(left) Columbia's AD came down hard on the club hockey team's recruitment tactics(CSTV U-WIRE) NEW YORK -- In late September, Columbia University's men's ice hockey club team was suspended for the first semester of the 2006-2007 season, and was to be on probation for the next two years, after posting off-color recruitment fliers, the latest of several Athletics Department policy violations, officials announced.
The hockey club team lost its funding and wasn't permitted to resume practices and games until Jan. 16, 2007. The punishment also required the team to issue a formal apology to the Columbia community.
The flap began when the hockey club posted recruitment fliers around campus with the phrase "Stop being a pussy." (I wish I had the guts to title this article "Stop Being A Pussy" instead of "Former DU AD Suspends Club Hockey At Columbia")
Needless to say, this wasn't going to go over well with Columbia's no-nonsense director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Physical Education, Dr. M. Dianne Murphy. Some may recall Dr. Murphy was the former Athletic Director at DU who brought us the "Ruckus the Red Tailed Hawk Logo" and got rid of my buddy, the Denver Boone (I wish the DU Alums had stood up to her at the time instead of being a bunch of pussies).
"We recognize that free expression is a vital component of University life," Murphy said in the statement. "This disciplinary action is not related to free speech but rather the abdication of leadership responsibilities by senior members of the Club." (That's kind of funny because when I think of Dianne Murphy's tenure at DU, "Free Speech" doesn't jump out at me...Oh well, on with the story)
Athletics officials revised its disciplinary decision after discussing the situation with team leaders throughout the week. In place of the initial punishment, the team will be required to participate in leadership training and will be suspended from preseason competitions. The team will be on probation for one year. The former punishment suspended the team until the spring and put it on two-year probation (blah, blah, blah...)
"In the three days we met with the leadership of the team there was a real effort of cooperation ... the inconsistencies we were worried about were straightened out," said Ken Torrey, associate athletic director for physical education. "I think all people involved feel that as we move forward, this will make the hockey team stronger. The overall club sports will be better as a result."
3 comments:
First, beautiful article.
Second, I just wrote a big, longwinded, but incredibly eloquent ( ) comment on this article, but it was lost because somehow I got logged out of the board.
I will summarise.
I am taking the pinko liberal stance on this that is so typical of me. Yep. I love the political correctness. Why? Because 99% of the time political correctness is another way of saying respect toward other human beings.
Anyway.
I am not a big Diane Murphy fan. I don't have the loathing for her that so many others do, but I am not a fan. The untimely demise of Denver Boone was, I freely admit, an example of political correctness for its own sake, and therefore unnecessary at best and damaging at worst. That said.
If DG's blog or 14ers website (the CC portion of it) were endorsed or supported by DU, they would not be able to exist as they do. I think that we all recognise this. The reason is simple. There is content on each that, while amusing and harmless, is neither professional nor particularly dignified. So what we have to remember is that the university, even in regards to it's athletics, has to present itself in a professional and dignified fashion. The only thing that would make their websites "bad" would be the direct connection to DU. Not connected to DU, they are funny, at least in my opinion.
So when people who actively represent Columbia within the athletic department behaved publicly in an unprofessional and undignified manner in their representation of the university, the Athletic Director was obliged to intervene. I will say, it sounds like she went a little nuts with it, but she was obliged to do something.
That's all.
CC Sucks.
Super Duper
Duper,
Stop being a pussy. Just kidding. What the hockey players did was wrong. The situation worked out for the best. The guys learned a lesson, apologized and the club team is up and running.
And yet there is something very ironic about the article...To me at least.
Atta boy, DG. All I can say is that Columbia's loss is DU's gain.
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