This isn't a BU problem. It's becomig endemic in college sports across the country. Penn State, Syracuse, Ohio State, the Southeast Conference in general. All examples of schools that have allowed their athletic programs run the university instead of the university running athletic program. The vast amount of money pouring into college sports, and colleges sacrificing tradtion and values to pursue that money. 

UMass spending gobs of money to "brand" itself by jumping to "big time" football. And playing "home" games 2 hours away from campus. As if athletics is the school's "product" and not well-educated students or research that benefits the citizens of the commonwealth. 

The sports pages read like a police blotter, full of stories of "student-athletes" and their sense of entitlement; their sense of elitism and arrogance. And entire universities condoning - or more often - ignoring the behavior. Suspensions teaked to avoid the big game, or the bowl game.

The transition of college sports into virtual minor leagues for the professional leagues, with "student-athletes" mere unpaid interns in the world of corporate sports. To many student athletes playing for a college isn't about school pride or tradtion. It's just a jersey and the school is just another team, just another step on the road to the big leagues. Next step the big time. 

Why are players already drafted by an NHL team playing "amateur" college sports? When did BU, BC, Northeastern, and the rest of college hockey become NHL farm teams? 

These BU players could not care less about BU. It's all about them and that NHL contract. "Boston University" are just some words on the jersey. And don't be too quick to give BC a pass. It would not surprise me to find the same things going on in Chestnut Hill, or any other "big time' athletic school.

I went to one of those Midwest football (and basketball and hockey) factories. Damn proud of it. Spent a lot of time screaming my head off along with thousands of other screaming lunatics. But even this rabid college sports fan is paying less attention, watching less, caring less about college sports as it becomes just another sad spectacle of corporate sports and arrogant criminal athletes. 

Now that Parker is the Joe Paterno of Commonwealth Avenue, he should go. But every - EVERY - college needs to look in the mirror and ask itself honest questions about the role of athletics on its campus. The sense of entitlement needs to go. The drafted players need to go. The corrupting influence of money needs to end.  The spineless, incompetent, corrupt NCAA needs a complete overhaul. Or, maybe, maybe it's time to join the rest of the world and get sports off campus. 

Jack Parker has been a great coach. He put B.U. on the map. If this were football, the NCAA would give them sanctions. Short of firing Parker, B.U. should voluntarily give up the right to play in the Hockey East playoffs and the NCAA hockey tournament next winter. This would give Parker and the B.U. community a time to reflect on this disgusting mess. Other than this very bad situation, I think that Prker has done a good job at B.U. However, some penalty MUST be meeted out to the hockey program.

Thanks, Brian McGrory, for reminding us that the role of a university is to educate young people and help them to become better, more enlightened and fully-rounded human beings, not to babysit jocks and turn a blind eye to sexual thuggery in pursuit of athletic championships. If Mr. Parker's been at it for 40 years, then one has to ask how many years he's been enabling this kind of behavior. So, yes, fire the coach, and make a loud and unequivocal statement that B.U. is better than the behavior it has heretofore turned a blind eye to.

Yeah, Parker was a great coach. Well, maybe the word "great" is vastly overused in sports, but he's at least a very good coach. So was Joe Paterno. In fact, the transgressions of Paterno and Parker are similar -- sins of omission. We know of only two rapes, but I'd guess there were others that were never reported. Just like child abuse, many rapes are never reported.

It's time for Parker to go. BU will never get past the fact that they kept a man on their staff who looked the other way and protected his players at the cost of his integrity.

Brian, you have a pretty good argument here, and as a BU alum, it's a tough pill to swallow ... but you may be right, it may be time for Jack to step down.

The only issue I have with your piece is the insinuation that Jerry York runs a pristine, spotless program. This may be the case, but I highly suspect that if a similar task force was convened, and the same # of interviews took place with BC hockey players, students, professors and alums, you would find similar salacious accounts of sex, alcohol abuse and general misconduct. Sadly, this is endemic to college sports, where varsity athletes are placed upon a pedestal by the students, alumni and university community, and are often given free reign.

The BU players certainly went over the line, and additional punishment is certainly warranted in my opinion. However, I think it's a bit unrealistic to think that BU is somehow the only athletic program in college sports that has had similar instances of misconduct take place.

Brian - These are hockey players, you idiot.  This is how hockey players behave.  Everyone knows this.  Don't act dumb.  The BC hockey players are not much different.  All of the college hockey players I have known act like those in the BU report.  It's a silly sport basically controlled by hockey parents that tacitly condone this type of behavior.  Good luck to all of the college Presidents that have to deal with a hockey team on their campus.

I wouldn't go too far trying to pit the example of Jerry York against Parker. They are well-known friends, and I'm sure that Jerry York would come to the defense of his friend shortly, were he not representing BC who probably wants to distance their program from this as much as possible.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR THIS COLUMN.  Lets keep this conversation going;  it's about time!!

Well, medfielddad beat me to a lot of what I was going to say.  

He's right. It's hardly just BU.  It's every school.   I would like to know when these institutions of knowledge and learning push it all aside in favor of sacred cows known as athletes.  They are a deterrent to their universities in oh so many ways.  They pay nothing or next to nothing for their "education."   They don't pay for their food.  They don't pay for their housing.  They are the gods on campus, and I never could understand why the non athletes, who are certainly picking up the slack ($$) for these guys, go along with it.  

I was glad to see the comments of the professors.  I always wondered---Must they dumb down their courses so that the jocks will pass, because, as we know, they MUST pass in order to play.  How do they feel about that?  And how is it that jocks can miss classes because of athletics?  Nobody else can do that.  

Let's get institutions of education back to their raison d'etre.   Let's award and applaud scholastic achievement.  A well turned out scholar should be the point of pride of a university, not a misbehaving, entitled jock.

In the midst of the sexual assault investigation, I attended a BU Basketball game. The cheerleaders were honored and then the band played an instrumental version of j. Geils "My Angel is a Centerfold". Really guys? So I am not surprised at all at these findings

I am not sure what disturbs me more: BU thinking that it's OK to leave Parker in his job or the comments that BU's program is no worse than its peers. 

Brian is totally right.  If it were funny, I'd say send Parker a case of whatever Sandusky was drinkin', but it's not funny. These guys need to look "coach" up in the dictionary and their job description. They only read the first -or the last- line.  I think we need a commission all right, one to look at all the coaches in the country and see if they're clear on their responsibilities.  Penn State wasn't a  football factory exactly either.                            

I have a graduate degree from BU and I almost mailed it back to them yesterday.

I'm ashamed of my school.