<p>I want to know what you think as an ND parent. Please give me your honest input</p>
<p>This post is not about pointing a finger…this post is about ND parents who love their kids and take great pride in knowing they are ND students. All replys are welcomed.</p>
<p>I am going to be brief and I know you all won’t like what I have to say, but here it goes anyways…</p>
<p>To start off, both are tragedies because an individual lost their life…however, I think the two are two completely different cases…</p>
<p>The Declan Sullivan case is a down right tragedy and there is no other way to go about it. Yes, they should have told him never to go up in the lifts…yes, they should never have practice outside, and the list could go on and on…however, I am most impressed on how the family and the university have handled the case…the university ACCEPTED the wrong in the situation and accepted the responsibility…the family did not make a huge deal over the tragedy by attacking Notre Dame and going on to all these television shows…both parties are waiting until a final investigation and then will act appropriately though I think both parties know what happened and there won’t be a change of reaction once whatever happens is leaked comes out…</p>
<p>As for the Lizzy case, I think that is a 180 degree spin from the Declan Sullivan tragedy…let me first stay that most of this is aimed at the parents reaction…first of all the poor child had cases of serious depression well before attending Saint Mary’s…from the sound of her situation, I really don’t think it was a very wise idea to send her off to college in her present state - that is on the parents…the parents should have at least made arrangements for 24 hour care of Lizzy when she was under that serious depression which again occurred BEFORE she went to Saint Mary’s. Then there is the actual event…the media and family make it out to be a rape situation…it was NOT…it is not even qualified as a sexual assault…it was a sexual battery…the whole situation was extremely overblown…plus the University on several accounts has said that they followed the law and I believe that the Saint Joseph prosecutor said that they received the information they needed…the reason why it took so long was because they were working out the details - and they couldn’t charge anyone because the situation was not all that extreme…the Chicago Tribune, Good Morning America and the family have been using this situation to make money and bring attention to themselves…if the family really wanted to do what was best for Lizzy, then they should never have sent her to college in that frame of mind and should now be working with other individuals on making programs in college to help students with serious depression…not going all around and making things up…finally, I was a little embarrassed from the point of view that I attend Notre Dame when I heard of the threatening text by a friend - that was not called for and to the same extent the actual action went a little too far (though probably not uncommon for football parties at any D-1 football institution)…the major problem that I had was the family’s responses to the tragedies…</p>
<p>To sum everything up, I think that they are both horrible events and I feel for both families and for both individuals. In both cases there were actions that could have been taken for the situation to be avoided (some by the University and in Lizzy’s case some by the family) … but the background to each story and the way the family responded tell me who has the integrity in the situation…for more information I direct you to this article written by Keith Arnold…[Integrity</a> a two-way street | Inside the Irish](<a href=“http://irish.nbcsports.com/2010/12/19/integrity-a-two-way-street/]Integrity”>Integrity a two-way street - NBC Sports)</p>
<p>feel free to challenge anything I said, but from what I have heard this was my reaction to the whole situation…I am more than open to change my opinion on the topic, but like I said, the whole argument in the Lizzy case is directed at the family and not necessarily on Lizzy herself…</p>
<p>Thier is really not much to say about the Seeburg case, she was obviously not in a good place. If what happened in that dorm went as she said, they should dismiss the male student. If what happened went as he said, he should be certainly allowed to remain as a student. So it is a he said-she said and no clear evidence of proof either way. Innocent until proven guilty applies here as it should. BTW ND football has nothing to do with her tragically ending her life. It is a Chicago Tribune story because the student also happens to be ND football player.</p>
<p>Now the Sullivan case is certainly different in one respect in that it has everything to do with ND football. As a huge supporter of the university and a current ND parent it boggles my mind that both the Head football coach and the Athletic Director were at a practice where students were elevated on those lifts in those conditions. What can you say about thier leadership other than its suspect. Why didn’t they immediately head to the hospital where they were taking Declan? They waited for a phone call from the EMT’s? The only thing that can be said is they are lucky Declan and his family have a love for the school that trumps the tragic mistakes made that day.</p>