Recent happenings: Florida, Baylor, Michigan State

Amidst the ever-growing pile of evidence that civil rights laws and statutes will not be defended, inspected, upheld by this administration (suspect nominations, budget & staffing cuts, etc.), there was some good news this week. OCR is investigating the University of Florida's handling of a sexual assault accusation against football player Antonio Callaway. We discussed this case last year when Callaway faced a student disciplinary hearing because the hearing itself was unusual in that it was presided over by a football booster who is also a lawyer. UF had never brought in an outsider to preside over disciplinary hearings and that this person was overseeing a case involving a football player was deeply suspect. The accuser herself boycotted the hearing.  No one from UF will speak on the matter because the investigation is ongoing. The accuser--who filed the complaint--and her team have previously commented on the situation.

Baylor must have an abundance of shovels because they just keep digging themselves deeper and deeper. Most recently, a former regent (who was on the board at the time of many of the alleged incidents of rape) chastised the alcohol consumption habits of female undergrads at the school during  series of 2009 emails about alleged sexual misconduct on campus. The former regent, and district attorney, Neal Jones's emails are part of evidence in one of the six current lawsuits against the university. Because underage drinking violates Baylor's Christian-based standards, Jones implies--at best--that the issue should be moot. Except his language reveals significant misogynist blame: “Those perverted little tarts had better be thanking their lucky stars that my guns are all aimed at a worse group of insidious scoundrels than themselves for the time being.” The plaintiffs (there are 10) contend that these attitudes about women and drinking and sexual assault--which existed, as evidenced--at the highest levels of Baylor leadership, contributed to the culture of sexual violence and the lack of appropriate responses to the reports of sexual assault.

Last week Baylor asked for one of the lawsuits it is facing be dismissed. This lawsuit has a single plaintiff, a former volleyball player, who alleges she was drugged and gang raped in 2012 by up to eight football players. Baylor contends that her right to make these claims expired in spring 2015. They also protested the language of her lawsuit which they felt was inflammatory and they are trying to strike from the court record her contentions that Baylor promised sex with female hostesses to football recruits.

It does not seem likely the the move to dismiss will be granted, though Baylor has now attempted to get all six of the lawsuits it is facing dismissed. A district court judge said in March that Baylor sexual assault victims will have until 2018 to file lawsuits against the university.

Far north of Texas, Michigan State University has also been dealing allegations of sexual assault against football players. At this time, the situation at MSU does not appear to be as widespread as at Baylor and officials actually investigated the January assault. These assaults are starting to look eerily familiar: a woman raped by more than one athlete and the incident being recorded. The three MSU football players were dismissed from the team in February (after criminal charges were filed) and subsequently found guilty by the school of violating the sexual misconduct policy and expelled this past week. The lawyer for one of the accused criticized the university's investigation for not being thorough citing all the evidence currently entered as part of the criminal trial thus reinforcing the misconception that student hearings are similar to the criminal justice system. A hearing for the men is scheduled for September. In another departure from Baylor, MSU hired an outside firm to investigate the football program after the allegations became known.