Making mistakes is part of everyday life.

Who among us, at some point in our life, has not been guilty of doing something wrong, something stupid?

Binghamton University men’s basketball player Malik Alvin made a mistake on Oct. 26, when he walked into a Wal-Mart and allegedly stuffed a 36 pack of condoms into his pants pockets. When pursued by a store employee, he knocked over an elderly woman, who reportedly sustained a concussion.

Was the act dumb? Absolutely. Childish? Probably. But is it enough to condemn him forever? In my opinion, hardly.

Alvin, a 6-foot guard, transferred to Binghamton this fall after spending some time at Chipola College in Florida. He also had spent a season at University of Texas-El Paso. His numbers at both schools were enough to catch the attention of Bearcats head basketball coach Kevin Broadus, who recruited the Philadelphia native to play for the Bearcats. And ever since the alleged incident, Broadus’ control over the team has been called into question.

Roughly 20 times over the course of the last few weeks, I have heard comments to this effect coming from students all over campus:

“First Minja [Kovacevic], and now this. All Broadus does is recruit thugs and criminals.”

Let’s put this to rest right now. Kovacevic was not a Broadus recruit. He was brought into the program by former Binghamton basketball coach Al Walker. Secondly, while Broadus may be able to control his players’ actions on the court, it is next to impossible for him to limit the free will of another human being. Once those players are out of Broadus’ sight, they become their own people. In essence, Broadus could wash his hands of his players the second they walk out of the gymnasium.

But he doesn’t.

He seems to genuinely care about what his players are doing and how they represent the University. But does that mean that when one of those players makes a poor decision, the blame automatically goes to the head coach? No.

It’s the same situation as when an individual commits any crime.

People tend to blurt out, “Well, it’s gotta be the parents’ fault!”

However, where are the parents in anyone’s free will? Do most people base all of their decisions on how their parents would react to the decision?

I submit that the answer is no, and we could sit here and argue the nature vs. nurture topic for days, but that won’t get us anywhere, nor does it solve anything. But in terms of relating this situation to a parental one, there are 18 players on the BU men’s basketball team. If a parent has 18 children, can they possibly know what each child is doing at every moment of the day? Absolutely not, and neither can Kevin Broadus.

Alvin has already been convicted in the court of public opinion, which is unfortunate. But tell me, fellow human beings, who among us has never been tempted to crane our neck at the smart kid’s paper next to us during an exam? Or had unnatural thoughts about that person at the bar who had a little too much to drink? Or even found a wallet with a bunch of cash and identification in it, and been tempted to keep the money? Did we act on those feelings? Probably not, but if they crossed your mind to begin with, then you obviously have been faced with a possibly immoral decision.

And even though Malik Alvin acted on his impulse, we all know what it is like to have to make that decision. And are we really in any place to judge a fellow human being for a lapse in judgment?