All it took was one night to erase all the progress made towards cleaning up our school’s reputation. Instead of being known as the school who hosted the 2004 Presidential Debate and the Dalai Lama a couple of years ago, since that fateful Saturday evening when a helmet was swung at an FIU player, our old rep is coming back to haunt us, as seen by the resurgence of unflattering nicknames like “Thug U” and “Hurri-cons.”
It doesn’t take much to figure out that, especially in schools known for their football programs, teams represent their institutions, both on the field and off. Unfortunately, the infamous fight looked bad on the entire student body. When Anthony Reddick swung that helmet at the FIU player, he did so on behalf of everyone enrolled at the university.
This is unfortunate, as the vast majority of the students are intelligent, industrious individuals brimming with ambition and a sense of decency. Any student who went through the admissions process during the past four years can attest to this. Most of us did not condone the players’ behavior, but will future employers even think about that?