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Blog and Media Roundup - Saturday, January 27, 2018; News Roundup
Topic Started: Jan 27 2018, 04:41 AM (94 Views)
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http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2018/01/180124-siegel-defense-greek-life


In defense of Greek life
truth be told
By Mitchell Siegel | 01/26/2018

In 2017, the Duke community suffered a tragic loss with the sudden passing of junior Bobby Menges after a battle with brain cancer. As his fellow bassist in the Duke Jazz Ensemble, I was Bobby’s friend along with many others who beloved him.

Beyond the university’s memorial service to remember and honor Bobby, brothers of Bobby’s fraternity, Pi Kappa Alpha, came all the way from Australia, Spain and other parts of the world to attend the funeral service in New York, exemplifying the incredibly strong support and connection they have with each other. PIKE brothers also continue to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. With the tradition Shave for Schreiber, Buzz for Bobby—named after both Bobby and senior Mark Schreiber—that has raised over $100,000 for cancer research over time, the fraternity engages the whole Duke and Durham community to support a cause that benefits the entire world.

A few of the PIKE brothers also kindly shared their personal experience and reactions with me in response to the news. Many cried and were deeply saddened by the sudden loss of their close friend, but were able to feed off each other and the bonds of their brotherhood as a support system. Comforting each other brother in times of loss and agony, the actions of these PIKE brothers speak volumes about value of brotherhood and what it has meant to them since accepting their bids.

Today, it seems that the student body is forgetting about the virtues of Greek life displayed by the brothers of Pi Kappa Alpha. Students are instead preoccupied with broad misconceptions regarding the exclusion and lack of diversity within Greek Life. This week, I decided to do some digging within my own fraternity (Alpha Epsilon Pi) along with critical reflection to discover if the current portrayal of Greek life at Duke was justified. This is especially pertinent given Duke’s plans to reform housing and its obsession over the issue of homogeneity in Greek life that have come to the spotlight during rush season.

There is much more to a fraternity or sorority than a bunch of dehumanizing and blank white faces as characterized by The Chronicle and many other Duke students. The students of Greek organizations are human beings too, all with unique life experiences, personalities, and ways of thinking that far outweigh differences in skin color.

Using anonymous survey data as well as data shared by the AEPi fraternity, I also found that the common criticisms against Greek organizations and their living situations are often shallow generalizations. Sure, there may be some organizations that do not meet narrow standards of diversity set by many Duke students. However, statistics that reflect discrepancies in diversity compared to Duke’s student body by no means reflect proactive initiatives by Greek organizations to not admit certain people. Furthermore, the broad brushing depictions and statements about Greek life are inaccurate, and often perpetuate undeserving stigma to which Greek life opponents and critics would object when considering other organizations on campus.

It turns out that fraternities like AEPi actually adhere to Duke’s narrow standards of diversity, and help provide brothers with life-changing experiences. For instance, AEPi is comprised of brothers who identify as heterosexual and homosexual. One brother even said in his response, “Without Greek Life, I would have never found my gay mentors who helped me through the coming out process.” The data also showed that AEPi in total represents 24 different states and countries ranging from Kentucky to Switzerland to Singapore and many more. Furthermore, out of the 32 members that responded to the survey, 11 different religious preferences were given, with over 40 percent being Jewish. Given that AEPi is a nationally Jewish fraternity, this number isn’t terribly surprising. However, it still shows that fraternities can have a dominant presence of a minority group and still honor members with at least 10 other religious preferences.

AEPi and other organizations recognize that the financial situations of those rushing may present themselves as a barrier to entry. Thus, payment and scholarship programs are put in place to ensure that organizations seek to include members based on their personalities and not their ability to pay. Racially and ethnically, the AEPi fraternity mostly identifies as “White.” However, over 30 percent of brothers who answered were part of some racial minority that included categories such as “Hispanic,” “Asian,” “Indian,” “Black” and “Middle Eastern.”

In my opinion, these statistics are still an unjust evaluation of the true diversity that is present in Greek life. Yet a common criticism of selective living is that it is harder for the students involved to branch out and expose themselves to people with diverse backgrounds. Interfraternity Council President James Bradford even said, “When you are living on a hall with 30 white males, it makes it harder to have these experiences engaging with people different from yourself.” Contradicted by previously mentioned evidence, this argument is a fallacy that uses faulty generalizations about personal experiences that certainly don’t hold true for everyone in Greek life.

Furthermore, each person taking the survey was asked to provide a unique experience from his past. One wrote that he was a “first-generation college student from single parent household” while others talked about competing in a biology competition in Bali and running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain. The point is that we are all unique. Our backgrounds and life experiences are not solely defined by statistical categorizations.

