Does MU need to name names?

[ATWizJr]

To clear the air as suggested in the JS today?

[MU B2002]

Absolutely not.

[GGGG]

Absolutely not. Hunt's article was easy journalism but wrong. MU doesn't owe anyone anything more that what they have already stated.

[Earl Tatum]

Not interested in names, but what sport did these athletes compete in. Still should not have been hushed.

[HouWarrior]

No Way.
MU (and we) may bear liability for doing so. If there is a civil suit filed, the lawyers will reveal all in their pleadings...none of us owe them any assistance.
Duke Lacrosse named names, and Duke paid off big$ when the falsity of the facts came out-- the names of the falsely accused were trampled, and they deserved the $, even if their good names were never fully restored.

[ringout]

Mike Hunt makes it seem as if any other university would name names, but MU is too high and mighty.

[NersEllenson]

The Don Walker article in the Journal Sentinel only adds fuel to this fire.  The statements made by Broeker and lack thereof by Buzz were rather bizarre on the whole matter.  I think 95% of readers, general public assume it is a basketball related matter - this explanation by Broeker is ridiculous:

Asked about Williams' involvement in the interview, Broeker said the school felt the coach was "probably the most powerful spokesman for our university. It's important for him to have his voice heard on the topic of sexual harassment."

"We have the most visible coach of our most visible male athletics program willing to stand up and take a position and a stance on such a sensitive issue," Broeker said.

MU has handled this situation so poorly, it is absolutely embarrassing.  Who is advising administration on these matters?  Whoever is consulting them from a PR perspective ought to be fired.

[groove]

MU has handled this situation so poorly, it is absolutely embarrassing.  Who is advising administration on these matters?  Whoever is consulting them from a PR perspective ought to be fired.

+1, just when you thought it couldn't get worse

[NersEllenson]

+1, just when you thought it couldn't get worse

Completely agree...

[bilsu]

I wonder what would happen to a player who was not involved coming out and only saying he was not involved? I think a player doing that would be crucifed for not being a team player. I would hate to be indirectly blamed for the possible misactions of other team members.

The other thing about not talking about the accused is that we really do not know what they were accused of. It sounds like the February incident was worse than the October one, but that may be due to the lady making so much noise about it.

[Benny B]

Granted the PR sucks and all... but MU can't name names, and these journalists know it.  Mike Hunt and Don Walker are just stoking the controversy despite no new facts about the incident being released... the former because it's a slow sports week in Wisconsin and the latter because of his clear anti-MU bias (he was the one who tried to start a firestorm a couple years ago because the "Pray" video was insensitive to those who don't pray).

If they want to maximize their exposure, Don and Mike should wait for the lawsuit, then pile on.  If the hooker is already on the elevator to your room, what's the point of rubbing one out before she even gets there?

So Cotts is gone.  Big deal.  I have no doubt that the allegations and protocol dysfunction played a role in his decision (the magnitude of which is yet to be ascertained), but his resignation is hardly an indictment of MU in and of itself.

[Hards Alumni]

Mi Kehunt, is an idiot if he thinks MU would ever name names without being required to by law.

[4everwarriors]

Can someone just post the girl's name, then?

[Tugg Speedman]

Since their are no charges, if you name the guys involved, how are they suppose to defend themselves?  Their is no trial, no discovery.  And, if you name them the guys and subject them to public criticism and humility, should the same happen of the girl making the charge?

See Dominic Strauss-Kahn and Duke Lacrosse.  These are two incidents where the accusers reputations were destroyed when they apparently did nothing.  If we add MU to this list, how does this help the university?

If the accuser really feels she was wronged, she can sue MU and the guys involved.

Lastly, why is Cottingham taking the fall?  Shouldn't the head of public safety take the hit for setting a policy if not reporting to the MPD and not taking her seriously in the first place?

[tower912]

As tulsawarrior says on the other board, it is against the law to name names at this point.       Plus, since no charges were filed, what are you going to do, name the name of people who weren't actually charged with anything?    Name the victim?    MU has handled this about as poorly as they could have, but there really is no place for them to go right now other than ride it out.  

[HouWarrior]

The Don Walker article in the Journal Sentinel only adds fuel to this fire.  The statements made by Broeker and lack thereof by Buzz were rather bizarre on the whole matter.  I think 95% of readers, general public assume it is a basketball related matter - this explanation by Broeker is ridiculous:

Asked about Williams' involvement in the interview, Broeker said the school felt the coach was "probably the most powerful spokesman for our university. It's important for him to have his voice heard on the topic of sexual harassment."

"We have the most visible coach of our most visible male athletics program willing to stand up and take a position and a stance on such a sensitive issue," Broeker said.

I would not be shocked if Buzz' tude is to lay it all out, get in front of it, and speak from the heart to the issue, vs., the atty Cottingham....well not so much b/c when litigation may be coming a defendants out of court defense rarely works (see 60 minutes interviews with stammering, corp. representatives-lol)

.

Cottingham, as a lawyer, would have had no comment, and prefer no one else talk to the press. It appears this AD is talking...I'm not sure either tact is perfectly right/wrong...but it may be evidence of the splits in AD/administration, leading to Cottingham leaving.

Not to "over" read between the lines, but might the following, also mean Buzz has wanted to talk, but Cottingham muzzled him?

We have the most visible coach of our most visible male athletics program willing to stand up and take a position and a stance on such a sensitive issue," Broeker said.

