News broke Thursday that Jaborian McKenzie, one of the four Vanderbilt University football players accused of raping and assaulting a 21-year-old female student, had resurfaced as a member of Alcorn State University’s football program after he was dismissed from Vandy following his arrest on rape charges in August.
McKenzie has now been removed from the Alcorn State football team, according to WJTV, a Jacksonville, Mississippi news station (via Jezebel).
“Alcorn failed to sufficiently examine the allegations against McKenzie before allowing him to participate in our football program,” Alcorn State president M. Christopher Brown II said in a statement. “In an effort to provide educational opportunities to a Southwest Mississippi student, Alcorn State University made an error in judgment.”
“Participation in Alcorn State University intercollegiate athletics is a privilege and not a right,” Brown continued. “Intercollegiate athletics is an extracurricular forum for student engagement intended to provide an outlet for maturation, growth, and development. And McKenzie has been notified that the privilege to play has been withdrawn.”
McKenzie and three other Vanderbilt players were charged with five counts each of aggravated rape and three counts each of aggravated sexual assault. All pleaded not guilty and were dismissed from Vanderbilt’s football team and the university. A fifth, standout wide receiver Chris Boyd, pleaded guilty Friday to a misdemeanor charge “involving ‘criminal intent’ to be an accessory after the fact,” the (Nashville) Tennessean reported. Boyd will serve one year of probation, at which point the charge will be wiped from his record.