Three months after a violent street assault and arrest of six players thrust its football program into the national spotlight, California University of Pennsylvania said Tuesday that it has begun implementing reforms from a just-released consultant’s report.
The school intends to re-examine its drug-test policies for athletics, begin requiring players to self-report arrests outside the local community and more closely scrutinize “high-risk” transfers from other football programs, interim Cal U president Geraldine Jones said.
Ms. Jones said she also intends to act immediately on another, broader suggestion — “that I become more directly involved with our student athletes.”
“Moving forward, I will meet with each of our intercollegiate sports teams, face to face, to emphasize the university’s expectations,” she said in a statement.
“I have directed athletic director Dr. Karen Hjerpe to instruct our head coaches in all NCAA athletics programs to develop guidelines that clearly outline expectations for their players, as well as consequences for failure to abide by university, athletic department and team rules,” Ms. Jones said. “Once the guidelines have been reviewed and approved, this information will be communicated to every member of each team.”
In all, 32 recommendations emerged from the review of the outside consultant, The Compliance Group of Lenexa, Kan. The firm, hired in December, delivered its 34-page report dated Saturday to the office of chief counsel of the State System of Higher Education. It was made public Tuesday afternoon.
Ms. Jones said Cal U will create a panel to evaluate potential two- and four-year transfers and other football prospects. The consultant’s arrest analysis showed transfer students from other football programs were no more responsible for rising arrests than other players, but the decision to admit those transfers was an institutional one and confusion existed over who provided oversight.
“The decision about whether to give a ‘high-risk’ student an athletic opportunity should not lie with the coaching staff or the athletics department alone,” Ms. Jones said.
Regarding out-of-town arrests, Ms. Jones said language will be inserted into Cal U’s student handbook emphasizing the responsibility of athletes to self-report arrests other than traffic citations. “The importance of this obligation will be conveyed to all student-athletes, who should understand that serious penalties, up to and including suspension from the team, will be imposed for failure to report.”
Cal U announced its planned review Nov. 3 after six football players were arrested and charged in connection with an Oct. 30 beating of a man on a street near campus.
Police said 30-year-old Lewis Campbell III of West Chester, who was not a student, intervened when a player exchanged words with his girlfriend. He was felled by kicks and other blows that left him hospitalized for nearly a week with a brain injury.
The attack led Cal U to suspend the six players from the university and cancel and forfeit its next home game. Cal U later learned one of the players, senior defensive back Corey Lamont Ford of Harrisburg, was awaiting sentencing in a New Year’s Day car crash in Washington, D.C., that involved alcohol and left a man in a coma.
The university had no mandated self-reporting rule at the time, and Mr. Ford apparently had not told Cal U officials about the incident.
The attack and arrests were the latest blemishes on the NCAA Division II program that had seen at least 13 other current and former players charged criminally over the past two years.
Cal U administrators hired TCG to “examine all aspects of the program and to recommend changes, as appropriate, to assure that it reflects Cal U's core values of integrity, civility and responsibility.”
The report said “tension exists between student-athletes and local law enforcement,’’ in particular football players and borough police. It suggested forming a Community Relations Committee.
TCG studied documents and interviewed 66 people, on and off campus, including 22 current student-athletes, 24 coaches or athletic department workers and 14 Cal U administrators and faculty. The firm, hired for $60,000, focused on years 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14.
The report said alcohol and marijuana use “are part of the football culture” and that education on topics such as alcohol and marijuana as gateway drugs, adapting to college life and gender violence should be increased.
Cal U spokeswoman Christine Kindl said no job losses are expected but some duties may be reassigned. The report indicated Ms. Hjerpe “may have too much on her plate” as campus NCAA compliance officer and athletic director, Ms. Kindl said.
Ms. Hjerpe and football coach Michael Kellar have been unavailable for comment since the review was announced and did not return messages late Tuesday.
Bill Schackner: bschackner@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1977 or on Twitter @BschacknerPG.
First Published: February 3, 2015, 8:46 p.m.
