[Univ. of Missouri] UM president on student rape allegation: 'We take this very seriously'

[alp227]

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

COLUMBIA, Mo. • With an impassioned response to the allegations that rocked his flagship institution last week, University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe gave a voice to his proposed investigation into the rape accusations of former Mizzou swimmer Sasha Menu Courey, who committed suicide in June 2011.

Five days after ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” reported the story of Menu Courey, who was allegedly sexually assaulted in February 2010 by MU football players, Wolfe met with reporters Wednesday on campus to discuss the independent investigation he later recommended the UM System Board of Curators launch to “look at all matters related to this tragic incident,” Wolfe said.

“It’s unfortunately a tragic situation that’s kind of personal to me because I’m a parent of a female freshman student-athlete myself,” Wolfe said. “What’s important to us at the University of Missouri is the safety of our students. We take this very seriously.”

“What I feel as a parent is one of our students is dead,” he added during a 30-minute news conference. “And I don’t want to feel that anymore. Our goal is to help Sashas of the world and try to give them the necessary mental health support or whatever support they need, for any of our students, in a way that we can never let this happen again.”

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/mizzou/eye-on-the-tigers/um-president-on-student-rape-allegation-we-take-this-very/article_6fbbc0b5-cca9-537a-b143-1a7188ed24de.html

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ESPN article about the SMC case

And a sad, sad sign of how screwed up our nation is: The P-D actually published an editorial titled, Sexual assault victims need support, not condemnation

[Sienna86]

1. Horrific.

What the hell are our priorities?

[freebrew]

2. At the U of MO?

Football.

These guys have gotten passes in the past.
It's not gonna stop now or maybe ever.
My prediction: nothing to see here...move along.

[Delphinus]

3. I hope you are wrong.

[freebrew]

4. I hope so too.

But, as a victim of one of the U of MO football player assaults, it wasn't the jock that was disciplined. It was me and the fellow that helped me. Short story: I had to leave school, not the only reason, but the major one.

I still can't fathom why anyone thinks this is a good school. AFAIK, the only good schools in MO are in St. Louis.

[Delphinus]

5. {{hugs}}

I am so sorry you are having to bear this. I hope you are receiving help.

[erglerbergler]

8. Questions

As a recent graduate of MU, I know that there are many good people that work at the university. However, I don't doubt for a second that there are also many who would do everything within their power to cover up crimes committed by athletes. Sadly, this seems to be the case for schools all across the nation.

Have you considered contacting the supposedly independent investigator? It seems to me like your story could be very relevant to this case. These type of misdeeds need to be exposed...

[freebrew]

10. This was many years ago(1970..)

it wasn't a sexual assault.
I was a freek with long hair and beard, the football player was an idiot and accosted me.
I'm not helpless, but was outweighed by about 60 lbs.
My friend intervened. We were then met later by about 20 football players and figured we'd get our asses kicked but the event was interrupted, I forget how.

At any rate, to break up the original fight, my friend had showed the guy a knife, but only after the guy asked what it was. One of those pocketknives carried on a belt, not a weapon, a tool.

Later, my friend and I were disciplined, not the football guy. There are transcripts, somewhere, of what I told a psychologist I was forced to see. Nice guy, I guess, but afterwards it just wasn't safe for either of us.

Enough anyway, I'm really fine, thanks.

[Nye Bevan]

6. Why do universities conduct separate "investigations" in cases like this?

Why not just turn the whole thing over to the police? If this had been done at Penn State, many youngsters would have been saved from being raped by Sandusky.

[Xithras]

9. They are investigating to verify that policy was followed.

In this particular case, the rape allegation was never made to the campus police, local law enforcement, or the college administration. College administrators didn't become aware of the rape allegations until after she had already killed herself, and chose not to pursue an investigation because the only "witness" was dead and the rapist(s?) weren't students any longer. There's is also some evidence that she may have told one of her former coaches about the rape after she'd dropped out of the school, and shortly before she committed suicide.

They are investigating to determine: A) Why the university didn't launch an investigation in spite of the facts above, as their own policy requires. And B) Why the coach didn't report the rape allegation, as school employees are required to do.

It's unlikely that the university broke any laws, but some people will probably lose their jobs over this. The university is investigating to figure out which people need to go.

[gerogie2]

7. Why does a university get involved in rape case?

If a woman is raped she should go to a hospital and call 911 to make a police report about the rape. The university is not law enforcement and can only maybe suspend a student.