Tutor on UNC decision: 'Disgraceful'

[Tugg Speedman]

Tutor on UNC decision: 'Disgraceful'


http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/9786854/north-carolina-tar-heels-tutor-resigns-citing-roy-williams-decision-not-dismiss-pj-hairston

A longtime North Carolina athletics tutor left his job Friday, and he didn't go quietly.

Jack Halperin, who worked with UNC athletes for 23 years, announced his departure in a letter of protest directed at North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams. The letter, published in the Daily Tar Heel, calls Williams' decision not to dismiss star guard P.J. Hairston this summer "disgraceful."

"Roy, after 23 years as an academic tutor, and after going through the devastating football scandal, I am resigning in protest of your disgraceful decision to allow P.J. Hairston to remain on the team," Halperin's letter read. 'If I were arrested driving with no license, illegal drugs and a gun in a felon's car, my employment at this university would end immediately. Hairston's [Daily Tar Heel] headline quote was, 'I will play this season.' Since when does the criminal decide his fate?"

On June 5, Hairston was pulled over in a rented GMC Yukon licensed to convicted felon Hadyn "Fats" Thomas and was charged for misdemeanor marijuana possession and driving without a license. A gun was found at the scene, although it was not tied to Hairston. The charges were dropped after Hairston completed a drug assessment program.

In July, Hairston received a speeding ticket that included an additional charge of careless and reckless driving.

Williams has indefinitely suspended Hairston, who has been practicing with the team since September. The Tar Heels coach has provided no timetable for a return other than saying there was "no question" that Hairston, who averaged a team-high 14.6 points per game last season, would play this season.

[🏀]

Well, ya know, I think he deserves another chance. It's just some weed.

[Lennys Tap]

Waiting for Chico's obligatory "How dare you criticize another program or a coach when our program isn't perfect" post followed by accusations of hypocrisy. 3,2,1...

[GGGG]

I'm not sure why an academic tutor feels that he has some say in the matter.

[Sunbelt15]

I'm not sure why an academic tutor feels that he has some say in the matter.

Exactly!!!!!! He needs to get off his high horse and help those that want to learn.

[Golden Avalanche]

Exactly!!!!!! He needs to get off his high horse and help those that want to learn.

Oh, unnatural carnal knowledge off with that crap.

[CTWarrior]

I'm not sure why an academic tutor feels that he has some say in the matter.

I don't see where the guy thinks he has a say in the matter, or even thinks he should have a say.  This is a guy who took a principled stand and did harm to himself (leaving his job) because he didn't like the way his employer conducts its business and said so in no uncertain terms.  I can respect that, reagrdless of whether or not I agree with his stand.

[Lennys Tap]

I don't see where the guy thinks he has a say in the matter, or even thinks he should have a say.  This is a guy who took a principled stand and did harm to himself (leaving his job) because he didn't like the way his employer conducts its business and said so in no uncertain terms.  I can respect that, reagrdless of whether or not I agree with his stand.

Hard to disagree with this.

[GGGG]

Yeah I get it.  I think the stand is pretty dumb though.  In the end, it isn't going to matter one bit.

[keefe]

I don't see where the guy thinks he has a say in the matter, or even thinks he should have a say.  This is a guy who took a principled stand and did harm to himself (leaving his job) because he didn't like the way his employer conducts its business and said so in no uncertain terms.  I can respect that, reagrdless of whether or not I agree with his stand.

Many thought saw the self-immolation by Saigon monks as a futile gesture when, in fact, these moments crystalized American opinion on the war in Vietnam.

[Benny B]

Yeah I get it.  I think the stand is pretty dumb though.  In the end, it isn't going to matter one bit.

So what... this is a nation where people take stands all the time when it doesn't matter one bit.  Just look at the lines outside polling places each November.

[GGGG]

So what... this is a nation where people take stands all the time when it doesn't matter one bit.  Just look at the lines outside polling places each November.

That matters.  This letter doesn't.  Congrats...you are now unemployed and have done nothing to change anything.

[Chicos' Buzz Scandal Countdown]

That matters.  This letter doesn't.  Congrats...you are now unemployed and have done nothing to change anything.

except get several MU fans spending time responding to something that doesn't involve them

[keefe]

That matters.  This letter doesn't.  Congrats...you are now unemployed and have done nothing to change anything.

Principle matters. The man refused to work in an environment that conflicted with his core values.

Buddhist monks immolating themselves helped change middle class America's perception of a strange, exotic place and made thinking people question what we stood for.

Then there is the example of Shi Xianzhi/Mother Agnes. Shi Xianzhi grew up in Anhui Province where she was educated by Italians nuns. Shi Xianzhi converted to Catholicism and became an Ursuline sister, taking the name Maria Agnes. After the Communist takeover she became the Ursuline Superior when the government expelled foreign clergy. She and her sisters lived in abject poverty and suffered greatly under Communist rule.

She was arrested and sentenced to hard labor in a work camp. She was given the option of freedom and a teaching position if she would simply renounce her Catholic faith. Mother Agnes refused and her brutal imprisonment ultimately caused her to perish  Later, a fellow prisoner was able to get Mather Agnes' papers out of China. Mother Agnes wrote, “I am content to die here. For a Christian who lives in Christ, to die is to gain.” She also wrote, “I am a nun of the Ursuline Order. Should an opportunity arise for you to write a letter one day to the Mother General of our order in Rome, please tell all of them that my soul sings praises to the Lord and that right up until the moment of my death I have kept all the rules of our religious congregation.”

A fellow prisoner who was converted to Catholicism by Mother Agnes wrote, "Mother Agnes was young and had so much good yet to give and yet she died rather than renounce her faith. We live here in this camp on the verge of death. To live one more day is to approach the grave nearer by one day. During the course of this life, I walk step by step, coming closer to death, with only the breath of life to divide life from death. What of life! What of death! To live is to live for Christ so that death comes as a blessing. This meeting with God is the highest ideal of our human existence. Mother Agnes has proven the truth of this wisdom.”

People who have served a higher purpose understand the nobility of this Tutor's statement. The fact that you only see futility speaks volumes.

[Benny B]

That matters.  This letter doesn't.  Congrats...you are now unemployed and have done nothing to change anything.

When's the last time you saw a major election decided by one vote?  Or ten votes?  Or 100 votes?  It is a statistical impossibility that an election will ever be swayed by a single person's vote.  Albeit unlikely, at least there is some small semblance of a probability that this tutor's action could cause a different outcome to occur than if he had simply kept his mouth shut.

[forgetful]

That matters.  This letter doesn't.  Congrats...you are now unemployed and have done nothing to change anything.

If he is good at what he does it makes a big difference.  UNC loses a valued asset and loses face in the media as having poor values.

Meanwhile, he gets press and will likely land a job that values principles, especially if he is good at what he does.  I'm sure he already had something lined up before he put ink to the paper. 

Sorry you don't see it that way.