Still, criticism about diversity continues to be used to advocate for reforming the housing model. These proposed reforms impede the right to association, which is important to how we go about life and build both character and self-identity. It is in our nature as human beings to seek a sense of belonging. The experiment of random housing is performed by every new freshman class, yet the result is the same: students gravitate to the situation that is most appealing to them by joining Greek life, other selective living groups or independent housing. Deconstructing the link between selective living groups and housing will do nothing but cause an inconvenience to those who desire their right to associate in the first place.

Lastly, Greek life is influential to the futures of its members. Greek life has personally helped me grow intellectually, spiritually and as a citizen of the Duke community. I have realized that what extends beyond the job connections are the personal connections that last a lifetime and serve to comfort me in dark moments.

The bonds formed by sisterhood and brotherhood can extend from picking out clothing together to becoming each other’s maids of honor and best men. No one denies that partying and social status are attractive aspects to Greek life. However, almost any brother or sister will tell you that it is camaraderie, sacrifice and love between one another that truly makes Greek life a special and lasting life experience.

Mitchell Siegel is a Trinity sophomore. His column, "truth be told," usually runs on alternate Wednesdays.
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https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/michigan-state/spartans/2018/01/26/michigan-state-mark-dantonio-and-cloud-sexual-assaults/1071436001/

Michigan State, Mark Dantonio and a cloud of sexual assaults
Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press Published 9:46 p.m. ET Jan. 26, 2018 | Updated 10:24 p.m. ET Jan. 26, 2018


EAST LANSING – On the day Michigan State's athletic director stepped down, a year-long Free Press investigation found four cases of sexual assault involving seven MSU football players, casting a dark cloud over one of the school's most high-profile programs and its coach.

The cases, discovered through a Freedom of Information Act request, happened on coach Mark Dantonio's watch. Each of the cases were reported to authorities. And though no charges were filed, the allegations are another black eye for a university being dissected nationally for its handling of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal.

In an extension of one of the most volatile weeks in MSU history, Mark Hollis abruptly announced his retirement as the university's athletic director on Friday, amid reports of sexual assaults involving football and basketball players over the past decade.

Eleven football players have been accused of sexual assault since Dantonio became head coach in 2007. The number accounts for six cases of sexual assault, including two cases involving a total of four players in 2017.

"Any accusations of my handling of any complaints of sexual assault individually are completely false," Dantonio said in a brief news conference Friday night. Every incident reported ... was documented by either police or the Michigan State Title IX office."

Dantonio said he has no plans to resign.

Hollis' exit comes the same week the NCAA launched an investigation into MSU's handling of the Nassar abuse claims, and just hours before ESPN published an in-depth investigative story detailing a number of sexual assaults and violent attacks on women by MSU athletes over more than the past decade. The story focused on how Dantonio and basketball coach Tom Izzo handled the allegations against their players.

Hollis is the second high-ranking official to leave MSU since Nassar, the former MSU and USA Gymnastics doctor, was sentenced Wednesday to 40 to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing more than 150 girls and young women, including some MSU athletes.

Later Wednesday, Michigan State president Lou Anna Simon announced she was leaving the post she had held for 13 years.

The ESPN report overlapped the Free Press inquiry that began in 2017 and uncovered four allegations of sexual assault by MSU football players.

Michigan State University Board of Trustees Chairman Brian Breslin speaks during a Trustees meeting following the Larry Nassar sexual abuse case.
The four incidents
Incident 1, reported Jan. 17, 2010

The first reported sexual assault allegedly occurred Nov. 20, 2009, but it was not reported until nearly two months later. The Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office said it did not receive information from MSU Police on that situation. The accused player did not return to the team in the 2010 season, and the alleged victim withdrew from MSU, according to the police report.
Incident 2, reported Oct. 29, 2013

Michigan State’s team plane returned home after a win over Illinois on Oct. 26, 2013. That night, one player allegedly sexually assaulted a woman. A week after that, just days after MSU Police interviewed the player, he played in MSU’s victory over Michigan at Spartan Stadium.

The alleged victim did not want to seek criminal prosecution but wanted it referred to MSU Judicial Affairs. It is unclear whether if that happened, and MSU cites the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which protects from the release of some student records, in not releasing details of matters in the student conduct system. The case was “closed to uniform division investigation” on Oct. 30 that year, and the player remained on the roster throughout that season. Police followed up with the woman June 20, 2014. A warrant request for the player was sent to the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office on July 25. The prosecutor’s office declined to pursue charges on Sept. 6, 2014, because of a lack of evidence and third-party witnesses said it was a consensual act, according to police documents.

