Gonzaga Kairos Vandalism

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that so many participated it would be a huge blow to the school reputation wise and financially to expel the crew team/or whatever core group did the actual damage.

This post makes a point that should not be ignored. If this was just a small handful of individuals, the school almost certainly would have handled it appropriately (i.e., expelled them). Just a few bad apples wouldn't speak to the character of the entire school. The fact that they did not leads me to believe it was more than a few, and disciplining the involved students appropriately would have been difficult for the school (e.g., practically, in terms of expelling a large number of boys from one class or one athletic team, or from a PR standpoint). The fact that Gonzaga employees were sufficiently horrified by what happened and the administration's handling of it to leak the story to the Post supports this line of thinking. We will never know all of the facts, but what we do know is that some number of Gonzaga boys, while on a spiritual retreat, had so little respect for others' property that they completely trashed it (one day then, after a good night's sleep, the next day as well) and, when caught, the Gonzaga administration chose to sweep it under the rug rather than deal with those boys appropriately. Draw whatever conclusions about Gonzaga that you would like. I have drawn mine. My son will never go to Gonzaga.

This is simply not true. My DS is a freshman at Gonzaga. Parents have received several emails about the incident and actions being taken as a result. There have been and will be additional consequences. Nothing has been swept under the rug.

Keep telling yourself that there was no sweeping going on. I am also within the GZ community. Until the story was leaked, the administration did EVERYTHING it could to sweep this under the rug. Everything you're seeing now is nothing more than damage control.

The administration is not at liberty to share private information about its student. Has anyone ever been fired in your workplace? Did supervisors share all the details of what the person did, why they were fired, and any other consequences or actions taken? No - because legally they cannot, unless they're looking to be sued. Unfortunately, this is what causes rumors to run rampant.
When the information became public, the administration at Gonzaga responded appropriately and shared what information it could.

But in this case, the administration barely took any PRIVATE action until the story broke. Once it did, and the administration realized their cover up looked as bad as (or worse than) the initial vandalism, then they focused on disciplining those involved. No one said they should have released names of offenders and their punishments. Keep telling yourself the administration responded appropriately. Especially when they describe back to back days of intentional vandalism of another's property as "mistakes."

NP with no ties to Gonzaga. Are you a member of the administration or is your son one of the perpetrators? Otherwise how could you possibly have any idea what private and confidential actions were or were not taken?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that so many participated it would be a huge blow to the school reputation wise and financially to expel the crew team/or whatever core group did the actual damage.

This post makes a point that should not be ignored. If this was just a small handful of individuals, the school almost certainly would have handled it appropriately (i.e., expelled them). Just a few bad apples wouldn't speak to the character of the entire school. The fact that they did not leads me to believe it was more than a few, and disciplining the involved students appropriately would have been difficult for the school (e.g., practically, in terms of expelling a large number of boys from one class or one athletic team, or from a PR standpoint). The fact that Gonzaga employees were sufficiently horrified by what happened and the administration's handling of it to leak the story to the Post supports this line of thinking. We will never know all of the facts, but what we do know is that some number of Gonzaga boys, while on a spiritual retreat, had so little respect for others' property that they completely trashed it (one day then, after a good night's sleep, the next day as well) and, when caught, the Gonzaga administration chose to sweep it under the rug rather than deal with those boys appropriately. Draw whatever conclusions about Gonzaga that you would like. I have drawn mine. My son will never go to Gonzaga.

This is simply not true. My DS is a freshman at Gonzaga. Parents have received several emails about the incident and actions being taken as a result. There have been and will be additional consequences. Nothing has been swept under the rug.

Keep telling yourself that there was no sweeping going on. I am also within the GZ community. Until the story was leaked, the administration did EVERYTHING it could to sweep this under the rug. Everything you're seeing now is nothing more than damage control.

The administration is not at liberty to share private information about its student. Has anyone ever been fired in your workplace? Did supervisors share all the details of what the person did, why they were fired, and any other consequences or actions taken? No - because legally they cannot, unless they're looking to be sued. Unfortunately, this is what causes rumors to run rampant.
When the information became public, the administration at Gonzaga responded appropriately and shared what information it could.

But in this case, the administration barely took any PRIVATE action until the story broke. Once it did, and the administration realized their cover up looked as bad as (or worse than) the initial vandalism, then they focused on disciplining those involved. No one said they should have released names of offenders and their punishments. Keep telling yourself the administration responded appropriately. Especially when they describe back to back days of intentional vandalism of another's property as "mistakes."

Completely not true as to the timeline of disciplinary actions.

