Minnesota players threaten bowl boycott over suspended teammates
Minnesota's football team is threatening a boycott of the Holiday Bowl over the suspension of 10 teammates from a sexual assault investigation. No charges were filed, but the school's Title IX committee recommended that 5 of the players be expelled and 5 receive one-year suspensions.
I thought we would eventually see players boycott a game, but I always thought it would be for a better reason.
http://www.startribune.com/gophers-football-players-plan-to-threaten-boycott-of-bowl-game/406928136/
EDIT #1: This article has the best overview of the allegations & timeline that I've seen posted:
http://www.startribune.com/gophers-football-players-plan-to-threaten-boycott-of-bowl-game/406928136/
EDIT #2: The boycott is now official. The players have made a statement with video:
http://deadspin.com/report-minnesota-football-players-plan-to-boycott-bowl-1790167029
December 16th, 2016 at 1:17 AM ^
December 16th, 2016 at 2:46 AM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 11:30 PM ^
You're picking the side of "could still be innocent!!"
Choosing sides means choosing innocence or guilt. "Could still be innocent" is simply a fact about this case at the moment. Your objection seems to be that the protest is unwarranted because football players committed rape, which doesn't seem to be plainly evident at all here.
Hell, even the school is saying "could still be innocent"! Preponderance of the evidence only means probably guilty.
Also, not a lawyer, but I think "due process" is a specific legal term, and the due process usually thought of that goes through the legal system isn't applied in a Title IX compliance suit.
You do realize there are significant differences between the legal system and the system schools have set up, right?
December 16th, 2016 at 10:17 AM ^
December 16th, 2016 at 7:56 AM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 8:46 PM ^
In 1986, three Minnesota basketball players were accused of sexual assault. They were kicked off the team and their careers were ruined. The players were never found guilty of anything, but nobody "put the genie back in the bottle." If someone is guilty, I am all for some pretty hard jail time.
But they really need tto be found guilty before anything is done.
December 15th, 2016 at 6:47 PM ^
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December 15th, 2016 at 6:57 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 7:05 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 7:07 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 7:08 PM ^
/thatsthejoke.jpg
December 15th, 2016 at 6:48 PM ^
Looks like no bowl game for them!
These players are on full scholarships. This is the coaches team not the players. Players don't make the rules.
I would cancel the bowl game and start crackin asses.
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December 15th, 2016 at 6:50 PM ^
I agree that the coach needs to stand his ground and let them boycott the bowl game. I think he's going to need to handle it a little more delicately than "crackin asses," though.
It'll be an interesting story to follow.
December 15th, 2016 at 6:50 PM ^
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December 15th, 2016 at 8:14 PM ^
I own Tracy Claeys
December 15th, 2016 at 6:52 PM ^
December 16th, 2016 at 12:34 AM ^
If you read the article, the coach agreed to suspend the players in question.
December 15th, 2016 at 6:57 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 11:12 PM ^
Never seen Coneheads?
December 15th, 2016 at 7:46 PM ^
He doesn't have any say in the punishments his players are protesting. He can side with their protest or discourage it. He can threaten to punish anyone who boycotts the game or just try to persuade them. He can mete out punishments up to yanking scholarships, but he needs to treat them all the same.
If the players do boycott the game, he'll probably get attacked no matter what path he chooses.
December 15th, 2016 at 6:51 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 6:55 PM ^
There was a school hearing, and I am sure there is an appeal process. What more due process is warranted here?
The standard is preponderance of evidence in Title IX.
December 15th, 2016 at 6:56 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 6:57 PM ^
Right, so they aren't going to prison. But that doesn't automatically mean that the school is unable to discipline students.
December 15th, 2016 at 7:01 PM ^
They should discipline every kid in college then for having booze and sex.
December 15th, 2016 at 7:03 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 7:08 PM ^
The school conducted an investigation. The results of that investigation led them to decide to expell 5 students (not all 10 suspended football players were expelled, FYI). I'm not sure why you think that the process is an accusation is made, and the school makes immediate and arbitrary decisions without consulting any parties involved or weighing any evidence of any kind.
