Removing athlete was the right call

Last week, IU President Myles Brand sent a clear message that the University does care about honesty and integrity in the athletics department.\nBy asking athletics director Clarence Doninger to suspend women's basketball player Rachael Honegger -- who pleaded guilty to stealing about $13,000 from the Elletsville IGA -- Brand corrected the athletics department's grievous leniency.\nIU allowed Honegger to continue playing after a judge sentenced her to house arrest but permitted her to travel with the team. Although the judge's sentence was nothing more than a slap on the wrist for a major crime, the University's punishment was even more troubling: There was none.\nAfter Honegger's sentencing became public earlier this month, many began to grumble about preferential treatment for athletes. Students in the corridors of Ballantine Hall, professors in their offices, IU fans on Internet newsgroups and the IDS editorial board decried the University for looking the other way when an athlete became a felon.\nApparently, the same conversation happened in Room 200 of Bryan Hall -- the Office of the University President.\nBrand contacted the athletics director and suggested Honegger be suspended from the team, according to a University spokeswoman. Doninger agreed, and Honegger was placed on suspension.\nStudents who are convicted of crimes are often investigated by the University because the student code of conduct says IU can take action if it's related to the student's campus life. In this case, that investigation never happened.\nBecause of Brand's action, Honegger will not play until the University completes an investigation into whether she violated the athletics code of conduct or the student code of conduct. At that point, a final punishment can be decided upon.\nPerhaps the investigation will show she doesn't deserve punishment. Perhaps it will show she needs to be removed from the team. But we would never have known if Brand hadn't asked Doninger to take a closer look.\nPresident Brand should be commended for insisting on honesty and integrity from all students; it is a brave stance to take. It's a stance that Monroe County Circuit Judge David Welch and the athletics department did not take. \nBut it's a message that needs to come across clearly and strongly. Last week, it did.