[Anonymous]

To the pps getting so upset, calling for public disclosure and criminal charges, the solution is so simple. Don’t send your son to Gonzaga. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

As an alum and a legacy, I've struggled over the past week to grapple with the fact that students from my alma mater could participate in such heinous acts, and on KAIROS no less. That group of boys who participated (or stood by silently) haven't earned the right to be associated as "Men for Others." That's not the brotherhood I remember, nor the values instilled in me all those years ago. And while this most certainly leaves a black eye on its reputation, I have no doubt that Eye Street's spirit will carry on in the hearts and minds of future Eagles for generations to come. If anyone reading this is still weighing whether or not to send their son to Gonzaga...I'd seriously consider it. While I can't promise that you won't regret it if you do - I can promise that you will regret it if you don't. AMDG

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that so many participated it would be a huge blow to the school reputation wise and financially to expel the crew team/or whatever core group did the actual damage.

This post makes a point that should not be ignored. If this was just a small handful of individuals, the school almost certainly would have handled it appropriately (i.e., expelled them). Just a few bad apples wouldn't speak to the character of the entire school. The fact that they did not leads me to believe it was more than a few, and disciplining the involved students appropriately would have been difficult for the school (e.g., practically, in terms of expelling a large number of boys from one class or one athletic team, or from a PR standpoint). The fact that Gonzaga employees were sufficiently horrified by what happened and the administration's handling of it to leak the story to the Post supports this line of thinking. We will never know all of the facts, but what we do know is that some number of Gonzaga boys, while on a spiritual retreat, had so little respect for others' property that they completely trashed it (one day then, after a good night's sleep, the next day as well) and, when caught, the Gonzaga administration chose to sweep it under the rug rather than deal with those boys appropriately. Draw whatever conclusions about Gonzaga that you would like. I have drawn mine. My son will never go to Gonzaga.

This is simply not true. My DS is a freshman at Gonzaga. Parents have received several emails about the incident and actions being taken as a result. There have been and will be additional consequences. Nothing has been swept under the rug.

Keep telling yourself that there was no sweeping going on. I am also within the GZ community. Until the story was leaked, the administration did EVERYTHING it could to sweep this under the rug. Everything you're seeing now is nothing more than damage control.

The administration is not at liberty to share private information about its student. Has anyone ever been fired in your workplace? Did supervisors share all the details of what the person did, why they were fired, and any other consequences or actions taken? No - because legally they cannot, unless they're looking to be sued. Unfortunately, this is what causes rumors to run rampant.
When the information became public, the administration at Gonzaga responded appropriately and shared what information it could.

But in this case, the administration barely took any PRIVATE action until the story broke. Once it did, and the administration realized their cover up looked as bad as (or worse than) the initial vandalism, then they focused on disciplining those involved. No one said they should have released names of offenders and their punishments. Keep telling yourself the administration responded appropriately. Especially when they describe back to back days of intentional vandalism of another's property as "mistakes."

Gonzaga parent here. I have been pretty critical of how the administration has handled the the situation. However, I have to disagree with you here. I happen to know for a fact that the punishments were in place before the story broke based on what I heard from my son a few days after the incident. I don't know exactly what the punishments are or what additional consequences will be. However, I do know that the school did not just simply "sweep in under the rug." Yes, there were not transparent with the community about what happened (and this is my biggest complaint), but that does not mean they were not taking action against the guilty students. I think the punishments should have been harsher, however, the president and headmaster are taking an approach that they deem appropriate under the circumstances. Regarding criminal charges, etc., I am glad they were able to avoid this. It just muddies the waters and really can ruin a kid's life. What these kids did was horrible, and I think those in the center of it (a handful from what I know) should have been expelled. I do know that under the current arrangement, one slip up by these kids could result in expulsion. Still I believe expulsion should have been the swift punishment from the get go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that so many participated it would be a huge blow to the school reputation wise and financially to expel the crew team/or whatever core group did the actual damage.

This post makes a point that should not be ignored. If this was just a small handful of individuals, the school almost certainly would have handled it appropriately (i.e., expelled them). Just a few bad apples wouldn't speak to the character of the entire school. The fact that they did not leads me to believe it was more than a few, and disciplining the involved students appropriately would have been difficult for the school (e.g., practically, in terms of expelling a large number of boys from one class or one athletic team, or from a PR standpoint). The fact that Gonzaga employees were sufficiently horrified by what happened and the administration's handling of it to leak the story to the Post supports this line of thinking. We will never know all of the facts, but what we do know is that some number of Gonzaga boys, while on a spiritual retreat, had so little respect for others' property that they completely trashed it (one day then, after a good night's sleep, the next day as well) and, when caught, the Gonzaga administration chose to sweep it under the rug rather than deal with those boys appropriately. Draw whatever conclusions about Gonzaga that you would like. I have drawn mine. My son will never go to Gonzaga.

This is simply not true. My DS is a freshman at Gonzaga. Parents have received several emails about the incident and actions being taken as a result. There have been and will be additional consequences. Nothing has been swept under the rug.

Keep telling yourself that there was no sweeping going on. I am also within the GZ community. Until the story was leaked, the administration did EVERYTHING it could to sweep this under the rug. Everything you're seeing now is nothing more than damage control.

