BALTIMORE COUNTY — The Justice Department introduced the outcomes of its investigation into sexual abuse allegations at UMBC.
It’s alleged {that a} former head coach of the Swimming and Diving Team at UMBC sexually harassed male student-athletes and discriminated in opposition to feminine student-athletes.
The Department decided the University didn’t adjust to its Title IX obligations in response to identified allegations of sex discrimination within the Athletics Department.
This included the undesirable touching of male student-athletes and discrimination in opposition to the feminine student-athletes for years.
The head coach was positioned on go away in October 2020, he later died in March 2021.
For almost twenty years, one particular person served as the pinnacle coach for the over 4 hundred student-athletes who participated on the Swimming and Diving Team.
The Department’s investigation discovered that below the guise of constructing group “unity,” the pinnacle coach created an abusive setting.
He allegedly demanded to know every part concerning the student-athletes: not simply their grades and schedules, but additionally their household dynamics, alcohol consumption, courting and sex lives.
Numerous male student-athletes have been abused between 2015 and 2020 the investigation says.
This abuse continued even after studies of the abuse reached the Title IX Office in 2019.
Several students reported to the Department their perception that Athletics Department employees have been conscious of the pinnacle coach’s sexually inappropriate conduct in direction of student-athletes.
“There’s no method nobody knew,” one scholar mentioned.
The head coach inspired romantic relationships among the many female and male student-athletes, which gave him perception into and management over essentially the most private elements of the student-athletes’ lives.
At least two UMBC directors knew male student-athletes sexually harassed feminine student-athletes on the group and the pinnacle coach tried to address these conditions himself.
According to the investigation, these staff additionally didn’t report the sexual harassment to the Title IX Office.
The University has reached settlement agreements with a number of impacted student-athletes.
The Department of Justice may also work with the University to reform its Title IX workplace.
University President Valerie Ashby put out a press release saying the University is “dedicated to doing all we are able to to guarantee the protection and well-being of all students.”
Here’s the complete assertion:
UMBC takes full duty for the breakdown in Title IX enforcement between 2015 and 2020 that the Department of Justice investigation recognized. We deeply remorse the ache this induced for students who have been straight impacted by the misconduct. The college is working to strengthen our Title IX insurance policies and processes, and we’re dedicated to doing all we are able to to guarantee the protection and well-being of all students.
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