Headline on ESPN about MU assault

[beaconwarrior]

MILWAUKEE -- The U.S. Department of Education is reviewing how Marquette University handled two cases of alleged sexual assault involving athletes, and agency spokeswoman said.

The review falls under the federal Clery Act, the same act that prompted federal authorities to investigate sexual abuse allegations involving former assistant Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky.

The Clery Act requires all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose information about crime on or near their campuses.

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said in May that law enforcement couldn't adequately investigate the two alleged sexual assault cases because Marquette's public safety department didn't tell authorities about the allegations and Chisholm therefore couldn't file charges.

The school had previously advised students of available options, including reporting the allegations to the police department. The school has since changed its protocol to start notifying police immediately of sexual assault allegations.

Jane Glickman, a spokeswoman for the Department of Education, declined to discuss the details until investigators issue a determination letter. Marquette was told it was under investigation on Oct. 4. Glickman said the review was under way.

The federal Office of Student Aid can fine schools for violations of the Clery Act. Such fines can be as high as $27,500 per violation.

Marquette spokeswoman Mary Pat Pfeil told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the department has not requested on-campus interviews.

"As it has in other cases involving reports of sexual violence on college campuses, the U.S. Department of Education is conducting a paper program review of Marquette University relative to reporting required under the Clery Act," she said. "The university has provided USDE with all requested information."

Marquette has not identified which sport the athletes participated in. Interim athletic director Mike Broeker said all the athletes involved were disciplined under the student conduct code as well as athletic department rules. He did not disclose the punishment.

In an October 2010 case, one of the four accused athletes said the athletes and the coaching staff met and discussed the incident before any law enforcement officer was able to interview the suspects. In addition, one of the athletes allegedly involved texted the accuser during that meeting, asking whether she had reported the incident to Marquette's public safety department.

In a separate incident, an athlete was accused of sexually assaulting a woman Feb. 27 on campus. The Marquette public safety department did not tell police about it, and the female student reported it to police March 31.

[MUEng92]

Why do I get the feeling this wouldn't have been an ESPN headline if it had come out last week?

[MerrittsMustache]

Why do I get the feeling this wouldn't have been an ESPN headline if it had come out last week?

I was thinking that same thing. Other than a brief story on Cottingham resigning, I don't remember seeing anything on ESPN about the alledged assaults at MU.

[dw3dw3dw3]

"Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said in May that law enforcement couldn't adequately investigate the two alleged sexual assault cases because Marquette's public safety department didn't tell authorities about the allegations and Chisholm therefore couldn't file charges."

Isn't that statement false? Or at least a big jump to conclusions? What about the part where there wasn't enough evidence to support a charge?

[MUMBA]

Isn't that statement false? Or at least a big jump to conclusions? What about the part where there wasn't enough evidence to support a charge?

As I recall, there wasn't enough evidence due in part to the fact that the complaint was mishandled by the University at the outset.  The DA was quoted in the JS stating as much.  Could evidence have been gathered if the University had the proper protocols in place?  Maybe.  We'll never know.  It's a failing on the University's part.

And if there's even a slight appearance of a cover-up, the University has itself to blame.

[APieperFan3]

"In addition, one of the athletes allegedly involved texted the accuser during that meeting, asking whether she had reported the incident to Marquette's public safety department."

I don't remember hearing this when it was first reported. Does NOT sound good. neither does the sentence before it....

[APieperFan3]

The question nobody wants to ask...

If Buzz knew about it and didn't take care of it in the correct fashion...is he gone?

[Wade for President]

Really hate this topic (and agree it wouldn't have been a front page headliner hadn't been for PSU).

I can't remember, but was it ever confirmed that this was specifically basketball players?

[Clam Crowder]

All of this has been reported...if you didn't hear all of this yet you didn't read about the story enough. Yes it was basketball players, yes Marquette messed up. For you to put this on Buzz is idiotic. Everyone with knowledge of the story knows that DPS is the group that didn't report this to the police. I don't think the players would have gone into Buzz' office and been like oh hey Buzz we sexually assaulted a girl last night...everyone needs to stop trying to find a scapegoat and just realize that this problem was handled inappropriately by the upper administration at Marquette. Look who has "resigned" since then...A senior VP, the president, and the athletic director. If they were not afraid to have these men take the fall why the heck wouldn't they let Buzz take the fall???

