FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[wally_wabash]

More from the Chicago Tribune:
"Sources told the Tribune that several players were required to perform 50 hours of community service and write an eight-page essay reflecting on their behavior."

Double spaced?

[Gregory Sager]

Just so that everybody has the facts straight, this appears to be the timeline:

* March 19, 2016 -- The incident in question takes place. The alleged victim is treated at a hospital, which notifies the Wheaton Police Department, and the alleged victim moves out of Wheaton College housing the next day. He subsequently leaves school, presumably with no academic penalties incurred for his mid-semester departure since he now attends college in Indiana.

* March, 2016 -- DuPage County law enforcement officials begin an investigation of the incident. Simultaneously, Wheaton College does an internal investigation of some sort, while also hiring an outside investigator to conduct a third-party independent investigation into the incident.

* Spring, 2016 -- The alleged victim has surgery(ies) to repair his two torn shoulders. As a result of its internal investigation and the third-party investigation, Wheaton College takes what it deems to be "a range of corrective actions" regarding the five accused football players; the college will later decline to release the details of these "corrective actions" to the media when the story breaks a year and a half later, citing privacy issues. But the September 18, 2017 edition of the Chicago Tribune will cite unnamed sources as to the nature of at least some of these actions:

Sources told the Tribune that several players were required to perform 50 hours of community service and write an eight-page essay reflecting on their behavior.

Whether this was the full extent of the actions taken by the college towards the five football players or not remains unknown.

* Fall, 2016 -- Cooksey and TeBos miss the football season due to injury, but Pettway, Spielman, and Kregel all play.

* September 3, 10, and 17, 2017 -- Wheaton plays the first three games of the 2017 season. All five accused players are listed on the roster. Pettway, Kregel, and Spielman play in all three games; TeBos plays in the game against Kalamazoo; Cooksey does not play in any of the three games.

* September 19, 2017 -- DuPage County Judge Joseph Bugos signs arrest warrants for the five players on charges of aggravated battery, mob action, and unlawful restraint, and sets bail at $50,000 for each of the five players. They each have one week to surrender themselves. Wheaton College releases a statement to the public, its first regarding the incident.

If I missed something or got it wrong, please correct it.

[AndOne]

More from the Chicago Tribune:
"Sources told the Tribune that several players were required to perform 50 hours of community service and write an eight-page essay reflecting on their behavior."

So Wheaton conducted an internal investigation the result of which was that, in the opinion of the Wheaton President, Head Football Coach, and any others involved in policy making, that the fitting punishment for the transgressions committed against the victim were that the student-athletes who committed these transgressions could make amends by doing some form of community service and writing an 8 page paper.

Since it was determined that some form of "punishment" was warranted the question that naturally arises is, given the nature and level of the actions of the perpetrators, was community service and writing a paper punishment enough?
Was this not a violation of the Wheaton College Covenant? If the internal investigation revealed football team members assaulted another member of their own team, would it not seem logical that the minimum level of punishment would be or would include banishment from the team?
And what about expulsion from a school that, in the College's own words is "For Christ and his Kingdom"? This is what it says on the monument on the front lawn of the College. There would have been no community service and 8 page papers if Wheaton College itself had not determined that some very un-Christian behavior had taken place. What needs to be done in order that someone should no longer be deemed worthy of being a part of a community that holds itself as a citadel of Christian education and behavior?

[Gregory Sager]

Mark, the wording of the Trib quote is vague. As I said above, we don't know for sure from that quote if the 50 hours of community service and the eight-page paper required of the players were the full extent of the "corrective actions" taken by the college. Conversely, we don't even know if all five of them were dealt the same "corrective actions"; note that the quote says "several players", which leads to the inference that perhaps the "corrective actions" were not uniform among the five. And, lastly, these are unnamed sources. I don't know about you, but over the years I've learned that anything quoted in the media from unnamed sources ought to be viewed with a healthy sense of skepticism.

What we do know for certain is that the "corrective actions" did not include removing the five accused student-athletes from the Wheaton football team, of which all five are still members and three of whom continue to be very prominent participants. Even at this moment, as I type, Cooksey, Pettway, TeBos, Spielman, and Kregel are still listed on the online roster.

[shepherd]

When I came to work today What do I hear from the atheist ND fan and 3 others with a smile on their face. Whats up with Wheaton and their football players and mention of sodomy? 
People coming to this site to rejoice in and judge the body of Christ.

