Congratulations TCU! You are heading to the Big 12 in 2012 and have the brand new schedule to prove it. As if road trips to Morgantown, Austin and Norman were not enough, here are four of your own players getting busted Wednesday morning on drug charges. Let’s see how you handle this!
Wednesday morning a total of 17 TCU students were arrested on drug charges, the result of an ongoing, six-month police investigation between Fort Worth and TCU campus police. More arrests may be made soon, but for now 17 students is the official count. Four of those students are reported to be football players, including at least one former and one future starter according to Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. As of now those names remain unknown, although they are expected to be released later today.
Until we know more about the situation with TCU, and which players are involved, it remains pointless and undeserving to critique just how this affects the football program as they embark on the biggest year in their history, but we can say without much doubt that this is a dark cloud for the time being. We will allow the legal system to play out of course, remembering that these are just charges right now and not final verdicts in court. Regardless, this is not the kind of news Gary Patterson would like to be concerning with right now, as he starts to form a game plan for TCU’s 2012 season opener in the middle of February.
This is not the kind of news you hear from a program like TCU. It is already being reported to be one of the biggest scandals in the school’s history. Somewhere in the middle of Pennsylvania some people are saying “Fire Gary Patterson!” and “He must have known about this!” The arrests prompted TCU chancellor Victor J. Boschini to release the following statement on the university’s behalf (emphasis as written);
Early today the Fort Worth Police Department and TCU Campus Police concluded an investigation into drug selling on and around campus that unfortunately led to the arrest of many current TCU students.
While this news is certainly shocking and disappointing, it is important to remember thatTCU has clear expectations for its students: that they behave in an ethical manner, abide by campus policies and adhere to state and federal law. These students are charged with acting in a manner that is incompatible with TCU values and against the law. That is simply unacceptable and such reported behavior is not tolerated at this University.
We have a responsibility to ensure that our campus environment is free of such behavior. Today’s actions highlight that responsibility. The students involved were immediately separated from TCU and criminally trespassed from campus. Further, according to University policy, students arrested and found in violation of distributing drugs are subject to immediate expulsion from TCU.
TCU has never before experienced a magnitude of student arrests such as this. In fact, Campus Police records show only five student arrests related to drug law violations in recent years. I have asked our vice chancellor for student affairs, Dr. Kathy Cavins-Tull, to examine whether any new programs or procedures need to be implemented to curtail this type of behavior in the future. The Fort Worth Police Department also has offered to help in these efforts.
Today’s events have forever changed the lives of the involved students, and we hope they will find a healthy way to move forward. Also, the next couple of weeks will be tough for the TCU family. There is no doubt that it will hurt to see our name associated with this type of behavior. But we must not allow this moment to define us. We must remember that we are overwhelmingly a community of dedicated students, faculty and staff and focused on changing the world through our collective work and commitment to leadership.
Sincerely,
Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr.
We will continue to monitor this news and comment further when appropriate. For now be sure to be following us on Twitter for more updates.
UPDATE: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has reported the names of the players invovled in the arrests. The four players arrested are linebacker Tanner Brock; defensive lineman D.J. Yendry; offensive tackle Tyler Horn; and cornerback Devin Johnson, according to documents released Wednesday morning.
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