I am writing in response to the editorial entitled "Fan Ticketed for Actions at Game" in the Oct. 29 issue of The Spectrum, concerning justification behind the decision to charge Jon Amitrano with disorderly conduct for his participation in a post-game celebration. The Spectrum claimed, "The University Police's response was justified because of Amitrano's past." The problem with this contention is that the response was clearly not justified, because it was not based on Amitrano's actions at the game. Amitrano was singled out and charged only because of his past actions, not his present ones. There is absolutely no provision in the University's Code of Conduct that dictates that a student with a past violation is to be held to a stricter standard of conduct that is not applied to his peers. Such a provision would pervert the concept of justice by completely disposing of the principle that a student brought before the Student-Wide Judiciary has the absolute right to be evaluated only on whether his immediate conduct merits the charge against him.
The police are given the responsibility of making sure that players and the fans are not placed in danger while in the stadium. If the police thought that Amitrano's actions placed others in danger, why didn't they take action on Saturday when he was actually on the field? The answer is that the police didn't consider Amitrano's actions, or the actions of any other student who celebrated on the field, dangerous. If the police had, I would hope that they would have taken the appropriate actions to make the field safe. If the police on the field did not think Amitrano was acting disorderly, how can a decision to charge him on Monday morning be justified? If "running on the field was innocuous for other students," why is it different for Jon Amitrano? The decision of the Student Wide Judiciary to charge Amitrano for disorderly conduct is not supported by the facts, and the decision of The Spectrum to support the charge is grossly misplaced.
Additionally, the University's decision to charge Amitrano is the perfection of hypocrisy. He is the most vocal supporter the Bulls have, and is the archetype student/fan of the Division-I football programs that UB desperately seeks to emulate. If UB decides that is the proper way to treat its most loyal fan, it has no business considering itself a D-I football school.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
