NFL
By: Zachary Draves
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
This is a time when on college campuses there is an abundance of events and activities put together by student organizers working tirelessly to ensure campus safety and holding not only perpetrators of sexual assault accountable but the universities themselves.
Among those events include an annual Take Back the Night Rally in which students, faculty, staff, and community members converge on campus to hear from various speakers including survivors of sexual assault, and to participate in a subsequent march and vigil.
While COVID-19 has relegated much activity to virtual outlets, the students at LSU didn’t let that stop them from putting together an in-person rally all masked up and socially distanced.
Among the prominent faces in the crowd and on the mic were the LSU student-athletes.
A prominent football school certainly but also one that has come under intense and justified scrutiny of the universities’ lackadaisical record on addressing sexual assault.
The administration has not lived up to its responsibilities and as a result, LSU is now under an inquiry from the Department of Education for this exact reason.
The DOE is specifically looking into LSU’s handling of student complaints of sexual assault and harassment from the 2018-2019 academic year to the present.
According to USA Today which conducted a thorough investigation on the matter, the following specifics are:
“LSU has been under fire for its mishandling of sexual misconduct complaints since August when a USA TODAY investigation revealed that school officials had turned a blind eye toward two students’ rape allegations against former star running back Derrius Guice when he was a freshman with the team.
Two months later, a second USA TODAY investigation revealed that LSU’s failure to adequately address sexual misconduct went beyond Guice. Officials in the university’s athletic department and Title IX office had repeatedly ignored complaints against abusers, denied victims’ requests for protections, and subjected them to further harm by known perpetrators.
In March, USA TODAY uncovered a 2013 internal investigation into then-head football coach Les Miles’ alleged sexual harassment of female students. The investigation found Miles’ behavior immoral but not illegal, and the school did not fire Miles until years later after a string of disappointing losses on the field.”
More can be found at USA Today https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2021/04/06/lsu-faces-second-federal-investigation-sexual-misconduct-handling/7114703002/
Clearly, there is an institutional failure on the part of the university and the athletic department and therefore the DOE inquiry is not only warranted but long overdue.
There is still a clear problem with sexual violence in the world of sports not just on college campuses but at all levels of sports.
Nancy Hogshead-Makar, JD, 1984 Olympic swimmer, and gold medalist, is the CEO of Champion Women that advocates for women and girls in sports as well as combating sexual violence in sports and she understands that is it not just an individual matter but a societal matter.
“The problem of sexual abuse in sport is not about getting rid of a few bad apples. It is about a wholesale culture change that shifts power to athletes, to allow them to say “no” – to give them a voice in governance overpay, medical rights, pregnancy discrimination, and over physical, emotional and sexual abuse” she said.
Student activists at LSU are not having it with the administration and are rightfully demanding that the university step up and do better immediately.
Among those standing in solidarity and doing their part are LSU student-athletes Dominique Davis (Basketball) and Kit Hanley (Swimming).
Both gave heartfelt and compelling speeches at the rally.
when i say change i mean legitimate change not performative… this cool and all but it’s only a step, because we have a long way to go in making sure that the culture here changes for good. https://t.co/ErKSdLFVoF
— Domonique Davis (@DomDiddy02) April 13, 2021
https://twitter.com/lsubsaa/status/1382458011050987522?s=20
(Courtesy: Twitter)
(Courtesy: WFAB 9)
(Courtesy: Twitter)
I had the chance to ask both how they got involved and the change they want to see affected on campus.
What inspired you all to get involved?
Kit: I feel it all came from the USA Today article. It felt like the university wasn’t protecting survivors. We wanted to highlight something that athletes can use their platform and to hold people accountable. The failure to keep us safe is disgusting. We cannot be living in this toxic culture and cover it with national championships.
Dominique: It was brought to me and we wanted to show our support. We are tired of everything going on. We are disappointed in our administration and they know it.
What did it mean for you to have Coach Ed Orgeron present?
Kit: It showed that he was willing to do better. It was nice to have all of the football team there. We didn’t want it to be a performative event. We wanted it to be impactful and powerful.
Dominique: It is a start just like the rally was a start. There needs to be action behind it. If he acts and is committed, it is a good thing.
What changes do you want to see?
Kit: It is hard to say. I think that we have to have changes in education for administrators and coaches. We have to get powerful speakers that people will listen to. Athletes need it but administration and coaches do too.
Dominique: I think it is a good idea to have a third party brought in. Zero tolerance needs to mean zero tolerance. We need to understand what zero tolerance and accountability is. It is hard to be an LSU athlete right now under this administration. We need to trust the athletes and the people putting pressure on the administration. Talk to us and get to know us. We are trying to right the wrongs.
Kit: Open communication with Tigers Against Sexual Assault (TASA). We are going to show up and be of support. There are more students than administration. If we trust each other and support each other we can make changes. We want the students to know we want to change.
Going Forward
Both Dominique and Kit embody the modern-day activist athlete.
They are joining forces with their fellow comrades in the struggle and aren’t backing down.
LSU along with every college/university needs to do right by survivors of sexual assault and the sight of student-athletes working to be part of the solution is greatly needed and incredibly inspiring.
As for those institutional remedies, Nancy Hogshead-Makar has a few suggestions:
- Hire more women.
- Everyone – coaches, parents, athletes, owners, and administrators – should know that “coaches shall not have romantic or sexual relationships with the athletes they coach, regardless of age or consent.” This is a huge cultural shift from the sports community allowing coaches to pick their romantic or sexual partners from within the athletes they coach. See #1: http://championwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Champion-Women-and-Child-USA-SafeSport-Policies-and-Boundaries-updated-2020.pdf
- Enact zero-tolerance rules that don’t give abusers second and third chances.
- Teach boundaries for athletes so they can recognize inappropriate behavior long before “good touch/ bad touch.”
Make April and every month count and follow the example of these great leaders.
It starts with us and it’s on us.
Be the change that you seek.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, help is available.
Please call the National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN) at 1-800-656-4673.
Or if you prefer to chat online with a service provider go to https://hotline.rainn.org/online
