College settles sexual assault lawsuits

Another homosexual crime? Nope, the jocks
are work again.

*****

College settles sexual assault lawsuits

The University of Colorado agrees to pay $2.85 million to two
women who said they were raped by football players.

By Nicholas Riccardi, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 6, 2007
DENVER -- The University of Colorado announced Wednesday that it
would pay $2.85 million to settle lawsuits filed by two women who
said they were raped by football players, closing the book on a scandal
that tarnished the school's athletic department and led to the
departure of its chancellor.

The assaults allegedly occurred in 2001 when a group of football
players and recruits crashed an off-campus party in Boulder. The
lawsuits contended that the incident was sparked by a hostile
atmosphere created by the school's use of alcohol, drugs and sex
to lure top athletes.

In 2004, during the height of the furor, seven women came forward
to say they had been raped by football players since 1997. No
charges were filed, but a university panel found that women and
alcohol had been procured for football prospects.

The athletic director, chancellor of UC-Boulder and president of the
entire university system eventually left. The football team's head
coach later accepted a buyout after losing the 2005 Big 12 championship
game.

"We are a very different university today," Hank Brown, president
of the University of Colorado system, said at a news conference
Wednesday. In a later interview, he added that he hoped the
settlement "closes the book on it and helps us get focused on our
primary mission."

The settlement, which the school agreed to without admitting fault
or liability, includes the addition of an extra staff member to the
school's office of victim assistance, which provided help and
counseling to the plaintiffs after the alleged assaults. It also
called for the creation of an independent Title IX office to
ensure that the school followed federal requirements for
gender equality in its athletics program.

Kimberley Hult, a lawyer for one of the plaintiffs, said it had
always been a top priority "to make sure something like this
didn't happen to another young woman. . . . We're very pleased
with the changes the university has made."

nicholas.riccardi@xxxxxxxxxxx

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