But generally speaking, the school is able to discipline students to the extent that they are students at that school, yes.
December 15th, 2016 at 7:17 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 7:24 PM ^
Or maybe the rape culture in this country makes it so difficult to successfully convict a rapist in this country that even where nearly everyone looking into a case believes that a crime was committed, they still don't always bring charges because it's really damn hard to get a conviction, even with great facts, great witnesses and an absolute dirtbag rapist.
So, if you have a question of whether a code of conduct was violated, where you can use the same damning evidence without needing to rise to a legal "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard, you can actually make the person who violated another student's rights have some accountability for their actions.
December 15th, 2016 at 7:41 PM ^
December 16th, 2016 at 12:34 PM ^
The Duke and UVA cases I agree were serious scandals. But, a significant number of rapes are never reported or prosecuted each year and others are botched by our justice system.
The point he was trying to make was that it is difficult to litigate rape cases because victims and witnesses are hesitant to come forward and sometime there is little evidence even if a crime, did in fact, occur.
Baylor, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Florida State all had serious rape scandals recently that were mishandled very badly, and the accused appear to have escaped justice simply because they were good at football. And look at how long Jerry Sandusky's reign of terror lasted. I don't know if it's necessarily fair to call it a rape culture, but there's something seriously wrong here.
College football has a serious rape problem and I don't know if the justice system or university disciplinary systems are adequately equipped to handle it.
December 15th, 2016 at 7:56 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 7:56 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 7:02 PM ^
It's a university. And Title IX is a federal law. Just because there are no charges filed does not mean you are allowed to continue to receive the right to be a student at that university. There are policies for conduct at any university and Title IX is part of that.
The students have a right to appeal or sue the university if they feel the policies & procedures were not followed correctly, and some students have won cases like this. But the university is well within their rights to enforce their conduct code and Title IX. They have to because it is a federal law.
December 15th, 2016 at 7:06 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 7:09 PM ^
Yes, they are well within their rights.
I don't think anyone is arguing that football players don't retain the right to boycott and not play.
December 15th, 2016 at 6:59 PM ^
familiar....
December 15th, 2016 at 7:04 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 7:10 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 7:17 PM ^
If you cheat on an exam, some schools will expel you for that. You don't get charged with a crime though.
Some schools have policies on harassment. You may not get charged with a crime, but you can get suspended or expelled (this actually happened to a friend of mine).
No one is branding them a rapist, but if the school committee feels based on the evidence that they violated the conduct policy and Title IX, they have to take action. The standard for conduct at a university is higher than the court of law.
December 15th, 2016 at 7:27 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 7:40 PM ^
Professors and fellow students have accused students of cheating and plagiarism; that's usually how it works. The professor then lays out his evidence to a committee. The student defends himself. Committee makes decision. Student can appeal if ruling not in his favor.
Cheating/plagiarism is not always black and white either.
University discipline can sometimes be cold. I've seen it firsthand. If you put yourself in gray areas, sometimes it bites you--that's life. But the university has to enforce its standards for legal and ethical reasons.
December 15th, 2016 at 7:55 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 8:23 PM ^
a University can certainly set up what is --- essentially --- a justice system that is parallel to our current non-University one.
But it can still be challenged in court. And several students have been winning these lawsuits of late.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/14/several-students-win-rec…
https://heatst.com/culture-wars/judge-blasts-brown-universitys-kangaroo…
December 15th, 2016 at 7:45 PM ^
Why don't you find out the details of how the process works and comment on that rather than complaining about things you're assuming without actually knowing anything?
December 16th, 2016 at 10:17 AM ^
What kind of life does a young man have with that kind of cloud over him? May not be a jail in a physical sense, but the ramifications are just as real.
December 16th, 2016 at 10:26 AM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 7:14 PM ^
We all (almost all) agree that the culture of abuse towards woman at the hands of athletes needs to stop and be addressed more aggressively, however the premise of innocent until proven otherwise is the bedrock of our legal system. I just would hate to have a repeat of the Duke Lacrosse Team.
I have no simple answer as lives on both sides can be affected and ruined.
December 15th, 2016 at 7:35 PM ^
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