More: 12 former Spartan athletes sign statement in support of sex abuse survivors

It is unclear whether if Dantonio or Hollis ever learned about the allegation or investigation. That football player competed in five more games and the Rose Bowl that season, eventually completing his eligibility after missing just one game in his career.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo on the bench during the

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo on the bench during the first half against Wisconsin on Friday, Jan. 26, 2018, at Breslin Center. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press)
Incident 3 reported May 28, 2014

One incident involving four players against one woman allegedly occurred in October 2007, Dantonio’s first season, but was not reported to MSU Police until 2014, according to MSU Police and prosecutor’s office records. No charges were filed after more than a yearlong investigation against the four implicated in the report, all of whom had completed their football eligibility before the matter was brought to MSU Police.
Incident 4, reported March 18, 2015

Ex-MSU wide receiver Keith Mumphery was expelled in 2016 from his graduate studies program and banned from campus for violating the university's relationship violence and sexual misconduct policy. He was accused of sexually assaulting a student in an MSU dorm room on March 17, 2015, after he had expired his eligibility with the Spartans. The woman reported the incident to MSU Police that night, and records show conflicting accounts of who was the aggressor and whether elements of their behavior was consensual.

More: Gov. Rick Snyder mulling action against MSU's Board of Trustees

On the day after the alleged assault, Mumphery worked out in front of NFL scouts, coaches and executives at the Spartans' pro day on MSU's campus. The Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office declined to press charges on Aug. 24, 2015. However, a June 7, 2016, letter in Mumphery’s file with MSU Police said he was found to have violated the university’s relationship violence and sexual misconduct policy. The Free Press reported in May 2017 that Mumphery was informed he could no longer reenroll at MSU “in any capacity” and was been banned from campus or using university facilities until Dec. 31, 2018. If he violates that order, he can be arrested.

A federal Title IX discrimination lawsuit filed in November by the woman who accused Mumphery, citing her as Jane Doe, alleges MSU's athletic department helped Mumphery return to campus despite the order banning him. He was never charged in criminal court. The lawsuit also says the university only took proper action after the federal Office of Civil Rights forced them to re-evaluate cases and after Mumphery had expired his playing eligibility at the school.

The cases occurred when Stuart Dunnings III was the Ingham County Prosecutor. He resigned from office in July 2016 after being arrested in March that year on 15 prostitution-related charges, receiving a one-year sentence in November that he is currently serving in Clinton County jail.

Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis announced his retirement Friday in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal. Detroit Free Press
Cases contradict Dantonio

The news of the cases runs countercurrent to what Dantonio said in June, when he discussed four Spartan football players — Josh King, Donnie Corley and Demetric Vance in one incident, and Auston Robertson in a second — who were dismissed after new Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon charged each of them with varying degrees of criminal sexual conduct. ESPN’s report details incidents involving 16 MSU football players under Dantonio's watch.

“We’ve been here 11 years. It’s not happened previously,” Dantonio said in June. “This has been a little bit of a learning experience. As you all know, when you look across the country right now, there are issues. There are issues that need to be explored, and people need to continue to be educated. You do the very best that you can do in that endeavor.”

On Friday, Dantonio was asked about his prior knowledge of the assault cases.

REPORTER: “Mark, did you know about those previous sexual assaults that were reported in that story?”

DANTONIO: “It came to me from the authorities.”

REPORTER: “You knew about them at the time …”

DANTONIO: “They came straight from the authorities. When I found out about a sexual assault, I reported them immediately. That was as of last year’s. So I don’t want to walk out of here or not, but I can’t answer 150 questions. I want to thank you guys for your time. I thought it was important to come and address this and look people in the eye. Thank you for your time.”

The sexual assault cases are among a string of incidents involving MSU athletes.

According to records obtained by the Free Press, ex-MSU basketball players Keith Appling and Adreian Payne were accused of sexually assaulting a woman during the fall of their freshman year in 2010. Dunnings declined to press charges in the matter, citing insufficient evidence.

More: MSU hid full conclusions of 2014 Nassar report from victim

ESPN also reported two incidents involving former MSU point guard Travis Walton. The accusations were made during his time as a student assistant coach for Izzo during the 2009-10 season, when the Spartans went to the Final Four. Walton reportedly punched a women in the face at a bar in one incident.

Walton, along with two unnamed members of the basketball team, also were alleged to have sexually assaulted a different woman off campus, according to ESPN. The network said no police charges were filed in that case, but reported the woman went to Hollis with the allegations that she was raped.

Hollis did not respond to the ESPN report on Friday, since it came out after his retirement announcement, but he did address whether he had any knowledge of Nassar's abuse.

