OT: Univ of Missouri Rape investigation
Some interesting parallels to what's happening currently at Michigan, although the alleged perpetrator's identity is unknown. Only the victim is known and committed suicide in 2011. The young lady, a member of the swimming team at Missouri, was allegedly raped by a member of the football team.
One interesting quote from the article: "Under Title IX law enforced by the U.S. Department of Education, once a school knows or reasonably should know of possible sexual violence it must take immediate and appropriate action to investigate or otherwise determine what happened."
However: "In its statement Sunday, Missouri said it had not acted previously "because there was no complaint brought forward from the alleged victim or her parents, and there was otherwise insufficient information about the incident."
Link: http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/10359661/columbia-police-open-in…
January 29th, 2014 at 4:04 PM ^
Hmm. Interesting parallels, only difference is that this is a police investigation being started, not the university going back and looking at old cases (as some believe to have happened with us). Wonder why it took the police so long.
January 29th, 2014 at 4:15 PM ^
Jesus the events of the last few days are disturbing. I know they're not necessarily "new" but they are definitely sad and discouraging no matter what the truth is. Somebody here has been kicked out of school and somebody else thinks they were raped. In Missouri a young woman is dead and we're discussing it and yet another posts talks about the Feds taking over PSU's handling of sexual-violence cases. The front page of the board has stories about rape, expulsions, lies and now unions forming.
I liked it better when we fought amoung ourselves on whether Borges was worth a shit (he wasn't) and other frivolous sports topics such as that.
This is depressing.
January 29th, 2014 at 4:20 PM ^
The front page of the board has stories about rape, expulsions, lies and now unions forming.
One of these things is not like the other!
January 29th, 2014 at 4:20 PM ^
Just isn't as much fun today. I agree with you on that.
January 29th, 2014 at 4:22 PM ^
We've known what Gibbons was alleged to have done since 2009. Now there are finally consequences for him and others like him. This is good. A change needed to happen, and now it's actually happening. Universities will be much better, safer places for it.
January 29th, 2014 at 4:24 PM ^
I really, really do. This shit needs to stop and stop right freaking now.
January 29th, 2014 at 4:26 PM ^
January 29th, 2014 at 5:32 PM ^
I have to imagine it will cause at least a few to think twice before doing something dumb...and if a few more refrain from assaulting someone, I'd say that's win - even if it's only a small one
January 29th, 2014 at 8:56 PM ^
Yes, we must defend the God-given rights of our daughters to get belligerently drunk, hook up with cads, seek them out repeatedly, accept their invitations upstairs, and have nothing happen. This is very important.
January 29th, 2014 at 9:09 PM ^
I think it's important that opinions like this be expressed openly, so that no one can deny the existence of people that hold them.
January 30th, 2014 at 12:12 AM ^
I love how plausible your comment makes it that your username is non-ironic.
January 29th, 2014 at 4:35 PM ^
exact thoughts. all of these damn threads/topics :(
January 29th, 2014 at 6:26 PM ^
I don't find the union story depressing at all. Pretty much the opposite. I don't know if it actually will work and be an appropriate tool, but it advances in a very rational and procedural way, the discussion about how to protect and compensate athletes.
To lump it in with rapes, sexual assualts and lies doesn't fit with me.
January 29th, 2014 at 7:02 PM ^
I didn't like the Borges arguments either. I did, however, enjoy our lampooning of Tom Izzo.
January 29th, 2014 at 4:14 PM ^
Poor girl suffers from lets just say issues. She attends a party, is alleged to be raped by a football player. She has no recollection of the rape. A video appears that has the rape on it. The girl is distressed and becomes suiciidal. She admits herself to a hospital for help. During her stay in the hospital she is visited by staff from the university with documents they get her to sign releasing her from the school and her swimming scholarship. She becomes even more depressed and eventually takes her own life. Mental issues are horrible. Rape is horrible and the actions of Missouri during this entire event are horrible. Really sad to see such a promising young woman's life taken away.
