CSU Football Players Punt School’s Reputation Into an Unsupportive Crowd

BY TOM MULLEN, CORINNE WINTHROP, BRITTANY LANCASTER, COLLEEN CANTY, MICHAEL MCNULTY

When Fort Collins thinks of Colorado State University, it thinks of annual Aggie Days, blossoming trees encircling the oval and students traversing campus on bikes and longboards.

When the country thinks of CSU, it thinks of drunken frat boys at pool parties, bodies mutilated by trains and now, violent football players allegedly releasing aggression on freshman students.

Thanks to today’s media technology, news travels fast—bad news even faster.

The football program hoped to gain national attention with the proposal of an on-campus stadium – instead the recent assault allegedly committed by CSU football players is suggested to have poisoned the university’s national image further, according to last Tuesday’s casual on-campus student survey of 96 people conducted by a CSU journalism reporting class on the plaza.

Reports say three football players– Norly Capi, Mike Orakpo and Colton Paulhus, all junior defenders – beat four freshmen – JD Haley, Dylan Hagen, Donny Gocha and Alejandro Cuomo, all CSU freshman – brutally enough to send them to the hospital­­—and the national papers.

CSU senior Ben remembered how quickly news of the infamous pool party spread last Fall and sees the news of the assault gaining similar attention.

 “When something goes wrong, everyone hears about it,” Ben said.

Of the 96 students approached in the survey, 84 percent had already heard of the incident. 52 percent of those 81 people viewed it as damaging to the university’s image. 

“I already thought they (football team) sucked and now I hate them even more; the whole program should be penalized,” said CSU junior Tommy. 

In addition to local news, students cited CNN, one radio station in Alabama and even Associated Newspapers Limited in the U.K as sources where they found information about the assault.

While some people worry the nation only sees this side of the university, students and community members still stand behind the school and its overall representation of their town—one  which they aren’t going to abandon due to isolated incidents.

Only 8.6 percent of those surveyed reported the incident would affect their future support of the football program as a whole and a mere 3 percent stated it would influence their personal stance on the stadium proposal.

“You can’t let a few bad apples ruin the whole barrel,” said Kirsten, a junior CSU student.