(WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.) – Purdue faculty could get fired for placing bets on the Boilermakers.
Indiana’s sports betting law and NCAA rules already prohibit bets by college athletes and coaches. Purdue trustees have approved a ban on bets by any student or staff member.
President Mitch Daniels requested the ban last month. He says he believes Purdue and Saint Joseph’s University in Pennsylvania are the only schools to go beyond the NCAA’s restrictions. Daniels says the university lobbied unsuccessfully to exclude college sports from Indiana’s legalization of sports gambling this year. He says college athletes are visible on campus in a way pro athletes aren’t, with professors and students able to see firsthand who’s favoring an injury or grappling with personal issues.
Daniels says the rule won’t be followed by “secret police running around” to write up violators. He says the rule is mainly about avoiding even an appearance of impropriety, so that tough losses aren’t met with rumors and whispers about pressure from classmates who had money on the game.
The rule doesn’t ban wagers on pro sports or on other schools’ games.
Faculty and staff could face penalties as severe as firing for placing bets. Vice Provost Beth McCuskey and Dean of Students Katherine Sermersheim will lead discussions on what discipline students could receive.
Daniels says the rule may need to be modified over time, but says it was important to put Purdue on the record quickly amid what he calls the “Wild West” of rapidly evolving gambling laws and outlets.
(Photo: Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