January 29th, 2014 at 4:17 PM ^
Yet another case seemingly prompted by new/2011 Title IX initiatives under the current regime at the Department of Education Civil Rights Section. Yes, in the Missouri case a police investigation, apparently not previously opened, has now been opened. Apparently upon the urging, or prompting from sources at MU, which itself was prompted by apparent fear of Title IX implications. A longer quote:
On Sunday, when asked whether the university had initiated a Title IX investigation, Missouri spokesman Christian Basi wrote in an email to "Outside the Lines" that "official guidance from the U.S. Department of Education recognizes that it is appropriate for a university to withhold investigation of its own while law enforcement fact gathering is underway."
But that's only correct if law enforcement has asked the university to withhold its own Title IX investigation, said Brett Sokolow, executive director of the Association of Title IX Administrators. He cited guidance issued in 2011 by the Department of Education to universities that states, "a criminal investigation into allegations of sexual violence does not relieve the school of its duty under Title IX to resolve complaints promptly and equitably" and "schools should not wait for the conclusion of a criminal investigation or criminal proceeding to begin their own Title IX investigation."
Bernhard said the Columbia Police Department had not asked the university to hold off on starting a Title IX investigation: "No, we are not involved with Title IX; we wouldn't have told them to hold off."
The university could face scrutiny as well from the Office of Civil Rights, a division of the Department of Education that investigates possible violations of Title IX by schools that receive federal funding.
Jane Glickman, spokeswoman for the department, said Monday, "All I can say at this point is that OCR cannot comment on possible investigations."
The Boone County Prosecuting Attorney's office declined to comment Monday.
January 29th, 2014 at 4:20 PM ^
Hooray for justice.
January 29th, 2014 at 4:21 PM ^
January 29th, 2014 at 4:38 PM ^
Well, he has been pretty open in the past about his STRONG beliefs regarding Title IX
January 29th, 2014 at 4:52 PM ^
lol, people are plussing Section 1 for this, but the reality is, he abhors the fact that this case was reopened due to T9.
the power of T9 is leading to more cases of sex assault being illuminated, investigated, potentially leading to consequences for the alleged perpetrator.
January 29th, 2014 at 4:27 PM ^
Apparently one of her friends was a football player and knows the guys (read: plural) that sexually assaulted her. He's now ready to speak about it I guess. Hope justice is served.
As far as parallels to the Michigan case. Who the hell knows. My best guess is the girl made a new complaint, or the media/press pressure prompted UM to look back into the case and made a judgment. We shall see.
January 29th, 2014 at 5:19 PM ^
may show...
That they are all scared to death of federal funding and/or administrative consequences under Title IX. And pursuant to the "Dear Colleague" from the Department in 2011, they are all desperate to conduct low-proof administrative hearings to satisfy the feds.
January 29th, 2014 at 5:57 PM ^
you like the phrase "follow the money."
and now the money trail leads to an overlord that says, "investigate rape accusations more closely or else we'll pull your funding."
and i'm fine with that.
January 30th, 2014 at 12:58 AM ^
Soo, in your mind, it's bad to make schools take rape allegations seriously, rather than just sweeping them under the rug? Thanks for clarifying.
January 29th, 2014 at 5:17 PM ^
It seems like sexual assault is taken seriously (and rightfully so) in every college town except East Lansing.
January 29th, 2014 at 5:42 PM ^
January 29th, 2014 at 6:23 PM ^
While I don't agree with his "shot" as written (this is not the situation where zingers are appropriate), one of the many shoes to drop, based on this apparent new era of investigations, is what will happen in the Payne and Appling case from 2010.
It has all the hallmarks of these cases which are being re-opened/re-investigated, and sometime in the near future, I think it is very likely someone is going to ask MSU what they have done regarding that case re Title IX.
January 29th, 2014 at 5:21 PM ^
The extended Outside The Lines story is lengthy, but very in-depth and right here - (LINK)
The entire chain of events is both troubling and tragic and the conclusion is very, very sad.
One of the more disturbing aspects of this is that it seems that the form which released her from her scholarship and the school was presented to her by Missouri staffers during an involuntary commitment following an incident in which she slashed her wrists and was subdued with a tazer. I suppose I would like to know why Mizzou chose that moment.
January 29th, 2014 at 5:35 PM ^
How is that even legal?? You could argue that she wasn't in the right state of mind to sign that letter and that there was coersion involved. This happens in the medical world all the time. You can't medicate patients and/or stress them out (physically) and have them sign important documents. Travesty...
January 29th, 2014 at 10:53 PM ^
January 30th, 2014 at 6:35 AM ^