In a typical month, the Barton Community College Board of Trustees meets twice and the Great Bend Tribune runs front-page stories about those meetings. The Aug. 9 story included good news: The budget was adopted with no mill levy increase, the sports commissioner is planning a visit to the BCC campus and the college is getting better Internet service. Todd Moore, assistant athletic director and sports information director, reported on “athletic compliance” and told trustees, “We are trying to do things right. I think a lot of people respect that we are trying.” He shared a report which can be found online at http://bartonccc.edu/community/aboutbarton/trustees/studysession/fy1314/20130808/Compliance%20Timeline%202011-2013.pdf, and from it the Tribune included this note from the college for 2012: “ALL ATHLETIC PROGRAMS at Barton CC were cleared through the rigorous NJCAA year long audit!!”
However, on the evening of Aug. 15, the Tribune’s sports department received an email with a brief statement from the college: The National Junior College Athletic Association and Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference has placed the men’s outdoor track and field team on probation for the 2013-2014 academic year. The ruling stems from the college’s internal review and self-reporting of a NJCAA violation, resulting in the team being declared ineligible to compete in the 2014 NJCAA or KJCCC/Region VI Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Barton Athletic Director Trevor Rolfs could not be reached for comment that evening, but later told the Tribune, “Anytime something like this happens, it’s not a good thing. Things have hurt this athletic department in the past, you just get past it. It was a very unfortunate situation, but we knew what the result would be. When we find any possibility of a violation on any front, we just aim to do the right thing.”
OK, but maybe the right thing should include being up-front with BCC stakeholders from the start. Were the trustees made aware of a violation by Aug. 9? If so, why didn’t one of them speak up as Moore gave his glowing report? If not, why not? The college administration takes pride in “transparency,” but this was one hazy report.