This is outrageous, unbelievable. This is UNACCEPTABLE.

When Tyler Owens is pictured wearing a confederate flag and making a Nazi salute, he is promptly suspended pending an investigation.

When Owens, even after the above came to light, is accused of assaulting a woman, he gets to play on the same day the accusations surface.

Now, I don’t know about those of you reading, but in my book a picture that is incredibly insensitive and emotionally hurtful, is STILL nowhere near as serious an issue as physically assaulting another person.

Wearing what he wore and making that gesture was wrong, but legal. He has a freedom to express himself in any way, as long as his expression does not infringe upon the freedom of others.

Assaulting a person, however, is not only a despicable act, but a very serious legal matter.

With this in mind, I am trying to decipher any logical explanation as to why Owens played in tonight’s game. And try as I might, I cannot think of a reason that would justify Pace University’s stance.

Playing Owens tonight may have boosted the teams overall skill level, and may have even pushed them closer to victory, but we lost. We lost more than just the game, we lost our integrity. But even if we had won, the fact remains that Tyler Owens should not have been on that field tonight. How can Pace justify giving him the privilege of playing the sport that he loves, when accusations of this nature are hanging over his head?

Not to mention that when Head Coach Andrew Rondeau was asked about Owens playing tonight, he said that the decision was “way above [his] paygrade.”

Really? The head coach of the football team was not a part of this decision? That seems very hard to believe because the head coach is able to choose who plays and who sits. If what he says is true, then he is really not the head coach at all. He would essentially be a puppet of the administration, and that’s where the blame would be placed.

Women on campus, faculty, and the student population as a whole, need to express to the administration their views on this situation.