On Tuesday night, the University of Wisconsin released a report detailing allegations of sexual assault
against former Senior Associate Athletic Director John Chadima. An unidentified male student claims
that Chadima sexually assaulted him at a party in the run up to the Rose Bowl. It is important to say
that we do not know for certain if these allegations are true, and Chadima should be presumed innocent
until proven guilty.

This being said, if the allegations are true, this story is yet another chapter in the disgusting relationship
within our society between sports and justice. There was no mention of this incident to the press when
it happened in order not to distract from the Rose Bowl. Our school waited one month to come forward
with these allegations in order to avoid bad press. That’s just plain wrong.
Unfortunately, this is not the only instance in which our society has let our obsession with sports blur
the line between right and wrong. By now we are all aware of the situation at Penn State in which an
accused child rapist was not reported to police by the university, staining the late Joe Paterno’s otherwise
immaculate legacy. If the allegations against Jerry Sandusky are true, it is abominable that the university
allowed such a heinous act to go unreported.

There is no bigger lover of sports than I, who watched hundreds of hours of football between college and
the National Football League this season. I have been in love with the game of basketball since I was a second grader, and am a lifelong Los Angeles Angels fan. Yet the recent surfacing of sexual abuse allegations within college athletics troubles
me very deeply. Unfortunately, I do not trust that athletes and people associated with sports get the
same treatment as everyone else.

We say that justice is blind; however, it is likely that there is a murderer starting in the NFL. There have
been multiple star athletes accused of rape, but these accusations have never seen the court room and have had little effect on their careers. This is simply wrong.

There is no way to justify leniency for athletes. Those who kill, rape or steal should be held responsible
for their actions, period. People connected to sports are above the law, and this should not be.

In 2007, then Falcon quarterback Michael Vick was indicted for dog fighting and served a year-and-a-half
in jail. He came back to the NFL and told children not to do what he had done. Though Vick’s actions
were reprehensible, he handled the situation correctly by pleading guilty instead of perverting justice,
apologized for what he had done and very publicly expressed his regret. I wish more people in sports would handle serious wrongs like Vick did.

But the reality is that most don’t. Most try to buy their way out of being held accountable for their actions
with money and star-power, and the legal system and league allow it to happen. Recently we have
seen some victims fearing coming forward because they think they may jeopardize a sports program. A lack of accountability also can be found within programs in order to avoid bad press. I hope that UW was not involved in this kind of perversion of justice and truth.

People close to sports will continue to commit wrongdoings. In the future, I hope that violations are handled better, and justice is not perverted. One way to do this is to implement league sanctions on players. Those who commit vile crimes can be banned from the
sport even if a court of justice cannot prove that they are guilty. This will at least be a small form of
justice, though admittedly nowhere close to where it should be.

Overall, our society must change so that our obsession with athletics does not cloud our sense of right
and wrong.