re: USA Today new story on mishandling of misconduct complaints against athletes

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(maybe I missed it)

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He said he couldn’t comment

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May 2017: Victim's father spoke with Tennis Coach Sell on two other occasions that summer about alleged abuse.

April 14 2018: Davis admits in a text message to Verge Ausberry that he punched the victim. The conversation was not revealed until Aug during a search warrant. Message was deleted from Ausberry's phone despite LSU protocol of keeping for 5 years.

April 25 2018: Victim is punched by Davis, also tells LSU athletic trainer Donovan White about May 2017 episode. Segar files Title IX report. This is the first time the victim has officially filed reports on incidents.

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First off, thanks for putting that timeline together. I think it makes things much more objective.

Two things I notice:

1. Despite Ausberry deleting the text message (which I agree is not a good look), it looks like things moved pretty quickly after that point. And when I say “quickly,” I mean that in the context of a bureaucratic internal investigation.

2. The bigger question to me is what happened between May 2017 and April 2018. That seems to be where the real failure lies.

What has police done?

Why is rape report to LSU and not police

Also, two excerpts from the article that I think are worth pointing out:

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Federal laws and LSU’s own policies require university officials to take such allegations seriously and report them to the Title IX office for investigation, as well as to campus police if the incidents occurred on school property.

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Notable, especially in the context of the other excerpt:

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Many universities operate from a fear of being sued in Title IX cases, said Sarah Nesbitt, a policy and advocacy organizer for the nonprofit, Know Your IX, citing a huge uptick in lawsuits filed by disciplined male students against their universities in the past five years.

“Schools are not oblivious to the fact that even if they can defeat a lawsuit, it’s still a drain on resources,” Nesbitt said.

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While the article certainly does not look good for LSU, this is about more than football. Half of the cases mentioned in the article don’t involve athletes at all. Public universities are trying to walk a tight rope between complying with Title IX regulations and avoiding lawsuits from accused students who don’t receive the same due process protections that they would have in a criminal case.

The article mentions several students who received deferred suspensions - implying that they had not been punished. But a deferred suspension is a punishment. The real implication is that the punishment wasn’t severe enough, but it’s a little misleading to conflate that with other allegations that the university hasn’t addressed these types of issues at all.

If King Alexander were to get dragged for this...that would be a good thing.

2019: LSU has greatest season ever, locker room is the tightest I've ever seen, pretty much no scandals, LSU brand is the strongest ever with people like Randy Moss on national TV repping and openly cheering for us

2020: strong possibility of a losing season, potential disconnect between coaches and players, and now here comes the scandals to rub some salt in the wounds.


What a stark contrast.

Many allegations with moderate to no punishment. What needs to be shown is thorough investigation by the university and full disclosure to local police.

Seems to be a whole lot of hate for LSU going on there in media land.

What actions were taken against Guice by LSU?