A non-traditional Ball State University freshman with prior felony convictions has been preliminarily charged with five felonies and a misdemeanor.
The recent arrest has brought to light the university's willingness to accept convicted felons into the classroom.
The university considers all the applications it receives for admission, even if potential students check "yes" that they have been convicted of a felony.
David Fried, director of Student Rights and Community Standards, said potential students who have been convicted of a felony are taken through a review process to ensure the person is not a risk to the students around them.
Those with violent crimes such as rape and assault are not admitted.
James Cleo Robertson, the non-traditional freshman, has been previously jailed for burglary, theft and drug charges, according to Indiana Department of Correction's offender data system.
The first instinct once bad things happen, such as with Robertson, is to reevaluate and change the procedure that allowed such a person onto campus.
However, the university's protocol is on target.
Reviewing cases individually is a good way to determine if someone with prior convictions poses a risk to the students. However, as Fried said, the effectiveness of this process hinges entirely on an applicant's honesty.
If a student is found to have lied on the application for admission in any way, the student can be expelled.
It would be illogical and fiscally irresponsible to waste the time, energy and money of the university to run criminal background checks on every student who applied for admission to Ball State. Not to mention it would invade thousands of people's privacy unnecessarily.
Convicted felons have, according to the judicial system's standards, paid their debts to society and deserve a chance to further themselves through higher education just like anyone else. Ball State has professors who routinely teach in prisons to encourage the education of all U.S. citizens.
Robertson's case is an isolated incident - students should make sure they don't blow it out of proportion.
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