One of the potentially expensive lessons to be learned around the University of Hawaii these days has nothing to do with the proposed tuition increase.

It is the case of two football players, linebacker Aaron Brown and wide receiver Darius Bright, who have been suspended for Saturday’s season opener for alleged roles in weekend altercations at a Waikiki nightclub.

Both players had been listed as starters for the nationally televised game against Colorado and their fates are up in the air for subsequent games at Washington and Nevada-Las Vegas, pending continued investigation of arrests for the misdemeanor charge of third-degree assault, UH officials said.

That’s a game — or three — that could say a lot about whether the Warriors’ destiny is another double-digit winning season as preseason predictions would have it — or something altogether disappointing.

But for all that could be riding on the start to this season in which a 2-0 start might produce a national ranking, UH needed to make a clear statement Monday after two of its profile players were arrested. Which is why, based upon the details initially laid out by the authorities and UH, plus the players’ lack of previous problems, Monday’s action is in the ballpark while leaving room for adjustment, should additional revelations warrant.

UH needed to do something more than shrug the shoulder pads and dismiss the incidents with the notion that, hey, guys will be guys on one last weekend in Waikiki before the season starts. Something more than order laps to be run and punishment drills. This is a start in the right direction.

Undoubtedly had the two been tropical plant and soil sciences students and intramural players instead of scholarship athletes, their names would not have seen the light of public debate, much less their likenesses appeared on TV.

That, as UH athletes are counseled, is part of the tradeoff that comes with wearing “Hawaii” across a uniform and receiving a scholarship.

As the first page of the UH Student Athlete Handbook conduct guide reminds, “as a member of the UH athletics program, which is a coveted privilege, you will be in the spotlight of our state. This is an honor and responsibility that we ask you to approach with pride.”

It also warns, “this privilege can be suspended if you do not honor the spirit of your commitment to your team and to the university.”

Sometimes, that involves recognizing potentially bad situations before they can get out of hand, and, hard as it might be, walking away. It means making mature decisions even when the emotion of the moment might tug in a different direction. Two things that apparently didn’t happen this time, according to reports.

UH, too, has a responsibility to the program it is trying to run and the athletes in it. “We want to win,” UH athletic director Jim Donovan said, “but we’re a lot more concerned about teaching our student-athletes how to win at life.”

The Warriors have the season’s considerable hopes in their hands. They have both talent and a pliable schedule that would seem to portend a season to remember. It would be a shame if they let that get away from them.

But it would be a far bigger loss if UH didn’t recognize what was at stake here in both institutional and personal terms.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.