Selective enforcement at OU

[East Coast Mustang]

I'm not the biggest Clay Travis fan, but I thought he hit the nail on the head here. Drunk, stupid kids singing racist song on a party bus? Immediate expulsion. Athlete clocks a woman in the face, breaking four bones? No expulsion, second chance granted. Those kids should have been punished for what they did, but what Mixon did was far worse. Not to mention they admitted Dorial Green-Beckham after he got the boot at Mizzou for shoving a woman down the stairs.

Everyone has been praising David Boren, but I thought he came off as a grandstanding clown in all of this. Also, as a state school you're on pretty shaky ground expelling kids for something they said.

http://www.foxsports.com/college-footba ... nce-031015

[03Mustang]

All deserved expulsion. Travis hit the nail on the head here...they got it right with SAE, but fall way, way short on violence and everyone should hold up on patting Boren on the back too much.

[ponyboy]

Agreed.

[East Coast Mustang]

All deserved expulsion. Travis hit the nail on the head here...they got it right with SAE, but fall way, way short on violence and everyone should hold up on patting Boren on the back too much.

All may have deserved expulsion, but constitutionally speaking the expulsion of the two SAEs might not hold up in court. See here for someone who can offer a slightly better explanation than me: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volo ... st-speech/

The kids would have transferred anyways, and may never sue OU -- or they might, if they want to avoid having to disclose on applications for colleges, jobs, and grad schools that they were expelled from college. But I'd like to think the "social free market" would work this one out on its own and the kids' damaged reputations and having to transfer schools would have been enough punishment for the crime.

I'm also a little wary of throwing kids out of school for using constitutionally protected speech. The nutjobs have hijacked higher education to such an extent that who knows what a slippery slope that could potentially create. Look what happened at UCLA recently: http://www.browndailyherald.com/2015/03 ... candidate/

And UC-Irvine: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morn ... le-anyway/

[RebStang]

I don't think there's any way it wold hold up in court. If the kids and their families decided to sue, I'm not sure Oklahoma's reaction would stand up to a 1st Amendment challenge. That said, I think the families will rightly decide that the best move is to lay low and hope this blows over quickly - all a lawsuit would do is provide a permanent legal record of what these idiots did.

[ponyfan37]

I truly believe Boren did what he felt was right in both cases. Athletics are not his main concern at the university, I can guarantee you that.

[East Coast Mustang]

I truly believe Boren did what he felt was right in both cases. Athletics are not his main concern at the university, I can guarantee you that.

Maybe so, but he was wildly inconsistent. I think hitting a woman in the face is a whole lot worse than singing racial slurs on a bus where no one that the slur is directed at is even present.

[couch 'em]

He did what he thought was right......to protect the interests of the university. Athletes assaulting women is more more acceptable in 2015 than organized racial slurs that go viral.

[smusic 00]

It was way too swift and way too severe. Made for TV.

[smusportspage]

At least Boren got it half right then. If those individuals choose to have their day in court, so be it. Sometimes, you just have to take a stand and say that [deleted] ain't going to fly.

[Digetydog]

I don't think there's any way it wold hold up in court. If the kids and their families decided to sue, I'm not sure Oklahoma's reaction would stand up to a 1st Amendment challenge. That said, I think the families will rightly decide that the best move is to lay low and hope this blows over quickly - all a lawsuit would do is provide a permanent legal record of what these idiots did.

If the two students sued, they would win in court running away.

Simply put, the 1st Amendment does not allow a state university to kick out students for having reprehensible views on race. Let's say that there were two students who were actual Klan members and who spouted out that nonsense, OU wouldn't be able to kick them out of school unless they committed some sort of action like committing a violent act.

Right now, there are pro-Palestinians activists on a number of campus' that spouting off on how they want to get rid of Israel. They haven't been expelled? Heck, some of them are teachers.

[peruna81]

He did what he thought was right......to protect the interests of the university. Athletes assaulting women is more more acceptable in 2015 than organized racial slurs that go viral.

sadly, spot on...

[mustangxc]

Is a university not allowed to have a code of conduct?

[Grant Carter]

Is a university not allowed to have a code of conduct?

Who said that a university cannot have a code of conduct?

[mustangxc]

Is a university not allowed to have a code of conduct?

Who said that a university cannot have a code of conduct?

Several on this thread have suggested that the expulsions would not hold up in court.