wildfire

ok boys and girls ... get out your #2 pencils. if you use pen, your test won't be graded and 25% of your grade will go straight down the drain.

ready? here we go. question #1:

what's the fastest way to bring estranged college alums back together?

a.) homecoming weekend
b.) class reunion weekend
c.) the announcement that the college president is a complete pedophile.

this isn't intended to be tricky, so don't read too much into it.

got it? great! pencils down.

rumors are so much fun, don't you think? some people don't believe them ... can't believe them ... are totally in shock. others have been waiting for them ... saw them coming at least a summer away ... can't believe how the people who can't believe them didn't see them.

there's a story for each side ... both of them are decades old ...

first you have the abused basketball player, his brother, and at least five other men who live in california and have kept their mouths shut for years. to come to terms with his past, the basketball player writes a book detailing his youth, which is categorized as "fiction."

next is the coach who is an upstanding member of society. he's been the college president for at least two decades and otherwise affiliated with the school for an additional two. he raises money. he builds classrooms. capitalists like him. he keeps to himself and seems to have a fear of women, especially outspoken ones. maybe he's just shy.

wow. it's a good thing i'm not a journalist anymore ... vickie would have fired me by now.

but what do i know? i've also been affiliated with the college for at least two decades. i've heard lots of stories. maybe they're comparable to the egan hall ghost stories. who knows. besides, the board of directors is behind him 100% ... "in the long run, the truth will prevail." how can you not trust someone who has so much to lose? they must be on the right side.

i just hope that during the two full days the board and the president took to respond initially they considered the foundation, heritage, and history of the school rather than their own political and social reputations. maybe they adjourned to the serenity of the chapel to think things through before coming out with, "[The allegations] are not true."

what would sister damien say? you're absolutely right ... forgiveness. she would. but that would be the second thing she'd say.