The Vanguard asked members of the Portland State community to comment on the recent incident in Cabo San Lucas involving PSU basketball stars Scott Morrison and Jeremiah Dominguez. Their responses, ranging from disappointment to no knowledge of the situation, follow.
Anousa Sengsavanh, 33Pre-pharmacy, senior
I looked into it a little bit. I’m disappointed, to be honest with you. We had such a high for the school. I take everything from the media with a grain of salt, but from my gut, I’m a little disappointed. Portland State was getting some positive attention, getting to the tournament. Hopefully it doesn’t paint us in a bad light.
Mike Lynch, 22Criminology, senior
It kind of puts a taint on the entire season. At the same time, I understand they were released due to lack of evidence. If they don’t have the evidence to charge them, they should release them. It’s unfortunate because they’re in such a high-profile position on campus, everyone’s been rushing to judge them. We should sit around and wait until the system sorts itself out before we start assuming that Morrison beat a guy half to death.
Amanda, 22International studies, junior
I don’t know. That sucks. I’m sure it’s terrible for them. I imagine a Mexican prison is not a pleasant experience. I don’t really follow school sports that much, so I can’t really say. I don’t really know how that affects the team, if they’re key players.
Emielle Centrella, 27Public administration graduate student, first year
I think it’s pretty disappointing. It’s disappointing for the school, I think, overall. It seems like it was the first time PSU made it on the big screen, and to have it end in a scandal, I don’t think it’s very good for the school.
Alex Hooyman, 21PCC student, freshman
Ariel Gruver, 18Undecided, freshman
Alex: It just seemed like there wasn’t a lot of information about it. No one got charged, did they? I think it just got blown out of proportion a little too much. It seems like everyone’s making way bigger of a deal than it should be.
Ariel: When you’re in a different country, things happen. The police can do what they want. It’s good they got out, but just being that scared, I think they got what they deserved.
ASPSU President Rudy Soto, 22Liberal studies, junior
My initial reaction was that it was hard to believe. I know Scott [Morrison] pretty well, firsthand. Hearing how extreme the situation was, that someone was near death and Scott and Jeremiah [Dominguez] were the alleged, it was completely opposite to how I know Scott to be. It was concerning that they had already been framed to be guilty when charges haven’t been pressed and they’re coming back. They’ve been made to seem that they’re guilty and that’s it.
The general feeling throughout campus is a sense of disbelief and disappointment how PSU is being [portrayed], not just in the regional news … but national news. Really, it’s the disappointment that PSU and our players are at the forefront of this news. It’s surreal that just a few weeks ago PSU was making national and local news for getting to the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever.
We should all withhold judgment until all the questions are answered, because overall it seems like there are a lot of conflicting stories and inconsistencies.