Compromise

In no way am I advocating the university should cave to player demands by lifting the ban of the players, or even reducing the sentence the players face, like expulsion or year long suspensions...

But, just so I am on the same page as Gopherhole and the football team, it sounds like everyone involved would not be too upset if the university maintains the suspensions--even possibly for games going into next season--as long as the players aren't expelled.

Also, I am under the impression that the university does not have to uphold the recommendations of the EOAA.

If these are all true, why wouldn't the university play this smart and split the middle here: punishing the players but not ruining their lives in the process

Some of you on here might think that the players deserve whatever they get, including expulsion. but you aren't going to convince all the players on the team of that. there will be defections.

obviously, you can't, as a university, let that dictate how you dispense punishments.

just pointing out that the university has a clear out here. how the university responds, whether through expulsions or through mere suspicions, will reveal the future status of the Gopher football team

I agree with you. If it was me doing the decision making, I would put the five who participated on a 1 year suspension, encouraging them to look elsewhere if possible. The other five I would put on probation.