We shouldn’t pay rule-breaker’s way

Jonathan Riches, Robert Henneke and J. Robert McClure obviously are writing about Donald De La Haye for sympathy (“Penalty out of bounds for UCF athlete filmmaker,” Orlando Sentinel, Tuesday). They ignore the issue of breaking NCAA rules. These rules are needed, whether they are in a university or a community, to create order and fairness. Just because De La Haye is a “an incredibly talented filmmaker” does not give him the right to break the rules and expect others to pay his way.

If he is so talented, then he should pay his own tuition with the funds he earned from the advertisements in his films. De La Haye wanted both; he proved this by creating a Go Fund Me page to pay his tuition, while keeping the funds from ads. He expects University of Central Florida students to pay his way, while he enjoys the income. He should make a film about the rules and regulations that cover all athletes at universities and why they are enforced.

All of the incredible UCF students are talented, and we do not expect other students to pay our way if we break the rules; nor should we have to pay for others while they do. The guest columnists ignore the fact that it is the student body that pays for De La Haye’s scholarship. It is not the students’ responsibility to reinforce De La Haye’s rule-breaking with their own tuition.

Valerie Fredericks Orlando