Anything and everything about Liberty Flames football. Your comments on games, recruiting and the direction of the program as we move into new era.

Moderators: jcmanson, Sly Fox, BuryYourDuke, Class of 20Something

#516500
It’s one thing to be found guilty of breaking the honor code. That would just mean they had sex. But to be found guilty of breaking the sexual harassment, discrimination, and assault policy is pretty damning. It means the school found enough evidence to pass this along to Lynchburg PD for an investigation and criminal charges.

While the allegations are horrible, I want to commend the University, Athletic Department, and Coach Gill on taking swift action once the school ruled on their investigation and not hiding this. It would've been very easy to sweep it under the rug (as I'm sure it has been in the past).
#516502
Jonathan Carone wrote:It’s one thing to be found guilty of breaking the honor code. That would just mean they had sex. But to be found guilty of breaking the sexual harassment, discrimination, and assault policy is pretty damning. It means the school found enough evidence to pass this along to Lynchburg PD for an investigation and criminal charges.

While the allegations are horrible, I want to commend the University, Athletic Department, and Coach Gill on taking swift action once the school ruled on their investigation and not hiding this. It would've been very easy to sweep it under the rug (as I'm sure it has been in the past).
+1
Glad this isn't an AC 2.0
#516508
Jonathan Carone wrote:It’s one thing to be found guilty of breaking the honor code. That would just mean they had sex. But to be found guilty of breaking the sexual harassment, discrimination, and assault policy is pretty damning. It means the school found enough evidence to pass this along to Lynchburg PD for an investigation and criminal charges.

While the allegations are horrible, I want to commend the University, Athletic Department, and Coach Gill on taking swift action once the school ruled on their investigation and not hiding this. It would've been very easy to sweep it under the rug (as I'm sure it has been in the past).
This all day long. It absolutely sucks this happened but I am so glad it is being handled the way it has been.
#516510
jinxy wrote:This is enough for dismissal for both in my opinion. Sounds like james was in all kinds of trouble. Wasnt he suspended a couple times prior. Hes now playing for south carolina as a reward for his conduct.
What's the protocol for a normal student with these charges? Would they be dismissed for breaking this policy? If so, I would agree they should be dismissed. If not, I'd support whatever the normal protocol is.
#516563
I'm going to try to give some details but at the same time dance around some things because I don't want to victim shame or make accusations.

There are two things at play that made it harder for the players to be exonerated before it got to this point:

1) Baylor. Because of what happened at Baylor, everyone is going to err on the side of turning things over to the police. That's not a bad thing, but it doesn't help the players when the other issue is

2) The Liberty Way. Because there was a sexual event that happened at a party where alcohol and possibly drugs were present, Liberty was fining and reprimanding everyone there. People who could've otherwise spoken out and cleared the events in question didn't do so because they didn't want to be reprimanded and fined for being there. When you add possible suspensions for other athletes because of the reprimands/fines, you see where self-preservation comes into play. You'd hope people would speak out regardless of outcome but at 20 years old, I don't know that I would've either.

I hate the "once the details come out" phrase because we were burned by it with Asa, but the more I hear about what happened, the more I realize there's a lot more at play here than what's on the surface.
#516568
thepostman wrote:As long as they don't bring the players back before it all plays out then I think they're good
Agreed completely. The suspensions right now are totally justified because of the situation. If innocent, it sucks for the players and hopefully they can bounce back from it and get a second chance here or somewhere else.
#516581
Im glad for how Coach Gill and the department are handling this situation, but these guys are probably done regardless. As Jon said, you still have the Honor Code violations in play even if they are a) not officially charged by the Commonwealth's Attorney (as a side note, one has to think that any prosecutors working in that office who are LU alumni would possibly consider recusing themselves from this particular case) or b) fall closer to the harassment side of the scale
#516582
Beej - I wouldn't say they're 'done'. If these allegations prove to be false, they'll serve their suspension and then likely be reinstated. They may have to sit out all of this year or some other form of punishment, but I wouldn't say they're 'done'. We're a school of second chances. If this turns out to be something legal but against The Liberty Way, there's no reason for them not to be allowed back.
#516590
Fair enough Jon. I guess my thought was with the honor code violations they probably are going to be out of school at least for this semester and if they do come back for spring ball its not guaranteed that they slot right back into wherever they were heading into this season, especially considering the guys that play in their absence. If there ends up being a legal component added to this situation (i.e. charges are filed), my guess is they probably are withdrawn from school and they probably end up transferring like James did.
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