This may not be newsworthy in the end, since I'm sure they send these kinds of letters to everyone, but it is the *first* mention of Alexander or Alleva I've seen in any of the recent reporting. Still nothing about Miles who was LSU's coach when the most recently-reported on Guice incident occurred
LINK /

If you don't want to download the .pdf of their 2017 letter. Here it is

quote:
April 7, 2017
Head Football Coach Ed Orgeron
LSU Athletics Administration Building
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Dear Coach Orgeron,
We have received several messages from survivors of sexual trauma and community members expressing
concern about a presentation that has been “indefinitely postponed” by the LSU Athletics Department.
According to an email generated by a member of the LSU Athletics Department, the presentation was
scheduled for April 3, 2017 and planned to feature student athletes involved in the 2013 Vanderbilt sexual
assault case. We are concerned that giving alleged perpetrators and/or convicted perpetrators a platform
to discuss their involvement in sexual assault sends the wrong message to student athletes at LSU.
In addition, earlier this year, your star running back, Derrius Guice, sent out a tweet from his twitter
handle"@DhaSickest.", that read, "I support Connor Whalen. Girls are always at an advantage when it comes
to situations like this. I know he's innocent! #WhalenWarriors." To explain, Connor Whalen has been arrested
and indicted by a grand jury for sexual assault and rape of an LSU student. He is awaiting trial and faces the
potential of five to 40 years in prison. The comments by Derrius Guice can only be explained as condoning
rape and/or that the victim is a liar. Either way, it is not his place as an athlete and a leader at LSU to make
such erroneous comments.
Survivors of sexual assault often live in shame and silence due to the widespread stigma associated with
reporting the violence committed against them. According to the FBI, only 30-35% of rapes are reported to
police in a given year. We know that comments such as those made by Mr. Guice further the pain and
trauma experienced by victims of sexual assault, and set a poor example of community accountability for
offenders.
LSU admitted last year that sexual harassment sensitivity and assault awareness training was necessary. When
asked about the hiring of the Dan Beebe Group to lead the training to all student athletes, coaches, and
support staff, F. King Alexander told The Advocate, "We're implementing this in a proactive mode." Kudos to
the leadership of the University for implementing this program, however, there is more work to do.
STAR works to support survivors of sexual trauma, improve systems response, and create social change to end
sexual violence. We take this problem facing LSU and our state very seriously, and as fans of LSU athletics, we
expect our champions and championship programs to do the same.
We are committed to partnering with allies in our community to prevent sexual assault, and we firmly believe
that sexual assault prevention efforts can be relevant to the audience without compromising survivors’ safety
and well-being. We would like to assist your program in better understanding the widespread issue of sexual
violence and its role in helping prevent and intervene in this serious crime. We are also able to be of
assistance to members of your team who themselves are survivors of sexual trauma.
Looking forward to your reply and with best regards,
Racheal Hebert, LCSW
President & CEO

This post was edited on 11/17/20 at 7:25 pm