First, we're seeing some closure on the situation with Austin Haley down in Noble. You might remember little Austin; he was the 5-year-old boy killed within sight of his grandfather by a stray bullet from the gun of Noble police officer. All three officers on the scene were fired as a result. Yes, I say three; apparently there was a third officer on scene at the time of the shooting, a female officer. For their "actions and inaction" on that tragic day, they were all terminated. The officer who fired, and the other male officer mentioned as the supervising officer on the scene, have both been arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter. I don't know what will happen to them criminally. Personally, I hope it isn't too excessive. While negligent, this wasn't malicious, and those three people have no future in law enforcement (or likely even in any sort of armed guard service, where they might go next). And not only will they be looking for completely new careers, but they'll also have what happened to poor Austin on their consciences for the rest of their lives.
OU's great and long-standing spirit group, the RUF/NEKS, are in quite a bit of trouble today, thanks to some pretty serious allegations of hazing of pledges and alcohol abuse. Apparently, the issues led to nearly half of the current pledge class dropping out. The school is basically cleaning house on them, transitioning them from independent self-control to governance and oversight directly from the Athletic Department. All current RUF/NEK members are expelled from the group and banned from University activities as part of the group. Current RUF/NEK pledges and former pledges from this semester, those still in and those who dropped out, will be permitted to stay on and essentially rebuild the group. This has all happened so quickly and thoroughly, the official OU Athletic Department website has already removed previous mention of the RUF/NEKS which used to exist under the "Sooner Tradition" section. The last time they moved this quickly was in removing all mention of Rhett Bomar and J.D. Quinn the day they were kicked off the team last season.
It will be interesting to see how the RUF/NEKS rebuild, especially considering that many of their activities on the field are somewhat dangerous. Oversight by the Athletic Department might threaten some of those activities because of liability concerns. Who's going to drive the Sooner Schooner? Who's going to fire the shotguns? How are the long-standing traditions going to be upheld? Many Sooner fans might take them for granted, but we alumni know what they're about. If I had attended OU from the very start, I might even be a RUF/NEK alum myself. I am strongly against hazing, and if these allegations are true, the banned members got exactly what they deserved. However, I believe that the University recognized in this case that there is a long tradition with the RUF/NEKS, and that alone saved the group from being completely disbanded by the University. Any frat chapter at OU with the same violations would've suffered that fate. I just hope that if they're taking over the RUF/NEKS, they don't ruin them. Too often, organizations become more concerned with liability than with tradition.
Thanks for reading along.
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