“Beat them with wet noodles! That’ll teach them!”

Dear Director Taylor:

With your rather demonstrative assertion “the players have been through enough this week” because they have been “vilified by the media” and “there are not going to be any suspensions…these kids don’t deserve suspension,” after their “mistake” (as you referred to it) was discovered by Secretary of State Al Jager’s office, you may as well have lifted your middle finger to the voters and citizens of North Dakota. With your attitude that thirteen players who willfully and knowingly committed voter fraud “will not be suspended,” you set in concrete the often-held belief of many: that when collegiate football players enter the sanctum of NDSU’s locker room, they are cloaked with an invisible shield which they and you apparently believe shields them from any and all repercussions, regardless of their behavior. And it doesn’t matter if it is a misdemeanor charge of drunk driving and resisting police arrest (Travis Beck, named last year’s Division 1 Football Championships Most Valuable Player),

or for dragging out the phone book and forging hundreds of signatures on a petition because they were too lazy to actually do what they were hired to do—go out and find people to sign the petitions legitimately.

Meanwhile, NDSU President Dean Bresciani sent out a Campus Email on the recent events, explaining student and campus disciplinary codes and processes for all students who are charged with a crime: “When students commit acts that are also violations of the community, state or federal laws, on or off campus, those students will be subject to the same civil and/or criminal penalties as any other citizen in addition to campus resolution. Campus resolution of such acts may proceed before, during or after the civil or criminal proceedings have concluded.” President Bresciani’s Campus Email continued to explain that while it may appear the university is not taking action or not acting quickly, “we must carefully observe federal student privacy laws and for campus administrators, including me, who have a role in the student discipline process, it is inappropriate to become directly involved or comment on situations under review.” President Bresciani further explains that students involved in co-curricular activities are also subject to disciplinary reviews and sanctions by the organizations they are members of.

Director Taylor, I would assume your role of an administrator as NDSU’s Director of the Athletics Department would place you into the same category as President Bresciani; therefore, perhaps in the future when one or several of NDSU’s anointed locker-room “golden boys” screws up, before you place your large sized foot in your equally sized mouth, you will do yourself and the university a service and consider how a blanket statement such as “there are not going to be any suspensions…these kids don’t deserve suspensions” could have a totally opposite effect on the public and those who actually have a much higher tower of power than you do.

So, let me be the first to congratulate you (at least in print), Director Taylor, for managing to bring the stereotypical image of the “bad boy” college football player down to the level of “easy come – easy go” petty criminal with no regard for whom they affect or hurt or what laws they break or what it will eventually cost the citizens of North Dakota for an investigation and eventual prosecution.

Because after all, having a winning Division 1 college football team should be paramount, and that’s hard to do when several of your star players are on suspension or sitting in the poky for illegal activities.

There is one silver lining the public can hang on to, Director Taylor: at least you’re not molding the minds and morality of elementary-age children.