South Beach tour/partybus now… ;)

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) – Students at the University of Colorado say they are not surprised by allegations of misconduct by football players and the recruits they are hosting on campus visits.

Some say the celebrity status football players receive on campus separates them from other students and has distanced them from the Buffalos football team.


"You can tell who they are," said senior Danielle Davis. "They all have tags on their backpacks with their football numbers on them. They wear shoes from their sponsors."

CU is embroiled in a scandal over allegations the football program was using sex parties and alcohol to lure recruits. The allegation stems from a civil suit filed against the school by a former student who says she was raped at one such party.

Boulder District Attorney Mary Keenan testified in a deposition in that case that she felt the school ignored her complaints about the practice, an assertion the school denies.

University President Betsy Hoffman has said she will ask the school's governing board to convene an independent investigating panel to consider those allegations and study the school's policies on recruitment, alcohol and sexual abuse.

Freshman Amanda Wilson said that even though she has only been on campus for one semester she has noticed preferential treatment for athletes.

"My economics teacher's rule was that if you missed a test for any reason, you couldn't make it up," Wilson said. "It didn't matter why you missed it, unless you were an athlete. They were allowed to make up tests. They get kind of an easier ride."

Jocelyn Brown, who is studying for her doctorate, said she is worried that school officials played a role in the alleged wrongdoing.

"I really believe it is happening here and across the country, and I think it's coming from higher up than football players," Brown said.

The Board of Regents has scheduled an emergency meeting on Friday to discuss the allegations.