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Situations like this call for a leader. He could have stepped up and said we are admitting these 2 young men and will do everything possible to help them be successful in the classroom and......we will ensure this issue never occurs again. Instead, he acted like a manager and allowed a small issue to become a huge one with long term ramifications...............Sad to see.........

totally agree with friarwolf

Friarwolf, that is the best post I have read on this whole debacle.

Thanks, Turner sent out a letter last night that further illustrates his lack of leadership in this matter.

care to post?

Its posted on the football blog - titled memo.......

If you think SMU football fans are throwing a hissy fit now, you can't imagine what the reaction would be if Turner had overturned the admissions committee and allowed those two kids in.

The militant factions of SMU's faculty would likely rise up and turn this thing from a PR black eye into a PR nuclear bomb.

Maybe Turner could have shown more leadership in some ways, but overturning the committee's decision would have opened a Pandora's box of outrage by the majority of people who don't have an investment in SMU football. In fact, there are a disturbing number of people - including some SMU alumni - who would like to SMU drop football altogether. Making a move that says we are backtracking on academic standards would throw gasoline on their fire.

Rip Turner all you want, but overturning the committee's decision was NEVER going to happen.

Turner's position as co-chair of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics - the very purpose of which is to "ensure that intercollegiate athletics programs operate within the educational mission of their colleges and universities" - prevents from even entertaining the idea of overturning the decisions. We don't like the decision, at least most of us don't. But we don't like everything our spouses and children do, either. Stand up for what you believe, but at some point, your family is still your family, and your school and team are still your school and team.