It was embarrassing enough to have an AD, who so vehemently opposed, and spoke out against the perils of, drinking and driving, place himself in a DUI situation in the first place. But, to add the possibility of infidelity being at the very heart of his behavior, elevated him from poor decision-maker to jerk status—no one likes a cheat.
Even more, the police report didn't do him any favors either as he seemingly threw his weight around in the name of the university—flaunting his misguided sense of institutional power in the hopes that his actions might be overlooked or dismissed altogether.
As a follower, and admitted supporter, of the University of Georgia, this is the part that made me the most uneasy. My immediate response was "he will definitely need to be replaced now, this is inexcusable". In my mind, it was hard to dismiss the image of him standing with his family as he was introduced as the new AD at Georgia just six years ago.
"How dare he!" was my reaction. I felt genuine sadness for his wife and his children because I could only imagine the repercussions this one act was about to have on their future—not only as a family but as individuals as well—it broke my heart.
Some might say, the DUI was enough. The infidelity was simply the cherry on top of a deplorable situation. As a young woman who lost her father to the violence of alcohol, I am inclined to agree. the DUI, in and of itself, was a despicable act—one that Damon Evans should have known better than to commit.
So, on Saturday afternoon when I heard about the DUI, I was willing to forgive the act because the details were sketchy and I wanted to give Mr. Evans the benefit of the doubt. However, as the truth began to unfold and the words "red panties", "just friends", and "bribery" started to trickle into news reports, it became much harder to focus on the positives Evans brought to Georgia.
Now, all I want to see is him gone.
I feel awful for his family, the University of Georgia, and the Georgia Bulldog community—all of whom must suffer the indignity of the shame and senseless spotlight these actions have and will bring their way.
Evans should have saved everyone a lot of trouble by simply resigning as I am sure he had to know the extent of the trouble he would be in after the release of the police report.
He has left Michael Adams little choice as to what he must do. The question now is who will take over the reigns as the next AD at Georgia. We will find out for certain on Monday what Evans' fate will be.
As of this posting, Evans reportedly has resigned from his position, although nothing has been verified as of yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment