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University of Colorado Scandals

post #1 of 9
2/18/04 at 9:48am
Thread Starter 
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/Central/0....ap/index.html

That article not only talks about the latest and possibly most serious allegations, but also summarizes what has happened up to date. Amongst other allegations is also that one of the CU recruiting staff hired an escourt service to "entertain young men". There is yet another rape allegation coming out today, which makes now 5 total allegations of rape by CU football players/recruits.

In relation to the latest allegations by the female kicker, Gary Barnett (coach of the football team) said that he "inherited" her, and when he approached the team to tell them she would be a member of the team "no one wanted her there."

I heard the president of the university doing an interview this morning on the radio and she said they are investigating the "culture" and "climate" of the football program.

OK, so what are your thoughts on the whole thing? (I don't even know if this is making news anywhere besides Colorado!) And as importantly in my eyes....is there a climate of entitlement and belittlement of women in male dominated athletics?
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post #2 of 9
2/18/04 at 9:58am
I don't know if there is a climate of entitlement and belittlement of women in sports but those are very serious allegations - where there's smoke, there's fire.

Honestly, I don't know if those attacks happened but it does call for a very serious and thorough investigation.
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post #3 of 9
2/18/04 at 10:07am
Thread Starter 
I should have prefaced that question with this. (Sorry, I keep forgetting that the whole country and world aren't being innundated with every breaking piece of news on this story!)

One of the things that was purported by the recuiting staff is that "this type of thing happens at every university in the country" as far as parties and such are concerned. The idea is that they want to show the recruits what "normal" life is like on campus, and make that as appealing as possible (I guess meaning, there's lots of parties and girls galore here!). That they use any means possible to make their college more attractive to up and coming athletic stars than other schools.
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post #4 of 9
2/18/04 at 11:09am
If I were a betting woman, I would bet that this does indeed go on at most universities with big sport teams.

One year I was asked to talk to the football team at my university about sexual assault. OMG...it was the most awful experience. The "men" on the team thought it was a joke, they could not wrap their little minds around the fact that having sex with an unconscious woman is not only against the law but it is also wrong. Even when I used an example of a woman being knocked unconscious in a car accident, they still thought it would be okay to have sex with her!!!!!!! And, of course, a woman who is unconscious because she drank too much or because someone slipped something into her drink was clearly "asking for it." It was to most disheartening, disappointing, and disgusting experience I have had in many many years.

So, hearing about football or basketball players raping women or being offered prostitutes doesn't surprise me one bit. (Disgusts me, but doesn't surprise me.)
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post #5 of 9
2/18/04 at 1:08pm
I would agree that these things do go on -- especially for athletes. I went to the University of Miami and the football players were definitely catered to. They got whatever they wanted. I would not be surprised if women were hired for them.

In my second year, I was taking the required English course. While the rest of us were reading Moby Dick the kid from the football team was doing his essays about articles in Sports Illustrated. He couldn't read on any higher level. That was when I decided that after I graduated I would never give one penny to the University of Miami.

It's disgusting and shameful, but athletics is what brings money into the university. Those of us who were there to get an education had to pay an arm and a leg, but if you played a sport, you attended for free. Makes me sick.
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post #6 of 9
2/19/04 at 5:27am
I'm glad to say that the U of A has been cracking down. Several top athletes have been arrested for drug trafficking, assaults and other serious crimes. Until convicted, they are allowed to keep their scholarships (innocent until proven guilty) but, if convicted they are shown the door. The local police and prosecutors don't cut them any slack.
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post #7 of 9
2/19/04 at 5:49am
Quote:
Originally posted by lotsocats
One year I was asked to talk to the football team at my university about sexual assault. OMG...it was the most awful experience. The "men" on the team thought it was a joke, they could not wrap their little minds around the fact that having sex with an unconscious woman is not only against the law but it is also wrong. Even when I used an example of a woman being knocked unconscious in a car accident, they still thought it would be okay to have sex with her!!!!!!! And, of course, a woman who is unconscious because she drank too much or because someone slipped something into her drink was clearly "asking for it." It was to most disheartening, disappointing, and disgusting experience I have had in many many years.
Renae - your post scares me. The fact that they think it is okay to have sex with a woman who is unconscious whether it be from a car accident or drugged speaks volumes.
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post #8 of 9
2/19/04 at 7:30am
Thread Starter 
Wow Renae. That is just sickening. I mean, how do they get that attitude? You can't just blame the parents, because I'm sure at least some of them were raised with decend morals and values. I guess that's what I'm getting at - are we teaching athletes who show any kind of promise that they can do whatever they want, and are entitled to it? I see this from Middle School and High School. I'm most familiar with Columbine, but my understanding is that administration would turn the other way when the jocks bullied other students or broke rules so they wouldn't miss important games.

Anyway, an update on this particular case: Head Coach Gary Barnett was placed on Administrative Leave with pay pending the outcome of the investigation. They said this was done in response to his remarks about Katie Hnida, the kicker who made the latest allegations. Apparently the one that took the cake was this, ""It was obvious Katie was not very good, she was awful, you know what guys do, they respect your ability . . . if you can go out and play they respect you. Well Katie was a girl, not only was she a girl, she was terrible." Also, another police report came to light that involved a fifth allegation of sexual assault by a CU football player. In the report (and I'm not 100% clear whether this statement by Barnett was reported by the girl to the police or not), Barnett was reported to say that he would support his player 100% if charges were pressed. In response to being placed on leave, Barnett said this: "“I apologize for answering that question in a manner where I must have come across as insensitive.â€

I've heard the sound clip of that last statement. He has abosolutely no remorse for saying what he did, and doesn't think he did anything wrong. To me, that is as telling as anything else.

If you are interested, here is a link to the stories and press releases on this up to this point: http://www.9news.com/cu/default.asp
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post #9 of 9
2/19/04 at 10:57am
Quote:
Originally posted by valanhb
are we teaching athletes who show any kind of promise that they can do whatever they want, and are entitled to it? I see this from Middle School and High School. I'm most familiar with Columbine, but my understanding is that administration would turn the other way when the jocks bullied other students or broke rules so they wouldn't miss important games.
Sadly, I think this is exactly what is happening in some schools. A couple of years ago I was an expert witness in a first degree assault case in which a High School freshman had been absolutely brutally bullied by the biggest jock on campus. Finally, the kid had enough of it and beat the tar out of the jock with a baseball bat. The jock was in intensive care for several days, but was okay after a while. It was real interesting to see the community reaction. About half of the community was very upset about the assault...primarily because the bully couldn't play. They thought the freshman should be sentenced as an adult for the assault. The other half believed that the jock got what he deserved and that the assault was completely justified.

In the end, the jury found the freshman not guilty! I guess some people are getting fed up with crap like these particular athletes are pulling.
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