Written by The Bison
In an announcement at the end of chapel on Friday, Harding University President Dr. David Burks reversed the decision to not discipline students who play the lottery.Burks personally took responsibility for the decision and said, “I made a mistake.”
The decision came after a flutter of local media attention on the issue.
Burks stood in front of the student body at the 9am and 10am chapel services and said that his 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 fall 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, “you can’t get something for nothing.”
Harding University will officially be returning 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 lottery officially began on Sept. 28 when scratch-off lottery tickets went on sale at over 1,500 locations across the state.
