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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]these athletes were also found using racist, homophobic, and misogynist slurs. That's an actual problem. [/quote]

[b]Using them and acting on them are two different things.  I don't want to live in a society controlled by the thought police--no matter how disgusting I find their speech.  This is not the way to eradicate racism, homophobia or misogyny[/b].  [/quote]

Well said.  [b]You can't legislate or punish people into behaving the way you deem they should behave.  The thought police need to back off on this and let the kids figure this out themselves[/b].  Sadly in life your feelings will get hurt, people will say things that upset you and you will have to learn how to deal with it or we will all be on meds trying to stay sane.  Life sometimes sucks, hopefully the non sucky times outweigh the sucky times.  [/quote]

Of course societies use legislation and/or punishment to get people to behave the way they believe they should.  And it's disingenuous to claim that the consequences imposed in this case are illegitimate because they won't eradicate racism, homophobia or misogyny when the alternative you embrace is do nothing.

As for the thought/action distinction, no one is probing brains here.  The universities are looking at collectively-authored documents and listserv discussions that were ongoing and involved multiple team members.  I feel for the team members who didn't participate, but I also think that it's important to create an environment where joining an athletic team doesn't require participating in or being surrounded by this kind of BS.  Presumably this stuff comes to light because some team members aren't comfortable with these activities and expose them (maybe not directly to university officials but to other students who find this kind of behavior problematic).

Universities, especially private residential colleges, have always asserted their right to judge the conduct of students and to separate students who don't meet their standards from the community.  The sanctions imposed here have been much less drastic and go directly to the question of how the school represents itself.  If you think universities should not be involved in combatting racism, sexism, and homophobia on campus, then encourage your DC to seek out a school that doesn't take these issues seriously.  They're out there.[/quote]

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