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Alcorn State University has enrolled Jamil Cooks, who has become a star player on the institution's football team. ABC News reported that Cooks moved to Alcorn State University after he was convicted in a court martial of sexual assault while a student at the Air Force Academy, which expelled him. Last year, Alcorn State was criticized for having a transfer on its football team after being arrested on rape charges while he was on the team at Vanderbilt University. Cooks is a registered sex offender. He was recently named Alcorn State's male athlete of the week.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association told ABC News that there are no rules that ban those with criminal convictions from playing intercollegiate athletics.
While the university says it has no problem enrolling him, others disagree. “If you’ve been convicted of sexual assault or rape you shouldn't be allowed to play on the team,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat who said that the NCAA should change its rules. The current system "hows that there is not a value put on the person who the crime was committed against," she told ABC News.