“Based on the information I had at the time I had it, there’s nothing that I had as far as making a decision,” Hollis said. “When you have an opportunity to go back and re-assess anything, there’s going to be opportunities for improvement, which is one of our core values, to improve. This story is horrible as I just said, but the university has to assess it. Every decision I made was a good one at the time I made it.”
Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio makes a

Michigan State football coach Mark Dantonio makes a statement concerning the ESPN story on Friday, Jan. 26, 2018, at Breslin Center. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press)
'Hostile environment'

In 2015, the Office for Civil Rights determined MSU’s handling of some Title IX cases had created a “hostile environment” on campus for individuals who complained about relationship violence or sexual misconduct. The federal oversight agency found that there was confusion among MSU’s athletic department staff about who should report sexual assault claims to the university’s investigation office.

In the two 2017 sexual assault cases involving the football program, law firm Jones Day investigated and found Dantonio followed the policy and procedures for employees to report suspected sexual assaults to the university’s Office of Institutional Equity. The OIE handles Title IX investigations into cases involving relationship violence and sexual assault allegations.

More: U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos says agency investigating Michigan State

“We have always had high standards in this program, and that will never change," Dantonio said Friday. "The values that we teach to everyone in this program will be enforced. We’ve also always tackled problems here head-on and have dealt with issues. When you find out about the problems, it has come from the police or the university authorities. I can assure you as in last year’s incident, I also immediately reported that to the proper authorities."

Izzo has been MSU’s head basketball coach since 1995 and has been on the Spartans coaching staff since 1983.

MSU did not immediately announce an interim athletic director. A 1985 MSU alum, Hollis was promoted to athletic director on Jan. 1, 2008 when Ron Mason retired.

Hollis said in a statement Wednesday that MSU would “cooperate with any investigation” by the NCAA.

More: Report: NCAA president told of Michigan State sex case issues in 2010

“At the beginning of my tenure as athletic director, I established a mission statement, one with the student-athletes at its core,” said Hollis, whose last day will be Wednesday. “Our first priority has always been their health and safety. That focus, along with our core values, has guided our department each and every day. Value such as respect, accountability and perhaps most importantly, integrity, has served as a foundation through good times and bad — perhaps at no time more than just the last few days.”
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo on the bench during the

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo on the bench during the first half on Friday, Jan. 26, 2018, at Breslin Center. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press)

Hollis' legacy as an innovator is clouded.

He created unique events such as the “Cold War” outdoor hockey game between MSU and Michigan at Spartan Stadium and the “BasketBowl” game between the Spartans and Kentucky at Ford Field. He helped MSU basketball get involved in the Carrier Classic, playing on a Navy aircraft carrier, and the Armed Forces Classic, playing at an Army base in Germany. He also was instrumental in creating the Champions Classic and Phil Knight Invitational/PK80 basketball tournaments and served on a number of NCAA committees, including as the chairman of the selection committee in 2017.

The university’s athletic facilities were a priority of his athletic department. MSU added on to both Spartan Stadium and Breslin Center in recent years, as well as building McLane Baseball Stadium and other upgrades in the past decade.

However, at least a dozen former Spartan athletes — from the gymnastics, volleyball, rowing, softball and track and field programs — were among the women and girls who gave victim impact statements during Nassar’s sentencing hearing. The NCAA sent Hollis and MSU a letter of inquiry on Tuesday to begin an investigation into the athletic department’s handling of the situation.

“I think what you saw was the emotion, the breadth of the pain that he caused. For the first time learning some of the names, that whole process was very emotional for a lot of people,” Hollis said Friday. “As you look at the medical services that are provided, the MSU health team is contracted with us to provide medical coverage for student-athletes. For a variety of reasons, we don’t have access to information. Good reasons.

“And listening to those (women’s victim impact statements) was the first time for many of us to know how many student-athletes, that least that came forward in that process. What it really showed to me was the expansive path of evil that he had. Way beyond MSU and way beyond East Lansing.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Download our Spartans Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/01/26/michigan-state-athletic-director-announces-retirement-amid-larry-nassar-scandal/?utm_term=.0952b34650c8


Michigan State athletic director retires as school’s sexual assault scandal deepens
By Matt Bonesteel January 26 at 2:26 PM

Michigan State Athletic Director Mark Hollis announced his retirement Friday as the school becomes further engulfed in the scandal surrounding Larry Nassar, a former sports medicine doctor for the school and USA Gymnastics who was sentenced Wednesday to 40 to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing female athletes under his care.

