Coping with the Unexpected

The fall semester is in full swing. Midterms have come and gone, and faculty as well as students are entrenched in the everyday activities of college life. Classes, research, writing, and service projects strain the 24-hour day of faculty, but these are the accepted aspects of faculty life at a predominately White (PWI) Research II institution. And then it happens; the unexpected incident. The institution's nationally ranked women's basketball team is hosting a historically Black institution (HBI) team. During the day of the game, the coaches for the visiting team go to a local discount store to pick up needed items. As they exit the store, police question them about a money scam reported by a local citizen. The coaches indicate they have no knowledge of the scam, however, the victim of the scam positively identifies the coaches. Police follow the coaches, two women and a man, back to their hotel. There, the questioning continues and the coaches are taken to jail, where they are held for several hours before being released. Police refuse to state that the coaches are no longer suspects in the scam; however, no charges are filed. They simply indicate that the investigation is continuing. The trauma of the encounter prompts the visiting coaches to cancel the game and return home. Needless to say, this incident was front-page news in this community as well as nationally. Even now, months after the incident, letters to the editor continue to appear in the local newspaper. The