5:30 PM: And sure enough, the NY Times is already reporting they don’t think President Gottfredson is telling the truth: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/10/sports/ncaabasketball/3-suspended-in-oregon-sexual-assault-case.html?_r=0
The university did not act sooner because the Eugene police asked officials to delay administrative reviews until after a criminal investigation was complete, Gottfredson and a police spokeswoman said.
However, the police investigation did not begin until March 14, five days after the university learned of the incident. A university spokesman said he could not explain why the university did not begin its own investigation in the interim.
A report a White House task force released in April on protecting students from sexual assault said, “A criminal investigation does not relieve a school of its independent obligation to conduct its own investigation — nor may a school wait for a criminal case to conclude to proceed.”
Soon the athletes will start talking. I wonder if they’ll verify Coach Altman’s claims he didn’t know?
5/9/2014: 5:05 PM: Gottfredson’s “modified limited hangout” is not getting a lot of respect. Sports reporters are the most aggressive and persistent reporters in the U.S. They make Woodward and Bernstein look like amateurs. This will end with major damage to UO, and a new President. The question is how much pain Gottfredson puts us through first. UO’s public records log is here – many requests already from NYT reporter Josh Hunt. And this on point one from the ODE’s Ian Campbell:
This may well be done through the NCAA, and UO will claim it’s not an Oregon public record. Similarly with many of the other documents. The stonewalling will further damage UO, and add to Gottfredson’s plummeting credibility.
I thought Gottfredson did a great job at the press conference. I wonder if his credibility is really plummeting outside of venues like this?
You’ve got a pretty low bar for “great”. He didn’t say anything, and what he did say may be lies.
If they are NCAA and not UO documents, then how is UO not providing them considered “stonewalling”?
Another request should be made for any materials provided to student-athletes relating to sexual violence, abuse, or rape awareness training that Altman referred to in his remarks. Any handouts, PowerPoints, or online training materials that the students are given to learn how to behave in a manner befitting an Oregon athlete.
The let Altman see them…
Athletes will never talk. Talking means blacklisting.
Not surprising….the comments from the greater Eugene community on local media sites are disparaging the victim. Duck boosters support the rape culture…boys will be boys ya know.
Yeah. Check out the comments on oregonlive. But it’s not just Duck boosters, it’s the greater, glorified sports culture.
I am glad there is someone who posts here named snowball. There is a huge snowball coming down a mountain gathering more snow and momentum. Gottfredson, Mullens and Altman are at the bottom of the mountain. Instead of apologizing for trying to hide the story from the public (the only reason we know is that a sports reporter noticed Artis, Austen and Dotson weren’t at practice), they say they are “disappointed.” They still think they can fight off the snowball speeding toward them. Altman says he didn’t know Austen was a rapist in Rhode Island and that he didn’t know which players were involved in the incident. He blames EPD. These guys are drastically underestimating what is going on. They are going to be really disappointed when they start collecting unemployment.
Now a federal complaint on behalf of the players is filed…
http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/31573177-75/hornbuckle-university-players-complaint-oregon.html.csp
Yeah, filed by noted Communist and ex-Eugene City Councilor Kevin Hornbuckle and without player knowledge. He’s doing it for all the students. Sigh. If anyone out there was hoping this story would hit a back burner, this statement, in the context of an alleged gang rape incident with a trailing cover-up, will continue to make it a must follow item:
“Privacy and freedom of association are important constitutional rights not to be thrown under the bus because the president of the University of Oregon is offended by exotic sex practices.”
Eugene — doing it’s best to live up to Portland by keeping it weird.