Something has got to change – now.

The last few weeks has cast a dark cloud over the University of Georgia, and the culprits – surprise, surprise – are from the athletic department.

Following the DUI arrest of former Athletic Director Damon Evans in Atlanta on July 1, head football coach Mark Richt told the media that his players were “all very conscious of what happened and the ramifications of it, and so hopefully it’ll strike a chord.”

Michael Fitzpatrick

It sure struck a chord alright, as sophomore tailback Dontavious Jackson was arrested on Saturday morning for a DUI, amongst a litany of other alcohol-related charges.

Redshirt sophomore wide-out Tavarres King was also arrested with Jackson for underage possession of alcohol.

Thus far, seven football players and the highest-ranking athletic department executive have been arrested this off-season. In 2008, eight players were arrested.

This is an embarrassment and drastic changes have to be made. These athletes bring shame and disgrace to the entire University community with each additional act of stupidity they commit.

They can cry unfair treatment all they like, but the truth is, they are undeniably treated unfairly; they are given free pass after free pass.

These scholarship athletes pay nothing to attend classes here. They merely ride the coattails of being able to play a game and milk it for all its worth. And unfortunately, the entire athletic department must be held accountable for what the players on the football team do.

The Gym Dogs, the Diamond Dogs, the Lady Dogs, the swimming teams, all of them are intertwined with the actions of the football team. Fiscally, they don’t matter, and the mighty dollar rules all.

Richt has got to do something, or he needs to be shown the door. The University cannot continually endure summer after summer of this juvenile and immature behavior from its most high-profile athletes.

A start would be bringing in more high-character players. Could you imagine these shenanigans happening during the reign of David Greene or David Pollack? They would not have allowed it.

For this to stop, the team has to buy into the system, whether from the coaching staff or their teammates. Who do these players answer to in the confines of the locker room? That is the question that must be answered.

Until that time, all players must be held accountable for their actions.

Dontavius Jackson is tackled during the G-Day game in April. He has been suspended from the team indefinitely. FILE PHOTO

DUIs are unacceptable – period. On June 21, Jordan Griner, a 2008 UGA alum, was serving as a designated driver when a woman, who was charged with DUI after blowing a .229, struck and killed him. What if Jackson, who was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident, killed someone?

Jackson needs to go. Today.

A minimum-six game suspension will not cut it. He has been granted a privilege few have, and has thrown it away. Like it or not, he must pay the price for his lack of judgment.

King too needs to be dismissed. Sure the wide-out depth chart is thin, but what matters most here? Winning a game or saving lives?

If Richt is serious about changing the culture of his team he must prove it. Talk is cheap.

He took a step with the dismissal of redshirt freshman quarterback Zach Mettenberger following his arrest from an incident in a Remerton, Ga., bar on March 7. Mettenberger has since plead guilty to two counts of misdemeanor sexual battery.

Richt needs to be the face of the athletic department and act like it. He needs to take control of his team and give an ultimatum: represent the University of Georgia in the best way possible or go somewhere else.

As a fourth-generation Georgia student and an ardent supporter of the Bulldogs, it pains me to see shame brought to this university.

But I would rather see the team miss a bowl game than this disgraceful parade in handcuffs.

Because at least then something would have been changed for the better.

– Michael Fitzpatrick is a sports reporter for The Red & Black.