Furthermore I really am struggling to understand anyone that views this as a crime that is equally as heinous as the raping of young boys...A girl was at a party, had these guys numbers, something went down. Yes it was a crime, but for that to be compared to what happened at Penn State is not appropriate.

[79Warrior]

The question nobody wants to ask...

If Buzz knew about it and didn't take care of it in the correct fashion...is he gone?

The answer to your question would be yes. My guess is he would handle the situation properly.

[kmwtrucks]

I don't think Buzz should be the one to calling the police, The fault of that lies with the public Safety and the Victim, and did the public safety do everything it was supposed to do?  By the time Buzz found out it was already reported to public safety.   That is MU's Police arm who has direct lines of communication with the police.  

[Clam Crowder]

I don't think Buzz should be the one to calling the police, The fault of that lies with the public Safety and the Victim, and did the public safety do everything it was supposed to do?  By the time Buzz found out it was already reported to public safety.   That is MU's Police arm who has direct lines of communication with the police.  

+1

[Zar Zar Binks]

I don't think Buzz should be the one to calling the police, The fault of that lies with the public Safety and the Victim, and did the public safety do everything it was supposed to do? By the time Buzz found out it was already reported to public safety.   That is MU's Police arm who has direct lines of communication with the police.  

Good point. Also, assuming the original question was posed due to what happened at Penn State (which is ridiculous), remember that JoPa was ousted b/c a) this was a member of his staff and b) someone came to him with an eyewitness testimony of the events and he failed to act accordingly. Neither of which can be said about this case.

[4everwarriors]

MU's situation is far from over and could blow up with far reachin' consequences. Could Buzz take the fall, absolutely.

[Pakuni]

MU's situation is far from over and could blow up with far reachin' consequences. Could Buzz take the fall, absolutely.

No. Zero chance.

[Skatastrophy]

No. Zero chance.

+1, this is all such old news.  The fallout was already over and done with when Cottingham took the fall.

[mu03eng]

I don't think Buzz should be the one to calling the police, The fault of that lies with the public Safety and the Victim, and did the public safety do everything it was supposed to do?  By the time Buzz found out it was already reported to public safety.   That is MU's Police arm who has direct lines of communication with the police.  

Yeah that defense didn't work for Paterno.  I don't think it will add up to anything but with the season starting and the hyperhysteria in the media, don't think this couldn't be blown way out of proportion.

[Pakuni]

Yeah that defense didn't work for Paterno.  I don't think it will add up to anything but with the season starting and the hyperhysteria in the media, don't think this couldn't be blown way out of proportion.

The situations are not remotely similar.
It's borderline retarded to suggest that Buzz would take the fall because some pencil pusher in campus administration failed to fill out the proper paperwork in a DOE report.

[GGGG]

Guys, this isn't about how the alleged crime was investigated.  It wasn't about a cover up.  It was about how MU reports its crime statistics.

I posted this in another thread, but my guess is that the DOE wants to know if MU is only reporting the alleged crimes reported to MPD, or if it is including those reported to MUPS too.

No one is going to lose their job over this.

[tower912]

There is no new information here.    The events were debated here ad infinitum.   Some got pretty wound up, going so far as to sent accusatory PM's.   He's gone now.    This is simply the DoEd checking to see the procedures MU uses to report said events.   Not a re-opening of the investigation.    If it weren't for JoePa, this would be a complete non issue. 

[muzzwilliams]

Everyone here is jumping to massive conclusions. Lets wait and see the outcome of what the Dept of Education has to present.

[mu03eng]

The situations are not remotely similar.
It's borderline retarded to suggest that Buzz would take the fall because some pencil pusher in campus administration failed to fill out the proper paperwork in a DOE report.

My bad, I in no way meant to indicate they are the same or even close.  I also don't think Buzz would ultimately take any fall.  My point was largely that there is an opportunity for this to get blown out of proportion because the media is currently hyper focused on this sort of thing.  It does not help MU any to get mentioned in the same paragraph as Penn State for ANY reason right now.

[mu03eng]

If it weren't for JoePa, this would be a complete non issue. 

That was my point...it should be a non-issue....now it could be any other opportunity for to become an issue.  There will be a LOT of focus on college athletics and what they "get away" with over the next couple of months.

[lab_warrior]

The feds "invstigation", and the Chicago Trib article, in graphic form: