Is it wrong for a university to ask a coach to resign from his position? No. Is it wrong for a university to act like it was not their decision? Yes.

When an all-campus e-mail is sent out from President Eaton saying that Cliff McCrath, head coach of the men's soccer team, has resigned of his own free will, yet McCrath states that he was asked to step down, things do not add up.

It's called dishonesty. In this case, it is dishonesty toward students, professors and people in and around our community.

SPU administrators were not only dishonest about how McCrath came to the decision that he would "retire," they were dishonest about why he was pressured to do so.

A university has an obligation to communicate accurately and honestly to its students just as a newspaper has the obligation to do the same for the public it serves.

When a paper releases something that is later found to be incorrect or false, the public begins to lose faith in that paper. It is no different for a university and its students.

This is the problem now facing Seattle Pacific University.

It is not the fact that our university administration has asked McCrath, who is just shy of his 38th year coaching here at SPU, to step down from his position that is upsetting. The outrageous part is that the administration evaded answering the public's questions.

Saying that McCrath retired is not the same as saying he was forced to leave. No matter how the story is spun and how it tries to dodge it, the SPU administration was elusive with the student body.

If SPU wishes to graduate students of "competence and character," as stated in the university's mission statement then they need to take a deeper look at the kind of character it is modeling.

Despite good intentions while trying to protect both players and McCrath, the administration caused more damage than good.

Coming out with the truth later on is better than continuing to deny it, but the trust that students have in those running this school may already be tainted.

Students deserve to be told the truth no matter how difficult the topic. Rather than trying to protect us with sugar coated words, trust that we are capable of handling tough issues with maturity and respect.