The Case of the National Spotlight
Your men's soccer team has had quite a season . While they came into the season ranked #9 nationally, they won some close games and moved up to #2 with only one loss on the season . Going into the last weekend, four days before they were supposed to leave for the national tournament, a lot of the team decided to go to a party . The party was at an off-campus house and the hosts made sure that alcohol was in no short supply .Things quickly got out of hand and in the end, the police were called to break up the party .
Details are pretty fuzzy, but in the end, 43 students were cited for underage drinking, nine students went to the hospital because of alcohol poisoning, and one student died from injuries sustained while falling off of a balcony . He was too drunk to catch his balance once he started to fall .
When interviewed by the media, the soccer coach insisted that his players who were there are good boys that made a bad choice . When asked if he would cancel the trip to the National tournament, the coach responded by saying, "Are you crazy? We earned that trip and we're not gonna let this stop us from our goals ." While the coach would later admit the timing of the statement was unfortunate, his comments have nonetheless led to a media frenzy focused on entitled student athletes who are "Above the Law ."
The Board of Trustees has convened an emergency meeting to discuss what should be done because this is the fourth major house party of the fall where the police needed to be called . At the time of the meeting, the team was only a day away from leaving for the tournament and it still wasn't clear how many soccer players were involved and to what extent they were involved with the party . The Board has asked you to give them a recommendation of what should be done .
> If you were President, what would you say should be done?
"Almost every man wastes part of his life in attempts to display qualities which he does not possess, and to gain applause which he cannot keep."- Samuel Johnson
The Case of the Inadequate Planning
A group of students decide to hold a benefit concert for a local charity, which will need to close its doors if it doesn't receive enough funding .They go through the work of reserving space, inviting members of the President's cabinet, and placing posters around campus and in the community . Many churches are excited about the event and plan on bringing their youth groups to it . The charity is very excited by the concert because it will keep their doors open, the students are excited because they are able to help make a significant difference in the community, and the administration is happy because it's great publicity for the school; everybody wins .
One week before the concert, it is abundantly clear that the students did not make adequate arrangements for lighting, sound systems, or security . Unless more sound and lighting are reserved before the event, the concert will be a disaster and without enough security, the safety of those who attend could be in question . Your repeated and increasingly urgent reminders have gone unanswered because the students think you're just overreacting .
> What would you do?
> At what point would it become necessary to cancel the event?
