Are Ethics Really Ethical?

SIDNEY AUNG
Staff Writer

In certain schools, honor codes are provided to the students and they are expected to abide by them, usually due to specific religious reasons. In most cases, these honor codes pertain to strict religious beliefs and moral opinions that the school rigorously upholds. Brandon Davies, an NCAA basketball player from Brigham Young University (BYU), was recently suspended for having premarital sex, which violated BYU’s honor code.
Following his suspension, the team demonstrated their determination by continuing their pursuit towards NCAA success without him. Davies was BYU’s third leading scorer and his role on the team served as a valuable asset. As a result, his loss would dramatically impact the team’s performance, which was evident in the 82-64 loss of their first game against New Mexico University.
“Everybody who comes to BYU, every student if they’re an athlete or not an athlete, they make a commitment when they come,” BYU Head Coach Dave Rose said in an AOL news article.
With the idea of commitment in mind, consequences are bound to follow. However, the consequences of Davies’ situation are unreasonable in the sense that an athlete and his team are penalized for misconduct that doesn’t pertain to athletics at all. Cases like these where personal decisions prohibit an athlete from performing are more common than expected. Michael Vick, an NFL player, was suspended from playing football due to gambling in illegal dog fights.
It is not to say that athletes should not be punished for their actions. However, the administration needs to wake up and realize that there is no point in prohibiting an athlete from participating in his sport due to behavior that demonstrates no correlation with the sport itself.
Instead of focusing their penal system entirely on their honor code, it would be more understandable if the administration punished the athletes based purely on the nature of their actions. They should ultimately acknowledge the lack of reasoning behind their penal system.