Written by Noah A Darnell
n an announcement at the end of chapel Friday, Harding University President David Burks reversed the decision not to discipline students who play the lottery.
Burks took responsibility for the decision and said, “I made a mistake.”Read Burks’ complete statement (PDF).
The decision came after a flutter of local media attention on the issue. The university’s student newspaper, the Bison,reported two weeks agothat the church of Christ-affiliated university was not prohibiting students from playing the lottery.
Burks stood in front of the student body at the 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. chapel services and said the decision to allow students to play the lottery was a mistake, and he had “failed to connect the dots” between allowing the students to play the lottery and an implied contradiction in the handbook.
Burks went on to explain how he felt the negative effects of the lottery falls disproportionately on the poor. He also attempted to clear up any misunderstanding as to whether or not Harding had declassified the lottery as gambling.
“I’ve always considered the lottery gambling,” Burks said. “It is wrong to try to get something for nothing.”
Burks said the university will return to its policy as stated on page 10 of the student handbook: “Harding University considers the following to be in conflict with her mission, and therefore prohibited – participation in these will result in disciplinary action: […] Gambling or wagering on or off campus.”
The Arkansas lottery began Sept. 28 when scratch-off lottery tickets went on sale at 1,500 locations across the state.
