Head coach Bret Bielema made an example of Jamal Cooper last weekend when he dismissed Cooper for conduct detrimental to the team. Although Bielema decided to kick Cooper off the team, this was not his first infraction.
Cooper made news last season as he was suspended for academic reasons; he was disciplined once before as well. Bielema needs to better establish that improper conduct, especially when that conduct involves breaking the law, is unacceptable and tarnishes the university's image.
Several recent examples of police citing UW-Madison athletes include an incident last weekend, when police cited basketball player Kevin Gullikson with his second underage drinking citation since he came to UW-Madison. Gullikson's extremely high blood alcohol content, reported as being .209, was an embarrassment to the basketball team and the university.
Earlier this month, sophomore football player Lance Smith also had an embarrassing situation as he was cited for a litany of offenses, including false imprisonment and battery, relating to an altercation with his girlfriend. Smith was suspended from the team for a very short period of time. Smith's case has yet to be resolved, proving that an arrest for multiple misdemeanors is not enough of a reason to keep a football player off the field for more than a week.
The punishments relating to criminal offenses and other misconduct directly reflect how tolerant the university is of such behavior. While athletes are just as prone as other students to making mistakes, this is not an excuse for them to make the same mistakes. They are the ones who receive attention for their prowess on the playing fields, and they are UW-Madison's representatives to the nation.
When athletes make headlines for committing crimes and then go unpunished, the school's reputation is damaged that much more. The school's reputation should have more value than athletic success. Each time an athlete makes a mistake does not necessarily require the coaches to immediately dismiss him, but that does not mean that the athlete should go scott-free instead.
While UW-Madison is not the only university that has athletes in legal trouble, there are examples of how misconduct can be handled properly. Joe Paterno, Penn State's head football coach, recently disciplined his entire team for an off-the-field incident involving only a few players. Paterno mandated that the team clean the massive Beaver Stadium every Sunday after a game.
The punishment made national news and proved that Penn State does not tolerate player misconduct. UW-Madison's coaches should follow Paterno's example and remind players that their actions represent themselves and their university.
