ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 21, 1996 TAG: 9611210040
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
The recent indictments of eight Virginia Tech football players and one former player continue to reverberate across campus, where Tuesday the Faculty Senate considered two resolutions condemning athletic violence.
In the end, one resolution was withdrawn and the Senate rejected another that would have urged Tech to forfeit most of its football wins and revenue if the two players facing felony indictments are convicted.
Still, the Senate will consider a new proposal next month.
Meanwhile, President Paul Torgersen told the group that he expects to start talking with the athletic department after the end of the football season about "what we can do from here on to reduce the likelihood" of such events. Specifically, Torgersen wants to consider orientation and recruiting, including finding out whether a high school recruit has been in trouble.
Of the eight players and one ex-player indicted, eight were connected to an August brawl on College Avenue where a track athlete's collarbone was broken. Another player was charged in an alleged abduction, an incident separate from the fight. Six players served one-game suspensions, and two others were kicked off the squad for the season. None has been tried yet.
"I've been receiving a lot of advice on these sanctions, whether they're too serious or not serious enough," Torgersen said. "I think this type of action [is] absolutely necessary."
Former Faculty Senate president Tom Sherman asked Torgersen if any thought is being given to the coaches' responsibility.
"Are there any sanctions being considered for the coaches?" said Sherman, an education professor. He compared the situation to his responsibility if he were overseeing student teachers who "engaged in unacceptable behavior."
The two proposed resolutions covered broad ground.
Faculty Senate President Paul Metz withdrew his, particularly after senators raised questions about his proposal to commend the president, athletic director and football coach for imposing sanctions. The proposal called for a rejection of "violence, theft or other forms of lawlessness" on the campus, and decried that such actions "reflect unfairly on the great majority of student athletes."
In essence, the measure backed the action of university administrators and endorsed whatever steps are necessary to prevent such incidents in the future.
"There was an obvious range of opinion in faculty whether to commend the president for what he had done," Metz said Wednesday. "Therefore, I think we simply will not speak to that point."
But in the proposal that will return next month, he said, "we will strongly condemn violence, particularly by those who represent the university, and call for whatever strong sanctions it takes to address or prevent future incidents."
The first resolution, which gained only one vote among some 32 senators, would have called on Tech to forfeit most of this season's football wins if either of the two players facing felony indictments are later convicted.
The proposal, brought to the Senate by sociology Professor Bradley Hertel, also called for the school to give up all revenue derived directly from such contests.
He introduced it by saying he believed a lot of others share his concerns, but won't speak out because of the "sensitive nature of the issue."
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