Controversy has struck Laker hockey once again, as three players, junior Mark Adamek, sophomore Barnabas Birkeland, and freshman John Nogatch, were kicked off the team for “violating team policy,” according to Director of Athletics Bill Crawford.
Crawford declined to further discuss the situation, saying on his Rock 101 radio pre-game show last Friday, “That’s all [people] really need to know about it.”
One of the offending players, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Compass, “We’re not allowed to talk about it,” when the newspaper reached him for comment.
To date, The Compass has not been able to acquire a copy of team policy. Mark Jastorff, Vice President of Student Affairs, said that the infractions were not violations of LSSU policy, but rather a violation of hockey team rules. He did say that University officials became aware of the situation and conducted the appropriate investigations, the result of which has been the athletic dismissals.
University officials have been careful not to publicly discuss the situation, saying that the Family Education and Right to Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 prevents them from discussing any situations. They have also referred to this law is discussing any disciplinary proceedings, including the three reported sexual assault cases and the Ryan Reid incident.
According to Dr. Youngblood’s “Goldenrod Update” last month, FERPA prohibits educational institutions from disclosing personally identifiable information from educational records.” She goes on to say that any student disciplinary proceedings are covered under this act.
