Indiana to reject any player with sexual or domestic violence past
By Jason Parker
Indiana is taking a bold step in the current state of college football, saying it won’t accept any player with a conviction for sexual or domestic violence.
In the current world of college athletics, more and more emphasis is being placed, rightfully so, on disciplining players who commit sexual assault and domestic violence crimes. While some schools have struggled to deal with the issue, Indiana University is going the opposite way with a new rule that may cost them talent, but will win them credibility on the subject.
The school is enacting a policy that will ban any player from being accepted to the school who has a prior conviction for one of the more severe crimes (h/t Indianapolis Star):
"The policy bans “any prospective student-athlete — whether a transfer student, incoming freshman, or other status — who has been convicted of or pleaded guilty or no contest to a felony involving sexual violence.” It further defines “sexual violence” as “dating violence, domestic violence, rape, sexual assault or sexual violence as defined by the Indiana University policy on sexual misconduct.”"
In addition, any time there is an appeal to be heard on the matter — depending on certain circumstances as laid out by the new guidelines — it will be heard by people who have no ties to the athletics department in an effort to remove any possible bias.
The Southeastern Conference introduced a similar measure in 2015, but only applied it toward transfer students and did not include similar rules for their appeals process. The Big Ten, of which Indiana is still a member, has told each school they can go with their own rules.
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Whether this was for public relations purposes or out of a genuine care about the issue, the Indiana Hoosiers are winning the day in making sure that those who take advantage of others and try to abuse their power and status are handled swiftly. You can be willing to bet their new rules will be the model for many schools to come.