't have [integrity]."
LENGTH: Medium: 78 linesby CNB