Would you be posting the same thing if it was about your son or daughter?
I don't know what happened except some sort of sin was committed. 
I know I am the biggest of sinners and by the grace of God their go I. 
I sin every day to the point that I am weary of sinning and cant wait to be with Jesus and no longer sinning.
Christians still sin and in any college atmosphere including Christian colleges their is sin.  For the Christian it is the battle of the flesh and spirit.

Paul sad he was the greatest of sinners.
King David murdered a man to steal his wife.  The world would have gave him the death penalty yet he was a man after Gods own heart because of his sorrow for sin.
Later wrote psalm 51.

The greatest manifestation of Godliness in the life of a Christian is sorrow for sin. Prof Hanko

So I pray for these young men the coaches and the body of Christ.

I pray for your schools and people when they go astray.

I pray that our kids are not subject to so much sin and debauchery in their schools. 

I pray that the Grace of Jesus and forgiveness finds us all.

[AO]

Minnesota also handled things better as well, after a sexual assault was reported in early September last year.  While it was being investigated, the (10!) players involved were suspended and did not play. 

I don't think any part of the U investigation went well.  5 of those 10 suspensions/expulsions were later overturned.  Since the police report didn't mention those 5 players, it's reasonable to believe some of the player's claims that they weren't even in the apartment during the alleged assault. 

Regarding the Wheaton case, the only way the essay punishment makes sense to me is if Wheaton didn't think there was any physical abuse.  Perhaps the student had disclosed the shoulder issues to a trainer prior to the incident.

[wm4]

Minnesota also handled things better as well, after a sexual assault was reported in early September last year.  While it was being investigated, the (10!) players involved were suspended and did not play. 

I don't think any part of the U investigation went well.  5 of those 10 suspensions/expulsions were later overturned.  Since the police report didn't mention those 5 players, it's reasonable to believe some of the player's claims that they weren't even in the apartment during the alleged assault. 

Regarding the Wheaton case, the only way the essay punishment makes sense to me is if Wheaton didn't think there was any physical abuse.  Perhaps the student had disclosed the shoulder issues to a trainer prior to the incident.

I said that it went "better" when compared to other schools' investigations, but certainly not well.  It had it's flaws for sure.  Early in the '16 season, Minnesota initially suspended all 10 from the football team because they violated the student code of conduct, independent of the investigation by police as to whether any crimes were committed.  Some (as I recall) were reinstated later in the '16 season and played a few games.  All 10 were suspended from the Gopher's bowl game.  County prosecutors reviewed the case twice and declined to file criminal charges, citing insufficient evidence.

[lmitzel]

When I came to work today What do I hear from the atheist ND fan and 3 others with a smile on their face. Whats up with Wheaton and their football players and mention of sodomy? 
People coming to this site to rejoice in and judge the body of Christ.

Would you be posting the same thing if it was about your son or daughter?
I don't know what happened except some sort of sin was committed. 
I know I am the biggest of sinners and by the grace of God their go I. 
I sin every day to the point that I am weary of sinning and cant wait to be with Jesus and no longer sinning.
Christians still sin and in any college atmosphere including Christian colleges their is sin.  For the Christian it is the battle of the flesh and spirit.

Paul sad he was the greatest of sinners.
King David murdered a man to steal his wife.  The world would have gave him the death penalty yet he was a man after Gods own heart because of his sorrow for sin.
Later wrote psalm 51.

The greatest manifestation of Godliness in the life of a Christian is sorrow for sin. Prof Hanko

So I pray for these young men the coaches and the body of Christ.

I pray for your schools and people when they go astray.

I pray that our kids are not subject to so much sin and debauchery in their schools. 

I pray that the Grace of Jesus and forgiveness finds us all.

Like I said earlier, I have no love for Wheaton. But I'm not rejoicing over a few of their football players allegedly assaulting another student or the ensuing backlash against the school from the news of the charges being filed; I haven't seen anyone else on here do so either. I'm sorry you got such a negative reception at work today, but don't project that on this community, which in the time I've been here has been a very positive one.

[robertgoulet]

When I came to work today What do I hear from the atheist ND fan and 3 others with a smile on their face. Whats up with Wheaton and their football players and mention of sodomy? 
People coming to this site to rejoice in and judge the body of Christ.

