Sexual Assault In College Athletics

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Running head: SEXUAL ASSAULT IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS

Sport Law Final Paper:

Sexual Assault in College Athletics

Ian Collins, Brianna DeMeo, Dominic Iemma, Stephanie Mayer, Matthew Mazza

State University of New York at Cortland

SEXUAL ASSAULT IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS

Sexual violence has become increasingly prevalent in college athletics and with

athletic departments protecting their athletes and those involved within the department, it has

become near impossible to prosecute these cases. “Many college athletes accused of sexual

assault have been shielded by coaches and supplied with top-notch legal representation, while

victims were ignored” (Athletes, 2013). With sports encouraging aggression, dominance, and

competition, it is hard for some to see the line separating athletics from reality. The group

mentality that is vital to the success of teams is also responsible for athlete’s lack of ability to

act independently. “When one member crosses a boundary, it is more likely for other to

become co-participants in the event rather than to challenge the leader” (Athletes, 2013). Most

colleges have implemented code of conduct policies, including actions to be taken against

sexual assault accusations, to comply with Title IX. However, those actions are not always

followed, as seen in the following cases.

“Title IX prohibits programs that receive federal funding from excluding individuals

from participating in the programs or denying individuals access to the benefits that the

programs might provide” (Dodds, 2017). In the cases of the University of Oregon, Baylor

University, Pennsylvania State University, Florida State University, Duke University, and the

State University of New York at Cortland, certain individuals did not comply with Title IX

requirements, making unfair cases and false accusations. The universities worked to cover the

scandals, or not acknowledge them at all, while supplying minimal to no support to victims.

Brandon Austin, Dominic Artis, and Damyean Dotson were all Division I athletes at

the University of Oregon. A female student claimed that the three athletes sexually assaulted

her at a party. Austin brought a lawsuit against the University of Oregon after getting

suspended and having his athletic scholarship revoked. A couple of days after the incident, the

SEXUAL ASSAULT IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS

female student made false accusations saying that Austin, Artis, and Dotson raped her.

Specifically, she claimed, the athletes dragged her into a bathroom, assaulted her, wrestled her

into a car, and raped her (Austin, 2016). Plaintiff, Austin, claimed that the sexual acts were

consensual, and the female approached the three basketball players in a provocative manner.

He also said that the female took off her clothes voluntarily. The three athletes and the female

then went back to one of their apartments and started to participate in more group sexual

activity. Austin stopped when he saw her getting upset. Shortly after she seemed okay and

started to joke around with the athletes. The Plaintiff’s claim states there was never a time

when the female denied consent according to verbal and body language (Austin, 2016). She

decided to sleep over the Plaintiff’s apartment and engaged in sexual intercourse the next

morning as well. The female did not appear to be intoxicated according to the claim of the

plaintiff (Austin, 2016). The female student recorded a conversation her and the three athletes

had on the phone. They all seemed to regret what had happened and were extremely

apologetic. One of the plaintiffs said that when the female started crying during sexual

activity, that was the first time they thought to stop what they were doing.

Austin, Artis and Dotson filed a lawsuit against the University since it denied them

their rights of due process and equal protection regarding Title IX. Due process is a right

granted by the Fourteenth Amendment, stating that a person cannot be deprived of life, liberty

or property without a fair process or hearing (Dodds, 2017). The plaintiffs did not have a

chance to challenge the female student’s statement about the sexual assault with the

university. The Division I basketball players were discriminated against because they were

men in a sexual assault case, which violates Title IX requirements that the University must

comply with. All students should have been treated equal under Title IX. The athletes were

SEXUAL ASSAULT IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS

suspended from the University of Oregon because they engaged in sexual misconduct

according to the Student Conduct code. The men were not given the opportunity to call

relevant witnesses. The suspension was for four to ten years which basically meant they were

expelled. The basketball athletes were projected to be drafted in the first round of the NBA

Draft. Their futures were ruined because of a false accusation of sexual assault. All three

athletes had the potential opportunity to sign million-dollar contracts. That was all stripped

from them when they engaged in a controversial sexual act. Expelling them from the school

ruined their future careers and caused them professional harm. The athletes might not even get

into another school to finish their degrees. A company will not want to hire a man who was

involved in a sexual assault scandal in college.

Whether or not the sexual activities were consensual, the basketball players acted with

a group mentality. If one of these athletes were alone with the female, it is possible that the

sexual assault may not have happened. By being co-participants in the act, they made it

morally okay for themselves to follow through with what they did with the female student.

