When UW football wide receiver Byron Brown punched a bouncer in April, he knew there would be consequences, but what they would be was unclear.
Brown would talk with his coaches and they would determine his fate through a series of team policies that Athletic Department officials declined to make public, leaving the UW-Madison senior with an uncertain fate.
Ultimately, department officials said, Brown faced penalties, but the details remain confidential. However, if the same incident occurred today Brown knows he would face an immediate suspension from the team under a new student-athlete discipline policy unveiled in August. The policy represents a turnaround for the Athletic Department in their handling of athlete's troubles with the law.
While department officials had previously contended that the legal process should run its course before any consequences would be placed on athletes suspected of wrongdoing, the new policy requires any student-athlete arrested be suspended from their respective team.
Head Football Coach and future Athletic Director Barry Alvarez led the effort to create the new policy under the recommendation of Chancellor John Wiley, who expressed concern over the inconsistency in discipline policies across various sports.
In April, Alvarez gave The Daily Cardinal a glimpse into the football program's discipline policy. At that time, each sport had their own policy, but all appeared less severe than the current one, which encompasses all sports. Alvarez said incidents in his program were handled differently based on severity and frequency. He said a suspension would be handed out \if it's a serious incident"" or upon a player's involvement in three more minor incidents. Today a suspension would be mandatory for any offense.
Student-athletes have said little about the new policy, indicating how seriously they take it.
""I think it's definitely going to change how the players, how all the athletes, are thinking,"" Brown said. ""I don't think anyone wants to be kicked off the team.""
The new policy comes after a somewhat turbulent year for the Athletic Department when the number of athletes in trouble with the law entered the teens. Despite the increasing number of incidents, the department maintained its policy of considering each incident on ""a case by case basis."" The drastic changes presented by the new policy bring punishments far exceeding any given last year.
Despite the increased stakes, players do not seem to be complaining, saying they prefer the straightforward policy to the uncertainty that reigned before.
""I don't think it can do nothing but be helpful,"" said wide receiver Lee Evans, who was arrested last year for possession of marijuana. ""I didn't know what was gonna happen and it puts you on edge. [The policy] makes the whole process a lot smoother. You don't have to be stressing and worrying.""
An administrator seems equally optimistic. At Friday's Athletic Board, meeting Alvarez was visibly enthusiastic when sharing the new policy, a definite contrast from his mood last spring.
""I really believe it will be a deterrent,"" he said.