The administration is not at liberty to share private information about its student. Has anyone ever been fired in your workplace? Did supervisors share all the details of what the person did, why they were fired, and any other consequences or actions taken? No - because legally they cannot, unless they're looking to be sued. Unfortunately, this is what causes rumors to run rampant.
When the information became public, the administration at Gonzaga responded appropriately and shared what information it could.

But in this case, the administration barely took any PRIVATE action until the story broke. Once it did, and the administration realized their cover up looked as bad as (or worse than) the initial vandalism, then they focused on disciplining those involved. No one said they should have released names of offenders and their punishments. Keep telling yourself the administration responded appropriately. Especially when they describe back to back days of intentional vandalism of another's property as "mistakes."

I am a current parent of a Gonzaga student. I totally agree that the administration tried to sweep this under the rug. I first heard about the vandalism from several moms of juniors talking about it at a school event a couple of days after it happened (I overheard their conversation.) None of their sons were on the retreat. I asked my son that evening and he told me there had been some vandalism during the retreat. I'm not sure if my son would have told me if I hadn't asked him about it. He is a sophomore so he was not on the retreat. He heard about it from fellow students.

Two of my friends, who are also current Gonzaga moms, heard about the retreat at very different times. One found out a week after the retreat and another one found out from Father Planning's letter. I am convinced that if the employees had not gone to the Post, we never would have heard about this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding criminal charges, etc., I am glad they were able to avoid this. It just muddies the waters and really can ruin a kid's life.

This is what angers many of us. The vast majority of kids in the country (especially if minority and/or not from well-off families), if they committed the exact same actions, would not likely have escaped criminal charges. Textbook definition of privilege IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding criminal charges, etc., I am glad they were able to avoid this. It just muddies the waters and really can ruin a kid's life.

This is what angers many of us. The vast majority of kids in the country (especially if minority and/or not from well-off families), if they committed the exact same actions, would not likely have escaped criminal charges. Textbook definition of privilege IMO.

It was well within the property owner's rights to NOT press charges...smdh

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My guess is that so many participated it would be a huge blow to the school reputation wise and financially to expel the crew team/or whatever core group did the actual damage.

This post makes a point that should not be ignored. If this was just a small handful of individuals, the school almost certainly would have handled it appropriately (i.e., expelled them). Just a few bad apples wouldn't speak to the character of the entire school. The fact that they did not leads me to believe it was more than a few, and disciplining the involved students appropriately would have been difficult for the school (e.g., practically, in terms of expelling a large number of boys from one class or one athletic team, or from a PR standpoint). The fact that Gonzaga employees were sufficiently horrified by what happened and the administration's handling of it to leak the story to the Post supports this line of thinking. We will never know all of the facts, but what we do know is that some number of Gonzaga boys, while on a spiritual retreat, had so little respect for others' property that they completely trashed it (one day then, after a good night's sleep, the next day as well) and, when caught, the Gonzaga administration chose to sweep it under the rug rather than deal with those boys appropriately. Draw whatever conclusions about Gonzaga that you would like. I have drawn mine. My son will never go to Gonzaga.

This is simply not true. My DS is a freshman at Gonzaga. Parents have received several emails about the incident and actions being taken as a result. There have been and will be additional consequences. Nothing has been swept under the rug.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was well within the property owner's rights to NOT press charges...smdh

Let's assume for the sake of argument that you're right. Why did the property owner choose not to press charges? If it were kids without family money and/or the backing of a private school committing the exact same acts, what incentive does a property owner have to settle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding criminal charges, etc., I am glad they were able to avoid this. It just muddies the waters and really can ruin a kid's life.

This is what angers many of us. The vast majority of kids in the country (especially if minority and/or not from well-off families), if they committed the exact same actions, would not likely have escaped criminal charges. Textbook definition of privilege IMO.

What if the perpetrators were not from privileged families? There are many students at Gonzaga who are on scholarship. Maybe the Father is being more lenient because expelling the kids would send them back to a really undesirable school environment? Just a thought.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was well within the property owner's rights to NOT press charges...smdh

Let's assume for the sake of argument that you're right. Why did the property owner choose not to press charges? If it were kids without family money and/or the backing of a private school committing the exact same acts, what incentive does a property owner have to settle?

It's pretty obvious the property owner has ties to the school...wake up!

[Anonymous]

My point exactly. If kids without any ties to the school committed the exact same acts, what are the likely consequences for them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Regarding criminal charges, etc., I am glad they were able to avoid this. It just muddies the waters and really can ruin a kid's life.

This is what angers many of us. The vast majority of kids in the country (especially if minority and/or not from well-off families), if they committed the exact same actions, would not likely have escaped criminal charges. Textbook definition of privilege IMO.

It was well within the property owner's rights to NOT press charges...smdh

A refrigerator taken from private property and dumped into a river, thereby creating an environmental hazard, is a public offense. SMDH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My point exactly. If kids without any ties to the school committed the exact same acts, what are the likely consequences for them?

And if the Queen had two balls, she'd be King...