Would you be posting the same thing if it was about your son or daughter?
I don't know what happened except some sort of sin was committed. 
I know I am the biggest of sinners and by the grace of God their go I. 
I sin every day to the point that I am weary of sinning and cant wait to be with Jesus and no longer sinning.
Christians still sin and in any college atmosphere including Christian colleges their is sin.  For the Christian it is the battle of the flesh and spirit.

Paul sad he was the greatest of sinners.
King David murdered a man to steal his wife.  The world would have gave him the death penalty yet he was a man after Gods own heart because of his sorrow for sin.
Later wrote psalm 51.

The greatest manifestation of Godliness in the life of a Christian is sorrow for sin. Prof Hanko

So I pray for these young men the coaches and the body of Christ.

I pray for your schools and people when they go astray.

I pray that our kids are not subject to so much sin and debauchery in their schools. 

I pray that the Grace of Jesus and forgiveness finds us all.

Like I said earlier, I have no love for Wheaton. But I'm not rejoicing over a few of their football players allegedly assaulting another student or the ensuing backlash against the school from the news of the charges being filed; I haven't seen anyone else on here do so either. I'm sorry you got such a negative reception at work today, but don't project that on this community, which in the time I've been here has been a very positive one.

Except for AndOne 

[Gregory Sager]

When I came to work today What do I hear from the atheist ND fan and 3 others with a smile on their face. Whats up with Wheaton and their football players and mention of sodomy? 
People coming to this site to rejoice in and judge the body of Christ.

Would you be posting the same thing if it was about your son or daughter?
I don't know what happened except some sort of sin was committed. 
I know I am the biggest of sinners and by the grace of God their go I. 
I sin every day to the point that I am weary of sinning and cant wait to be with Jesus and no longer sinning.
Christians still sin and in any college atmosphere including Christian colleges their is sin.  For the Christian it is the battle of the flesh and spirit.

Paul sad he was the greatest of sinners.
King David murdered a man to steal his wife.  The world would have gave him the death penalty yet he was a man after Gods own heart because of his sorrow for sin.
Later wrote psalm 51.

The greatest manifestation of Godliness in the life of a Christian is sorrow for sin. Prof Hanko

So I pray for these young men the coaches and the body of Christ.

I pray for your schools and people when they go astray.

I pray that our kids are not subject to so much sin and debauchery in their schools. 

I pray that the Grace of Jesus and forgiveness finds us all.

All that, and not even a single, solitary word about the alleged victim, Go Thunder? What the heck is up with that?

I'm a Christian, too, and even though I share Lucas's attitude towards Wheaton -- "I have no love for Wheaton (respect, sure, but not love)" -- the faith that I share with Wheaton people makes me susceptible to the judgments of others on the same grounds. But, here's the thing: Thus far we have seen zero evidence that anybody is "coming to this site to rejoice in and judge the body of Christ." Only one person has even brought up Wheaton's self-claimed identity as a Christian school, and he most certainly didn't give any evidence that he came to "rejoice in and judge the body of Christ." What he did was ask why, in his estimation, Wheaton was failing to live up to its own motto. That's not the same thing at all, since: a) there's no evidence that he's come to gloat; 2) Wheaton isn't the body of Christ; it's a non-ecclesial institution made up of people who are a part of the body of Christ, which is a different thing altogether; and 3) there is no judgment here on his part, merely questions.

What I find more troubling is your use of sin language to re-shape this discussion to fit your agenda. Yes, this is about committed sins in a vaguely general way, and everything that you say about the ubiquity of fallen human nature is true, according to the beliefs that you and I have in common. But the issue at hand isn't sin. The issue at hand is assault. We're not talking about telling a fib, or stealing packs of Post-It notes from work. We're talking about multiple felonies, felonies that involve scarring an alleged victim emotionally and damaging him physically to the point where he needed surgery to correct the injuries inflicted upon him.

The Bible has plenty to say about sin. It also has plenty to say about respecting law and order. Check out Romans 13:1-5:

¹ Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ² Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. ³ For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. ⁴ For the one in authority is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God's servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

Don't try to make this conversation be about something other than what it really concerns.

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Suffice to say my analogy wasn't meant to speculate as much as it was meant to give perspective, and that we should not simply believe a story, that was leaked to the press by the accuser's attorney, is accurate.