The athletes are familiar with that group mentality from their sport. Teammates follow what

the leader or captain might do. Even if two out of the three thought that the sexual acts they

were participating in were wrong, they were not going to challenge the one leader. The leader

in this case was most likely Brandon Austin since he was suspended from Providence College

in Rhode Island prior to coming to University of Oregon (Sebens, 2015). The other two

accused were following Austin’s lead because they know that he was crossing a boundary but

did not want to challenge him in any way. The easiest thing to do in that situation is to go with

it. On the phone call recording that the female student provided, all three of the men accused

sounded extremely sincere in their apology.

SEXUAL ASSAULT IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS

The false accusations made by the female student toward Brandon Austin, Dominic

Artis, and Damyean Dotson were detrimental to their futures. It was unfair for the University

to deny the athletes of opportunity to provide witnesses and give their side of the story. The

athletes argued against the University of Oregon because they felt they were being

discriminated against. The athlete’s argument against the University of Oregon was the first

theory of discrimination, selective enforcement. All three male athletes play an aggressive

sport which lets the University believe they could have been aggressive in a social setting

with the female student. The female is made out to be the victim because it is presumed that

men take part in sexual misconduct against women. The athletes also argued that the

University failed to comply with Title IX because the outcome was predetermined already

based on the accused’ gender. Again, reiterating that they are males in a sexual misconduct

incident, they are assumed to be guilty. However, it could have been a night the female

student may have regretted and wanted to feel better about herself by bringing the athletes

down because she easily could.

Another unforgettable case took place at Duke University, and included the 2006

Duke men’s lacrosse team. This was the year after that they were in the National

Championship. The Duke men’s lacrosse team was the predominate team and is still highly

recognized at the University. With that being said, the 2006 season was supposed to be an

amazing opportunity for the men’s lacrosse team to win the National Title. Since they were a

high-profile team on campus, nothing they did went unrecognized. As a whole, Duke

University is a prestigious and elite academic school. When you hear about scandals at major

Universities, you don’t think of Duke to be a place that would have such a major case. This

scandal raised many heads and came along with heavy media attention that were making

SEXUAL ASSAULT IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS

stories from several different directions. The media displayed this case as battle of different

aspects, including: black versus white, rich versus poor, educated versus uneducated, and

privileged versus unprivileged.

This case took place on March 13, 2006 at a team’s house off campus, occupied by

several captains and seniors alike. This was a time period in which it was spring break and

most students, besides athletes, at the University went home for break. The lacrosse team was

given the reputation of being cocky, arrogant men that had numerous parties off campus that

involved heavy alcohol consumption. With this reputation the odds were stacked up against

the team from the start. Similar to the Oregon case, this was a team activity making several

members co-participants in the actions they perform. Many times, with team actions, they

follow the leader of the group and stick together through the decisions they make. Most of

their lacrosse team attended the party and two dancers were hired, paid by the players of the

team, to accompany the party and perform. One of the dancers’ names was Crystal Mangum,

a young African American woman from Durham. The city of Durham, where Duke is located,

is known to be an area of poverty that was distrusted and mainly lower class. At the party, the

two dancers showed up and they claimed that they were being yelled at and harassed soon

after arriving. The two dancers said to have had enough, and left shortly after arriving. The

players were not happy that they had paid the full amount of money and felt the dancers didn’t

earn the money they given since they left way before the time was up. As the two dancers left,

the team was said to be screaming at the women including racial comments. As Crystal

Mangum got in a car, she called the police and reported sexual assault from the Duke lacrosse

house. She claimed to be sexual assaulted in the bathroom by three players on the team. This

led to a disaster of allegations and questions to the lacrosse team at Duke.

SEXUAL ASSAULT IN COLLEGE ATHLETICS

Duke lacrosse was put under immediate scrutiny and was suspected of sexual

violence. Crystal Mangum claimed she was sexually assaulted by all three men and wanted to

charge them all. Crystal was brought into a room to examine the pictures of all the members

of the team to identify which three men it was. When she did this, she identified two of the

players to be Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty. A few weeks later on April 10, 2006, the

first two players, Seligmann and Finnerty, were accused of the sexual assault and were

arrested on charges of first-degree sexual offense and kidnapping. Around a month later, the

third player Dave Evans was arrested for the same offense when DNA of a fingernail was

found in the bathroom of the house of the accused rape. When Evans went to turn himself in

he gave a strong public release saying they were all innocent and this will be resolved shortly

he promised. This case became a nationally covered case where media was coming from all