For weeks on end this past fall, we poured into Autzen Stadium on game day singing along in unison to “I Love My Ducks”— and I thought we did. But now, with LaMichael James in need of our support more than ever, that chorus is nowhere to be heard.
The Register-Guard reported Monday that James’ future at the University may be in jeopardy because of the terms of his release agreement. The judge ruled that James will not be allowed to set foot on campus, preventing him from attending classes and presumably from taking finals.
The implication, according to James’ attorneys, is that if James fails his classes this term, he will likely be ineligible to play football for the Ducks in 2010 and may lose his scholarship, forcing him to return home to Texas. Quite a tough punishment for an individual who has been convicted of nothing.
Have we wiped clean the memory of the Duke lacrosse saga just three years ago? The media, the community and the university turned their backs on those student-athletes faster than you can say “liar.” Then it surfaced that the rape allegations were unequivocally
false. Oops.
I don’t bring up this example to comment on the guilt or innocence of James. I don’t know what occurred outside his apartment or whether he will be acquitted of the charges he faces. All I’m saying is, shouldn’t we stick behind this member of our community and his Eighth Amendment right to reasonable bail, at least until the justice system provides us answers? We rallied behind our LGBTQA students when they came under the attack of bigotry, but now we turn our backs on a young man facing attack from injustice.
Instead, we throw around unsubstantiated accusations and proclamations of guilt, leaving me only to wonder, where are James’ “fans” now? Why are the people who demand excellence from him on the football field and who call themselves his supporters so slow to back him against blatant injustice?
The Daily Emerald summed up the community’s general sentiment in its recent editorial that said James, among others, has “embarrassed the University.” Well, to be frank, the response of this community to LaMichael’s predicament has embarrassed me. The message from the University community is clear: “LaMichael, we care about you three hours a day, one day a week, for four months a year. Outside of football, however, you’re on your own.”
I think at times we forget that beneath the pads, helmets and jerseys stand young men. In our minds, athletes like James only exist between the lines of Autzen Stadium, as if mythical deities that only assume human form long enough to play football, then disappear.
But the last month has clearly shown us otherwise. One of our own is injured; his wings have been clipped. This is my way of showing I love my Ducks.
Do you?
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Duck fans epitomize fair-weather friendship
Daily Emerald
February 23, 2010
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