ESPN Article that came out today. Please tell me that this is not the staff that Walt Drenth is in charge of?
When Roedel, the Michigan State track athlete, told an assistant coach in March 2017 that she had been allegedly raped by a teammate, the coach told her that, "if she pursued any claims against [the male teammate], no one would like her, and that because Roedel is 'pretty,' she would become a 'distraction.'"
Michigan State, eh? Sadly, no surprise.
MSU is the "poster-child" for the abusive academe with the most malfeasant and dangerous management regime in all of US higher education - and there are plenty of abusive managers in this "contest." But no other institution records the abusive Dr. Larry Nasser, the most criminal child abuser in the history of the United States, with a supporting cast of multiple enabling managers who repeatedly excused and enabled his criminal actions for many years in spite of clear red flags and reports of the danger he posed.
MSU has had multiple presidents since then...all tainted by connections with the regime of abusers.
" In Michigan State's case, the university supplied the reports but marked out the players' names -- something East Lansing police did not do. ESPN ultimately sued MSU for the release of material, and Michigan courts ruled that the school had violated the state's open records laws, awarded ESPN the unredacted records, and told MSU to pay ESPN's attorneys' fees. When ESPN submitted a subsequent records request last year, MSU took the unusual step of proactively suing ESPN to defend its withholding of the documents. A judge, in dismissing the lawsuit, wrote that a public body filing suit against a requestor could create a "chilling effect" and dissuade people from requesting records in the first place."
They are fVcks and need to be held to account. There is no reason for this behavior except to protect the guilty from legal actions related to their misconduct.
The school's "reputation" is not "protected" by any of this malfeasance. It has a "reputation" indeed, rape central.. According to the Detroit Free Press, 1,013 rapes were reported in 2018 across MSU campuses..... a vile and repugnant record even for higher education institutions which customarily shield and protect abusers:
The Board can only solve this by appointing a new broom from outside the state with a serious commitment to cleanup, a strong backbone and an ethical compass that will not brook subversion. Many heads would roll if such a restoration were to occur...but probably too many for the Board, who continue to dissemble on this matter....
NO MORE ABUSE! #STOPTHESH1T!
I’m sure that Walt Drenth will try to distance himself from this but every parent should demand an explanation. The MSU way is to blame others or blame the victim.
Nearly every distance runner has had an eating disorder. I can name at least 5 of their top 10 athletes that have issues. Maybe it is rape related. No matter what it is it is not healthy and it is under Coach Drenth’s watch.
Why in the world would she go to a coach instead of the police?
reer wrote:
Why in the world would she go to a coach instead of the police?
I’m certainly not going to blame the victim as I’m not sure how a young girl is supposed to act when they are raped. I will however blame the ENTIRE coaching staff.
ObserverofTrends wrote:
Michigan State, eh? Sadly, no surprise.
MSU is the "poster-child" for the abusive academe with the most malfeasant and dangerous management regime in all of US higher education - and there are plenty of abusive managers in this "contest." But no other institution records the abusive Dr. Larry Nasser, the most criminal child abuser in the history of the United States, with a supporting cast of multiple enabling managers who repeatedly excused and enabled his criminal actions for many years in spite of clear red flags and reports of the danger he posed.
MSU has had multiple presidents since then...all tainted by connections with the regime of abusers.
https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/22214566/pattern-denial-inaction-information-suppression-michigan-state-goes-larry-nassar-case-espn" In Michigan State's case, the university supplied the reports but marked out the players' names -- something East Lansing police did not do. ESPN ultimately sued MSU for the release of material, and Michigan courts ruled that the school had violated the state's open records laws, awarded ESPN the unredacted records, and told MSU to pay ESPN's attorneys' fees. When ESPN submitted a subsequent records request last year, MSU took the unusual step of proactively suing ESPN to defend its withholding of the documents. A judge, in dismissing the lawsuit, wrote that a public body filing suit against a requestor could create a "chilling effect" and dissuade people from requesting records in the first place."
They are fVcks and need to be held to account. There is no reason for this behavior except to protect the guilty from legal actions related to their misconduct.
The school's "reputation" is not "protected" by any of this malfeasance. It has a "reputation" indeed, rape central.. According to the Detroit Free Press, 1,013 rapes were reported in 2018 across MSU campuses..... a vile and repugnant record even for higher education institutions which customarily shield and protect abusers:
https://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2019/10/03/michigan-state-university-most-rapes-clery-report/3848219002/The Board can only solve this by appointing a new broom from outside the state with a serious commitment to cleanup, a strong backbone and an ethical compass that will not brook subversion. Many heads would roll if such a restoration were to occur...but probably too many for the Board, who continue to dissemble on this matter....
