This year, UB's men's and women's basketball teams had extremely successful seasons. UB students are integral to the winning spirit and Student Affairs continually encourages students to support our teams. To help students participate in the success of the men's team, Student Affairs invested in several buses to take students to the MAC tournament game in Cleveland.
As a precaution and to ensure the safety on the trip, these students were required to sign behavioral contracts. These contracts stipulated what was expected, in terms of behavior, during the trip and the game. All traveling students signed the documents. Unfortunately, several of these students broke the contract and behaved unacceptably, embarrassing both our team, their fellow students and the university. As a result of their behavior on the Cleveland trip, seven students have had Student-wide Judiciary hearings.
We were hopeful that our presence in Cleveland would both support our team and show the people of Cleveland the cohesiveness and dedication of UB fans. Instead, student behavior placed other students at risk and reflected poorly on Buffalo, our students and the University at Buffalo.
As a direct result of these incidents, and after consultation with other university units, Student Affairs will no longer provide "away game" buses for students. We felt it was important for students to know our policies in advance of the new academic year. A review of this policy may take place with appropriate student group involvement, and, in the future we may consider sponsoring recognized student organizations.
We encourage students to continue to attend sporting events - both at home and away - to support our athletes. When you attend these events, please do so responsibly, with a spirit of good sportsmanship, and as a proper representative of the University at Buffalo.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