The story came to light after arrest warrants were issued for the five players. The accuser's attorney did not leak anything. He made a statement on the record after the charges were made public.

The accused will get a chance to defend themselves and they may be found not guilty of the specific charges brought against them as well but that doesn't mean Wheaton College looks good or did the right thing in any of this. Wheaton did its own investigation and concluded something inappropriate occurred. In light of the charges, it is more than fair to ask a lot of question of Wheaton, including why are these students still on the football team and would Wheaton have treated non-football players differently.

[WooClone15]

So I have no connection to Wheaton or any of the schools in the CCIW, but after reading both the story on d3 football and the chicago tribune I'm still left wondering why 3 of the 5 players were playing last year. Cooksey and Tebos missed the season due to injury, but Kregel, Pettway, and Spielman all played. Wheaton learned of the accusations in March and I'm assuming started the investigation before the season. Why didn't they suspend the players pending the investigation? Even if they wanted to wait for their own investigation to end, why were they playing this year? The college obviously thought there was enough evidence to punish them in some way, but they didn't think it was necessary to suspend them from the team? To an outsider, it looks like the college wanted to sweep this all under the rug and didn't want to do anything which would hurt their football team until they had to

Perhaps it was because none of the players were charged with a crime and the results of the internal investigation resulted in a different conclusion than that of the State Attorney.

But I know-----there are so many people out there who hate it when that darn Constitution (and what it stands for) gets in the way of the lynch mob.

And I was a student prosecutor this summer; as a former state prosecutor (I'm assuming in Illinois), you know more than I do, but it's not like I don't know anything.

Here's my issue: innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt applies to the criminal law (as it should), but it doesn't bind Wheaton's hands until then. Wheaton did an investigation, and likely punished the students in some way. If that is the case, then they have already decided they are not going to wait until the DA made a charging decision, so why wait to suspend them? To an outsider like me, it looks like they didn't want to do something which would hurt the football team.

And this may be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think colleges should operate using an "innocent until proven guilty" standard. Because as a former state attorney, I'm sure you saw cases where you were sure the accused did it, but didn't think you'd be able to prove it to the jury. Because colleges aren't imprisoning individuals, I don't think they need to use that high of a standard.

Actually, Florida.   And yes, it would be unpopular to many to use a guilty until proven innocent standard.  With that said, now that charges have been brought, the usual protocol that I have witnessed is that athletes are suspended until the charges are resolved notwithstanding the presumption of innocence.  My suggestion is that that the College conducted its own investigation and imposed its own discipline.  It had no way of knowing if or when charges would be brought, so suspension during the investigation may or may not have been appropriate---we don't know.

Yes, I have seen many cases in with I was convinced of guilt but did not have sufficient admissible evidence, or times that the jury verdict did not go the way I thought it would.  Heck, O.J. Simpson was found not guilty in his murder trial.  It is difficult to handicap criminal proceedings.

Sorry, I mistyped part of that. I think colleges should still operate under the innocent until proven guilty conception, but it shouldn't be to a "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard. I think a "preponderance of the evidence" standard or "clear and convincing evidence" standard is sufficient.

And Wheaton should have suspended them sooner, not now. Because if Illinois is like Wisconsin, the only thing that's changed between Friday and today is we now know the state of Illinois believes it has probable cause to charge the 5 students. That's it; they're still "innocent". If after it's own investigation (which had better have a higher standard than probable cause) wheaton didn't feel they should be suspended, then the only reason to suspend them now is because word got out, not because they actually deserve to be suspended.

[Gregory Sager]

Further research shows that none of the five accused players participated in Wheaton's opening game of the 2016 season, a 26-7 win over Benedictine:

http://wheaton_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/football/fb_archivedstats/2016/whe1.htm

... or, at the very least, none of them appeared in the participation report at the bottom of the box score. Since the game took place at McCully Stadium, and since Wheaton SID Brett Marhanka is as thorough as any SID I know, I'm pretty certain that none of the five players got on the field that day. From Game Two onward, all three of the healthy players (Pettway, Kregel, and Spielman) resumed their roles in the Wheaton starting lineup.

Given that, one can make a reasonable guess that the three of them served a one-game suspension to begin the 2016 season (although we can't say that for certain, as it's possible that they were held out due to injury, just like TeBos and Cooksey). Since Wheaton isn't talking with regard to the "corrective actions", we don't have this on the record. All we can do is guess, unless someone with insider info can prove it one way or the other.