NO MORE ABUSE! #STOPTHESH1T!
Penn State still has track after what they went through.
Michigan also has similar issues that were surfacing right before this pandemic
MSU will be fine as well, from a track perspective.
I'm also missing why this would have anything to do with the track program
a. There was an earlier post to which I responded claiming that a track athlete at MSU was reporting a rape. This post appears to have been removed. I don't know by whom either poster or mods, leaving mine as the top post. My post was NOT the original, at least not last night when I posted.
b. Institutional culture controls how these abuses are handled. Abusive university officers are legion - we have plenty at my own college - but at places with real commitment to safety, the perps are dealt with, sanctioned and consequences follow and people are aware that goodfaith reports of abuse and harassment are taken seriously and objectively investigated.
At a nefarious and documented malfeasant institution, reflex denials, coverups, reporting traps are implemented to avoid public knowledge, legal actions and sanctions. The entire culture is utterly malfeasant and operates on a very twisted and dangerous "reputation protection" logic - which inevitably leads, to this situation... the abhorrent reputation is deserved.
This kind of awful place is clearly exemplified by MSU with its long historical record of corrupt handling of such cases - I mean really, how the F### did Larry Nasser continue to perpetrate industrial-scale child abuse under the MSU aegis for more than FIFTEEN YEARS after the first credible reports of his abuse were made, see the EPSN story for background -
1,013 official reports of rape - I mean, WTF?!!
Why would anyone EVER send a daughter/sister to MSU or recommend it? It needs to be shut down as a public hazard and the executive officers, all of them who had oversight authority for ALL of these criminal acts and not only the Nasser nightmare, should be personally indicted for being accessories to child abuse. Stiff jail time for these people would set the example that is badly needed and it would certainly correct the entire corrupt system at US universities....
As an alum of the program I am deeply troubled y this. I always took pride in the program that I represented, however after the last few years of continued sexual assault cases covered up or not report my stance has changed. Walt and the entire staff should be fired and my former coach should NEVER be able to coach at any level again. For a female not to support another female in her more troubled time is unthinkable. By her supporting the attacker she is just as guilty as him. She should pack her bags and get out of town immediately. God bless Michigan State and the track/XC athletes that are currently on the team. Let’s hope no more athlete when through what this young lady did under the current leadership.
the news article is being blocked
“A former track athlete is suing Michigan State and the NCAA after she said the school’s culture discouraged her from reporting an alleged sexual assault in 2017.
Emma Roedel, then a freshman on the Michigan State track and field team, said in the lawsuit she woke up to an unnamed male teammate sexually assaulting her in her dorm room in March 2017.“ as reported by Michigan Live.
Emma Roedel has indeed filed, not only against MSU but also NCAA...
Not only Ms. Roedel is litigating vs NCAA. Class action coming...
And this is soo typical! If there is even some truth in these allegations, considering what I have seen and dealt with at multiple institutions as well as the awful history at MSU they are going to have to climb a mountain to demonstrate any good faith in handling this situation. See above - who would trust them even one inch? Their call on "reasonable doubt" was blown up by their own coverup of Nasser.
People have for years underestimated how vile universities are in trying to coverup and excuse clearly illegal acts and their malfeasant internal systems often exist to "Catch and kill" complaints - often by dragging internal procedures out past the statutory expiration date for filing for the specific offenses.
It takes courage to initiate legal action in cases like this and many litigants are in despair, they have strong cases and have tried and suffered substantially prior to filing.
I have no doubt MSU is liable for failure of oversight. Wilful burying of sexual assault/rape! The f###s! I hope Emma and her co-plaintiffs win their cases and in light of the mishandling of Nasser and other cases, the culpable negligence needs to be severe.
What happened is plainly terrible. I do not condone anything that happened.
But...
These #MeToo cases are shooting up left and right. Most cases it is teacher-student or coach-athlete. In this case, I hate to say it, it sounds like another freshman girl got drunk, went back to a dorm or apartment and things happened.