Hollis, a Michigan State graduate, had been the Spartans’ athletic director since Jan. 1, 2008 and was regarded by his peers and some in the media as one of the top sports administrators in the country.

“Our campus and beyond have been attacked by evil,” Hollis said at a news conference announcing his decision. “We must listen and learn lessons. Only then can we truly begin the process of healing.”

He added that he was not forced into retirement and will “fully cooperate” with investigations into Michigan State by the NCAA and the state attorney general’s office. Hollis claims he did not know about the Nassar situation until 2016, when the Indianapolis Star began publishing a series of reports about USA Gymnastics’ handling of sexual abuse. He said Friday that he did not believe he had ever actually met Nassar, which is the same thing he told law-enforcement officials in March 2017 when they interviewed him regarding what he knew about physician.

“I am not running away from anything, I am running toward something,” Hollis said at his news conference.

But the reasons for Hollis’s retirement may extend far beyond the Nassar situation and into Michigan State’s athletic culture as a whole. In a story published after Hollis’s resignation Friday, ESPN’s Paula Lavigne reported on an “Outside the Lines” investigation that “found a pattern of widespread denial, inaction and information suppression of [sexual assault, violence and gender discrimination] allegations by officials ranging from campus police to the Spartan athletic department.”

Among Lavigne’s findings:

— Michigan State has gone to great lengths to keep athletes’ names out of campus police reports, unsuccessfully going to court three times in the past three years to ask that the names be withheld and hindering internal investigations.

— At least 16 Spartans football players have been accused of sexual assault or violence toward women since Coach Mark Dantonio took over in 2007. Despite this, Dantonio told reporters that such investigations are “new ground for us” and that “it has never happened previously” in June when asked about one such incident involving four of his players. A Michigan State sexual assault counselor told Lavigne that she once had been informed by a school attorney that Dantonio had personally dealt with a sexual assault allegation against one of his players by having that player “talk to his mother about what he had done.”

— That “never-before-publicized reports of sexual or violent incidents” have been filed against Michigan State men’s basketball players. Plus, a student-assistant coach on Tom Izzo’s staff — a former player on Izzo’s team named Travis Walton — was allowed to keep his job after being criminally charged for punching a female Michigan State student in 2010, giving her a concussion. The misdemeanor assault charge eventually was dismissed and he pleaded guilty to a civil infraction for littering.

Walton and two of Izzo’s players then were accused of raping a different female student a few months later, after the Spartans had advanced to the Final Four.

According to Lavigne, the woman told Hollis personally about the incident and he said he would “conduct his own investigation.” Walton was fired, according to the sexual assault counselor, but the players were not reprimanded. The incident was not reported to the university departments that handle student conduct or judicial affairs, remaining within the athletic department.

Walton, now an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers’ NBA G League affiliate, denied the first incident and said he had no recollection of the second when contacted by “Outside the Lines.” He has since been put on administrative leave by the Clippers “pending further investigation,” per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found that Michigan State had violated procedural aspects of the Title IX gender-discrimination law over its handling of sexual assault cases involving both athletes and non-athletes. But the office’s report devoted special attention to the Spartans’ athletes, as Lavigne notes:

The report states students told investigators that Michigan State athletes “have a reputation for engaging in sexual harassment and sexual assault and not being punished for it, because athletes are held in such high regard at the university.” It also states that athletes received more training on sexual harassment and sexual assault than other students but noted possible mixed messages. It cites a program called “Branded a Spartan” about upholding the Spartan name. Some male athletes told investigators that “making a report about sexual assault might tarnish the Spartan brand,” and at least one said he might not report an incident involving a fellow athlete to the Title IX office, according to the report.

Nassar had worked at Michigan State since 1997, under three athletic directors. At least a dozen former Spartans athletes gave victim-impact statements during the sentencing phase of Nassar’s plea deal on seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Ingham County Circuit Court. According to ESPN, at least six female Michigan State athletes dating back to 1997 have said they alerted an athletic trainer, coach or staff psychologist about Nassar’s behavior, with no action taken.

The school’s former gymnastics coach, Kathie Klages, allegedly deterred two teenage girls from reporting Nassar in the late 1990s. Hollis suspended Klages in February of last year and she retired one day later.

On Tuesday, the NCAA informed the school that it would be conducting an investigation into the athletic department’s handling of Nassar, who has been accused of sexual assault by more than 160 women and girls. The next day, school president Lou Anna K. Simon resigned in the face of mounting criticism over the school’s failure to take action against Nassar.

Last week, Michigan State asked a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit filed against the school by 140 women and girls who said Nassar sexually abused them. Its attorneys claim the school is immune from such lawsuits under state law.
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