Washington State nose tackle Robert Barber has been expelled from school, but is still on the university's football team.
Athletic director Bill Moos told the Spokesman-Review Barber is "in the process" of appealing the expulsion, which was handed down by the university's conduct board after an investigation into a fight that occurred this summer. Because Barber has not been charged by police in connection with the incident, Moos said his status with the team is in coach Mike Leach's hands.
"I let my coaches make those decisions," Moos said. "When it gets to a felony charge, it's on my desk."
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Leach is not happy with the way he says his players have been treated by law enforcement and the media in recent months. He delivered a statement to reporters after practice Tuesday in which he decried a "double standard" of scrutiny being applied to football players, offering multiple examples in which he said they had been singled out.
Barber allegedly was involved in a brawl potentially involving dozens of people on July 23, shortly before the start of fall camp, in which a Washington State student suffered broken bones in his face. That was one of the incidents Leach referred to earlier this week.
"Brawl at a party, the whole room is involved. Room erupts in a brawl. Everybody's hitting everybody," Leach said. "The only guys accused of doing anything are football players. The only guys accused of anything are football players. Where's everybody else? What about the other 100 people in the room? What was their role?"
No charges have been filed against Barber, but the school's conduct board felt there was sufficient evidence to dismiss the senior from school. According to the Spokesman-Review, the university's procedures allow expelled students to file a written appeal "that contests the decision on the grounds the initial hearing was unfair, was based on insubstantial information, that the resulting sanctions were inappropriate, or if new information becomes available."
Until that appeal is heard, Barber apparently will be permitted to continue practicing with the Cougars. He has played in Washington State's first two games, losses to Eastern Washington and Boise State, recording two tackles and a sack.
