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"University of Miami president Donna Shalala appeared at today's weekly football news conference, apologizing again for UM's involvement in the nationally publicized brawl last Saturday with Florida International and saying she was satisfied with the school's punishment for those involved -- the indefinite suspension of safety Anthony Reddick for using his helmet as a weapon and hitting an FIU player with it and the one-game suspension of 12 other players.
''We have disciplined our student-athletes and given them serious warnings,'' she said. ``We have set a new standard being that we will eliminate from our teams students that get into fights. That is a new standard from the university and it means we have zero tolerance for this kind of behavior.
``The sad part is for the men and women who have spent most of the last decade recruiting young men and women of character to the university to play on our sports teams and restoring our image in this community. I believe that the young men we have recruited for our football team are young men of great character but they did a very bad thing . . .
``And it's time for me to say publicly that I believe in them, that I believe they did something awful, but that I want them to continue at the University of Miami and it's time for me to say to the community and to those that have been sending me e-mails that this university will be firm and punish people that do bad things.
``But we will not throw any student under the bus for instant restoration of our image or our reputation. I will not hang them in a public square. I will not eliminate their participation at the university. I will not take away their scholarships. We will discipline them appropriately. We will set a high standard for them. And we will make it very clear what our expectations are for them. And we will do the same thing for our coaches and for our athletic director and for any student on this campus whether or not they participate on our sports teams."
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15782495.htm