By Justin Muszynski
CCSU soccer coach Shaun Green successfully appealed the sanctions that were handed down to him for his role in the trashing of 150 copies of The Recorder back in May.
He was seen by CCSU police removing the newspapers from the Student Center because of an article that described the soccer team’s ineligibility for the postseason due to poor graduation rates. The original punishment given to Green included a 60-day suspension without pay and a four-game suspension. After a grievance was filed, these sanctions were reduced to 14 days and one game, according to Green.
“It was a poor decision on my part and I can only offer my most sincere apologies to The Recorder,” said Green. “I’m looking to move on at this point. I’ll stand by what I said before, ‘What I did was wrong.’”
Nicholas Proch, former Editor-In-Chief of The Recorder, says he is disappointed by the university’s decision.
“If all it takes is someone to appeal a sanction and lobby for it to be reduced, then that sets the precedence that anybody for any type of punishment can do that,” said Proch. “I don’t think that’s the situation that the university wants, and that diminishes any jurisdiction that the university has over its employees.”
Green still has to reimburse The Recorder for its losses, which he was told was about $48. He has offered to pay that and is just awaiting word of whom the proper person to give it to is.
However, Kassondra Granata, current Editor-In-Chief, doesn’t feel that financial compensation is enough. She says that the original punishments should have been sustained and that the school should have told The Recorder of its conclusion about Green’s appeal.
“It was censorship and he acted unprofessionally,” Granata said. “I feel like CCSU tried to hide this and I think Green should have accepted the punishment.”
Proch also says that he wasn’t surprised in the least by the school’s backpedal.
“I think the original punishments were made just to appease the public because of all the attention that this incident was getting,” Proch said. “A lot of people were telling me when the sanctions were handed down that the school wouldn’t uphold them, and they turned out to be right.”
According to Green, his former assistant coach, Paul Wright, is also appealing the university’s decision to not renew his contract. They are expecting a decision in the next couple of weeks.
The athletics department is unable to appeal the $100,000 fine that was put on it, according to Thomas Pincince, sports information director.
“Not at this time,” Pincince said when asked if the department had any course of action towards getting the fine reduced or thrown out.
Green also says that the stipulation that he must write a formal apology to The Recorder, the University community and the athletics department was retracted.
Proch says that his most dissatisfaction comes from the choice he made to not file a civil suit against Green because he felt the university sanctions were appropriate. It is unclear whether The Recorder will reconsider its rights to a lawsuit.
