Monday, October 27, 2003

Some members of black alumni group call for reprimand of Coach Beamer

Some members of the Virginia Tech Black Alumni Network want football coach Frank Beamer to be reprimanded for slapping Ernest Wilford on the helmet during the Hokies' terrible defeat at the hands of the West Virginia Mountaineers, according to this report in the Roanoke paper, which says, among other things:

"But on Friday, several members of Tech's Black Alumni Network sent a letter to university President Charles Steger urging the administration to hold Beamer "to the same standard as any other university official."

"We cannot imagine that the university administration would remain silent if a professor struck a student in the classroom," said the letter from the group's ad hoc committee. "And the university should not remain silent when a coach assaults a player during a school-sanctioned sporting event."

Tech spokesman Larry Hincker, however, objected to the group's characterization of the slap as assault and called it "atrocious" to compare a football field and a classroom.

"We just don't think it's analogous to a classroom," said Hincker, adding that Wilford was covered in protective equipment. "Our position as of yesterday was that it was not an actionable offense, and I don't think that has changed today."

I'm not sure how many people who are not Tech alumni could name a single Tech employee other than Frank Beamer, who has probably brought more favorable publicity to the school than anyone else, ever, and is a good guy besides, and everyone with a clue at Virginia Tech knows both to be true.

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