Finding integrity in sports can seem like finding a needle in a haystack. Almost every day, another athlete (collegiate or professional) can be seen heading into court or a story breaks about an arrest with an unflattering mug shot to accompany it.
When Brigham Young University made the decision to suspend sophomore forward Brandon Davies at a crucial point in a season that looked like it could include an extended post-season run, many around the country questioned the sense of it. Turns out, Davies violated the school's honor code. The code is a set of rules, which every BYU student, not just athletes, must adhere to while attending the school. This code prohibits the use of alcohol, tea and coffee along with requiring students to live an honest and chaste life.
Why did Davies get dismissed? Reportedly, he had sex with his girlfriend. And they weren't married. How did Davies get caught? There are reports he turned himself in and accepted the appropriate punishment.
Many sports aficionados, myself included, applaud BYU for their decision. In the current state of athletics, seeing a school stand by its rules is a breath of fresh air. In my personal opinion, more schools should have honor codes.
If an athlete knowingly breaks the rules, there should be a punishment. Whether that rule is not drinking coffee or taking steroids to enhance performance, rules are rules.
Miami University does not have an "honor code" in the same sense BYU does. We have a student code of conduct which students are held responsible for violations of.
Some athletic programs have team rules, which serve as a type of honor code. A "The Brotherhood" ideal like the hockey team promotes is a prominent example of this, but other sports have them too. I'm not saying students and athletes at Miami are running around doing horrible things and we need to instate an honor code as soon as possible. I'm saying some schools have honor codes and stick by them even when it's not popular.
Rules do not merely apply to athletes, either. Coaches should have to follow the rules too. If a coach, say Jim Tressel, preaches integrity but then is proven to have shown an incredible lack of it, how can the athletes he is in charge of take him seriously? Tressel has shown an incredible lapse in judgment by knowingly violating NCAA rules and tipping off a player's mentor instead of informing his superiors or the NCAA. "Oops" isn't going to cover that one.
On a side-note, if I were in charge of the athletic department at the Ohio State University, I would fire Tressel. He broke the rules. It's all there to be seen in his email. And I know if I don't fire him, I will likely be fired. Personally, I think having a job is better than helping someone else keep his or hers.
Codes like this are in place to hold athletes and students accountable for their actions. Davies and BYU suffered the consequences as a team when a player violated those rules. The easy decision would have been to let Davies stay on the team the rest of the season and suspend him for the start of next year. But BYU did the right thing.
Here's to hoping that in the future more schools are willing to follow BYU's example and stand by the rules set in place. I hope more schools are willing to start standing up for what's right, not just what brings in the dollar signs.
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