When this happens to "good girls" they are remorseful of their actions. They came to college with promise rings and first time drunk after welcome week broke them. This is the part that bothers a lot of us males and has us scared of making a move on a girl we adore. It wasnt rape in the moment, it became framed as rape only after. There seems to be a spectrum of extremeties: creep to rapist. On that spectrum there is little room for normal behavior, rejection and regret. It becomes a blame game.
She got drunk, she put herself in this position as an adult. I am not defending the guy at all. Simply she needs to evaluate herself.
Best Courtney Love advice ever not just for girls in Hollywood:
Whatever you think of her complaint, and the way in which she positioned herself to be a potential target, the big issue for TITLE IX investigation is the malfeasant institutional response to her complaint. Which according to the story above includes being told to change events to those she was not good at, while her assaulter remained in his primary events, and then feelking compelled to transfer to MAINTAIN THE OPPORTUNITY she was promised which includes oppo to compete fairly at her events as well as live a safe, non-harassed life on campus...well.... and the female coach saying "noone would like her" if she pursued her complaint....what enabling scum!
Abusers are vile. And women who facilitate/condone/excuse the abuse of other women - like this coach - are among the lowest forms of life.
The victim-blaming mentality is plain wrong and provides succor to those who wilfully abuse and illegally cover up the abuse.
If there is violent rape of your sister at this campus that goes through the same coverup, and she was broken and destroyed not only by the act, but even more so by the repulsive and nauseating coverup...well, you would be feeling very differently indeed. So that's why we all need to take this kind of thing seriously. We all need to stamp out this disgraceful culture of facilitating and enabling abuse.
People who made similar claims for years enabled abuse - including Larry Nasser's legendary and despicable criminality on this very same campus! I doubt that's your intent, but that's the effect of posting in a victim-blaming, complaint-diminishing way and dismissing her right to a fair and objective investigation of her complaints WITHOUT retaliation or risk-reduction measures.
Wait...you mean to tell me that coach didn't give you guys physicals in the locker room showers too??
Big question is how much if anything did drenth know. Did Yolanda report to him or not.
There are a ton of TITLE IX violations in this story if even some of it is true, and MSU are going to get whacked, AGAIN, and quite rightly.
Coach Johnson for instance, was not the person to tell the complainant "there will be no investigation into John Doe." She has zero authority to present this or even imply it - there is a chain of reporting at public Us that involves various entities including OIE which is mandatory report for such actions.
As for the HC of T&F, the failure to prevent the male team members from intimidating/threatening her absolutely will be held on the Head Coach. If this happened AFTER she filed the police report then he is toast.... Failure to perform risk reduction actions for the athlete following the complaint is on HC, whatever sub-coaches say. The fact a police report of sexual crime involving one or more of his athletes was filed will also mean, he will categorically not be able to deny responsibility for the situation. Whether Coach Johnson told him about this or not, is not material - it's on him as the supe of T&F to manage his program in accord with State and Federal Law and that does include TITLE IX provisions. And, gee, he should know MUCH better, especially at a place like MSU for all the reasons above.
Evasion of responsibility won't work under TITLE IX complaint or in the event of civil suit for civil rights violations. His leadership is negligent either way: he ignored her complaint and deliberately failed to protect her, or he wasn't aware because his underlings did not follow policy within the University which btw at my school REQUIRES ALL supes to notify OIE of such events - meaning his leadership was inadequate and failed to address serious risk.
In the past, the classic evasions have been more successful but largely because of the Nasser case and the utter public revulsion at complicity, less so now - and let's be real, there is also no campus in the US where such violations will be taken more seriously by law courts than at MSU. Child and sexual abuse central. Fact - see above. 1,013 rape reports - see above.
Her legal team simply need to invoke the Nasser precedent and find the parallels in failures to remove and manage known risk of sexual assault as well as not indulge in retaliatory acts, and she's going to win a large settlement. Soo...
Conclusion: Big trouble. Stupid - very stupid - people in this place. Cannot do it this way. Legal sanctions to follow. Maybe time for yet another new Prez at MSU....
From my pov, this rotting place needs a complete sweep of leadership and full replacement with those unconnected to anyone on campus and who have demonstrated ethical quality in managing complaints and crises and not by burying them and triggering lawsuits...
reer wrote:
Why in the world would she go to a coach instead of the police?
+1
You know Yolanda, don't you?
I feel like at this point she is just exposing MSU...can she really sue the school and NCAA without proof of rape? i.e rape kit done within 24 hrs of assault? Or a police report with proof?