Athletes' records raise admissions questions
Plea bargains avoid application disclosure
Andrew Chavez
Issue date: 11/16/06 Section: News
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University officials, in the wake of sexual assault charges filed in October against three former TCU athletes, say they are exploring ways to more closely scrutinize applicants for possible criminal histories. And, a public records search by the Daily Skiff of 370 current male and female varsity athletes reveals that two football players have pleaded guilty to felony crimes and three other football players have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges.
One of the players who pleaded guilty to a felony charge did so in 2004, more than a year before his freshman year. The other was charged a month after newspaper reports indicate he signed his letter of intent and pleaded guilty the summer before his freshman year.
Two other football players were convicted of driving while intoxicated and one pleaded guilty to a criminal trespass charge. One baseball player also had a dismissed traffic ticket. The search did not indicate that any athletes from other sports had pleaded guilty or been convicted of crimes.
Dean of Admissions Ray Brown said the university already has some measures in place to scrutinize applicants with criminal pasts.
The university asks applicants to disclose felony convictions on the undergraduate application, but Brown said the university is looking to further expand the application to ask for misdemeanors.
That consideration was prompted when the university learned a former TCU football player now charged with sexual assault, Lorenzo Labell Jones, 20, had pleaded guilty to an assault charge.
Jones, a former member of the football team, along with former basketball players Virgil Allen Taylor and Shannon Monroe Behling, both 19, face 2nd-degree felony charges for a sexual assault police say occurred in a Moncrief Hall dorm room in October.
Chancellor Victor Boschini said Wednesday a committee was formed in October to examine the admissions process and how TCU asks "the felony question." The chancellor appointed Brown, Provost Nowell Donovan, Director of Financial Aid Mike Scott and Athletics Director Danny Morrison to the committee.
One of the players who pleaded guilty to a felony charge did so in 2004, more than a year before his freshman year. The other was charged a month after newspaper reports indicate he signed his letter of intent and pleaded guilty the summer before his freshman year.
Two other football players were convicted of driving while intoxicated and one pleaded guilty to a criminal trespass charge. One baseball player also had a dismissed traffic ticket. The search did not indicate that any athletes from other sports had pleaded guilty or been convicted of crimes.
Dean of Admissions Ray Brown said the university already has some measures in place to scrutinize applicants with criminal pasts.
The university asks applicants to disclose felony convictions on the undergraduate application, but Brown said the university is looking to further expand the application to ask for misdemeanors.
That consideration was prompted when the university learned a former TCU football player now charged with sexual assault, Lorenzo Labell Jones, 20, had pleaded guilty to an assault charge.
Jones, a former member of the football team, along with former basketball players Virgil Allen Taylor and Shannon Monroe Behling, both 19, face 2nd-degree felony charges for a sexual assault police say occurred in a Moncrief Hall dorm room in October.
Chancellor Victor Boschini said Wednesday a committee was formed in October to examine the admissions process and how TCU asks "the felony question." The chancellor appointed Brown, Provost Nowell Donovan, Director of Financial Aid Mike Scott and Athletics Director Danny Morrison to the committee.
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