""They wanted us to exercise discretion,"" said Elton Crim, former assistant dean in the Offices of the Dean of Students. ""I didn't want him pressuring my associate dean.""
One of the most controversial issues dealt with by the Athletic Board in the past two years is the discipline of former football player Lance Smith-Williams, with internal e-mails and interviews with those involved showing more disagreement than previously appeared.
Smith-Williams was charged with and eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct charges against his then-girlfriend, UW-Madison student Kandl Light, in July 2007, according to court documents.
Crim, who was also serving on the Athletic Board at the time and directing the Student Advocacy and Judicial Affairs Office in ODOS, was referring to Athletic Board Chair Walter Dickey. Crim said Dickey tried to ""attack"" ODOS and kept bringing up the issue of Smith-Williams' discipline case.
E-mails obtained through the state's open records law show Crim disagreed significantly with other members of the Athletic Board and Athletic Department on how the issue should have been handled.
""It seems that this is a train that is not going to stop, and therefore I certainly am not going to get in its way,"" he said in September 2007. ""It seems clear to me that everyone is hell-bent on the idea that advocacy on the behalf of these athletes is necessary.""
Dickey said he was informing ODOS of new information in the case that would dramatically alter Lance Smith-Williams' punishment and he had a duty to make sure the discipline was not based on ""erroneous facts."" He said this was necessary for the situation to be handled responsibly.
Check www.dailycardinal.com for more updates on this story in the coming days.