[Hards Alumni]

Since their are no charges, if you name the guys involved, how are they suppose to defend themselves?  Their is no trial, no discovery.  And, if you name them the guys and subject them to public criticism and humility, should the same happen of the girl making the charge?

See Dominic Strauss-Kahn and Duke Lacrosse.  These are two incidents where the accusers reputations were destroyed when they apparently did nothing.  If we add MU to this list, how does this help the university?

If the accuser really feels she was wronged, she can sue MU and the guys involved.

Lastly, why is Cottingham taking the fall?  Shouldn't the head of public safety take the hit for setting a policy if not reporting to the MPD and not taking her seriously in the first place?

He isn't taking the fall.  As I said in the other thread like this, if he was taking the fall, it would have been weeks or months ago.

[GGGG]

From a PR perspective they handled it fine. They can't name names. They can't get more specific from a legal perspective. What are they supposed to do?  What are they supposed to say?

[T-Bone]

Derrick Wendler didn't name names.  Why should anyone else?

[brewcity77]

Sure, name names. And include mine in the list of names given, I wasn't charged with sexually assaulting her.

[jsglow]

Hunt was WAY out of bounds in his opinion column today.  MU absolutely CAN'T reveal any information about the individuals involved or give any clue as to their team affiliation.  To do so invites legal action.  That said, I think the presser that included Williams is a PR mistake.  Heck, the alleged perps could be on any team fielded by the university.  Moreover, we've seen plenty of cases where the alleged victim's story proves false.  In this case, we have no way to know.  But we do know that the athletes have the absolute legal right to their privacy.  End of story.

And let's remember that the DA looked at these cases and said they weren't going to pursue.  The simple fact is that MU followed an erroneous decade long policy of offering to contact the MPD but not insisting on it.  That has proven to be faulty and may have hampered an initial investigation.  That, plus some inappropriate meeting with coaches in the "I'm in trouble, coach." mode appear to be the extent of the misdeeds.  MU has corrected the policy having been admonished by the DA following extensive discovery.

To blow this up as something more is simply MU hate speech.  I couldn't be more tired of reading the trolls on the JSOnline blogs.

[NersEllenson]

From a PR perspective they handled it fine. They can't name names. They can't get more specific from a legal perspective. What are they supposed to do?  What are they supposed to say?

My feeling has been that MU has taken the "we're sorry, we deserve our spanking, etc.," throughout this whole matter - and it has backfired.  I'd have liked for MU to vehemently defend its handling of the cases from the very start - and reiterate that both "victims" had the ability to choose to call MPD first or Public Safety - the "victims" chose Public Safety.  MU should have been very adamant that both "victims" were given the choice to take the matter to MPD.  MU should have reiterated that based on the evidence presented to Public Safety - there was no evidence of Sexual Assault.  Furthermore, it should have been reiterated that the D.A. of MKE found insufficient evidence to bring charges.  The head of DPS should be out on the front line defending his department, and how the case was handled, and that based on the evidence presented - DPS was confident beyond a shadow of a doubt that rape/sexual assault did NOT occur.

MU could have been contrite and sensitive to the incident, yet said it disciplined the athletes under university policy, reprimanded the coaching staff - yet with all available evidence in such a "he said/she said" case, there was no evidence of sexual assault.  As a result, it is unfair to name the names of the parties involved, due to their being no charges filed.

[brewcity77]

My feeling has been that MU has taken the "we're sorry, we deserve our spanking, etc.," throughout this whole matter - and it has backfired.  I'd have liked for MU to vehemently defend its handling of the cases from the very start - and reiterate that both "victims" had the ability to choose to call MPD first or Public Safety - the "victims" chose Public Safety.  MU should have been very adamant that both "victims" were given the choice to take the matter to MPD.  MU should have reiterated that based on the evidence presented to Public Safety - there was no evidence of Sexual Assault.  Furthermore, it should have been reiterated that the D.A. of MKE found insufficient evidence to bring charges.  The head of DPS should be out on the front line defending his department, and how the case was handled, and that based on the evidence presented - DPS was confident beyond a shadow of a doubt that rape/sexual assault did NOT occur.

MU could have been contrite and sensitive to the incident, yet said it disciplined the athletes under university policy, reprimanded the coaching staff - yet with all available evidence in such a "he said/she said" case, there was no evidence of sexual assault.  As a result, it is unfair to name the names of the parties involved, due to their being no charges filed.

This is my biggest issue. I still contend that Marquette followed their procedures, which included not reporting a crime that they didn't believe happened after a thorough investigation, and really didn't do anything wrong.

What the university should have done was say "we followed our procedures, gave the complaintants a chance to go to MPD, and when they declined, we dropped the situation as our investigation found no further action was needed." If they want to adjust policies after that, fine, but while I'm in the minority, I still don't think Marquette was in the wrong. They followed their procedures, and upon further investigation from MPD, there was no need for charges, which validates that their procedures worked, despite what an attention whore DA may claim.

[GGGG]

No. You are wrong. Saying sorry and moving on was the best way to kill the story quickly. Rigorously defending actions that violated state law would be unwise. You think its bad now?  Just watch what would happen if they tried to portray themselves above the law.

[Hoopaloop]

Not interested in names, but what sport did these athletes compete in. Still should not have been hushed.

Most people know who at least three of the student athletes were and by result, the sport they played.

Let's put it another way, does anyone really believe these stories make the press like they did and an AD resigns if it were members of the Tennis team?