Feb. 10--The University of Illinois has indefinitely suspended a softball player and suspended a men's gymnast for two meets for their parts in vandalizing a campus Jewish center, the university announced Tuesday.
Ruby Rivera, a sophomore shortstop from Glendale, Calif., received a notice to appear in court this month. The gymnast, whom the university did not name in its statement, was with Rivera but was not charged.
"We are disappointed by the actions early Sunday morning of two student-athletes from softball and men's gymnastics at the Chabad Jewish Center on campus and apologize for this unacceptable behavior," interim athletic director Paul Kowalczyk said in the statement. "I've spoken to the student-athletes and to staff at the Center, and made it very clear that this behavior falls far short of the high expectations we hold for everyone who represents the University of Illinois."
Kowalczyk noted the students wrote letters of apology and will be required by the university to complete community service hours.
According to reports in the Champaign News-Gazette, Rivera was trying to unscrew a light bulb in a menorah and broke it. The paper noted this was the third time the menorah had been vandalized this year.