[wm4]

Further research shows that none of the five accused players participated in Wheaton's opening game of the 2016 season, a 26-7 win over Benedictine:

http://wheaton_ftp.sidearmsports.com/custompages/football/fb_archivedstats/2016/whe1.htm

... or, at the very least, none of them appeared in the participation report at the bottom of the box score. Since the game took place at McCully Stadium, and since Wheaton SID Brett Marhanka is as thorough as any SID I know, I'm pretty certain that none of the five players got on the field that day. From Game Two onward, all three of the healthy players (Pettway, Kregel, and Spielman) resumed their roles in the Wheaton starting lineup.

Given that, one can make a reasonable guess that the three of them served a one-game suspension to begin the 2016 season (although we can't say that for certain, as it's possible that they were held out due to injury, just like TeBos and Cooksey). Since Wheaton isn't talking with regard to the "corrective actions", we don't have this on the record. All we can do is guess, unless someone with insider info can prove it one way or the other.

Great find, GS.  And since Wheaton would have kept their investigation internal, and since there is relatively little media attention given to D3 football (as compared to D1), makes sense that this would not have been a major story going into the first game. 

[washdupcard]

So I have no connection to Wheaton or any of the schools in the CCIW, but after reading both the story on d3 football and the chicago tribune I'm still left wondering why 3 of the 5 players were playing last year. Cooksey and Tebos missed the season due to injury, but Kregel, Pettway, and Spielman all played. Wheaton learned of the accusations in March and I'm assuming started the investigation before the season. Why didn't they suspend the players pending the investigation? Even if they wanted to wait for their own investigation to end, why were they playing this year? The college obviously thought there was enough evidence to punish them in some way, but they didn't think it was necessary to suspend them from the team? To an outsider, it looks like the college wanted to sweep this all under the rug and didn't want to do anything which would hurt their football team until they had to

Perhaps it was because none of the players were charged with a crime and the results of the internal investigation resulted in a different conclusion than that of the State Attorney.

But I know-----there are so many people out there who hate it when that darn Constitution (and what it stands for) gets in the way of the lynch mob.

And while I'm at it (as a former state prosecutor)  has anyone on this board reviewed the medical reports?  Read the eyewitness statements? Know if any of the accused gave a confession? Or at least a statement against interest?  Taken possession of the object that was allegedly used and processed it for DNA?  Viewed the college security camera tapes?  Viewed security camera tapes from the park?  Processed the vehicle for evidence?  Interviewed the doctors and nurses?  Listened to the 911 or call to the police.  Interviewed the alleged victim?  Conducted background checks on all those involved?

I didn't think so.  In other words, all of us actually know nothing except that the State Attorney has charged these five.  And, that happened yesterday.

I to am a former Assistant State's Attorney as well as a criminal defense attorney (both in Illinois). While yes people are innocent of committing a criminal act until actually proven guilty or they plead guilty...there are a few things that are very interesting to me as to College's handling of this incident and are worth consideration and discussion.  1) These are charges are all Felonies.  Range of punishment is from Probation to up to 5 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. 2) The victim's actions post the event are consistent with what one would expect another to do after experiencing such heinous acts. 3) The allegations are not minor or simply hazing, or inappropriate humor taken the wrong way...or any other than heinous criminal acts. 4) The Dupage County State's Attorney's Office and i'm presuming the Wheaton PD would have attempted to gain access to any video taped evidence, dna (if it exists, it very rarely does contrary to tv), eye witness statements, interviews with the victims, and interrogations of the accused. 

While it is not known whether Wheaton College had access to all this information, they certainly had access to at least some of it...and in that context Constitutional rights are irrelevant and non existent.  The statement by the college is very telling.  The statement acknowledges something severe and inappropriate occurred and that measures were taken. It is hard to rationalize any appropriate measures being anything less than being kicked off the football team, and some sort of school disciplinary hearing related to potential expulsion. The school's statement in no way downplayed the allegations of the victim or contradicted the content of the Tribune's story.  If in fact the punishment was in fact 50 hours of community service and an essay, and the allegations in the article are substantially true, the school's punishment and response is disgusting. Moreover, none of these players should have been allowed to remain on the team and certainly not allowed to play after the investigation was completed. 

Anything less, is simply valuing football over the integrity of the School, the football program, and basic human decency.