This isn't an isolated incident and unfortunately neither is the incompetence of those in charge who could actually prevent the predatory cultures that exist at some major universities like Baylor from existing. Art Briles should be fired but he won't be because his football team is winning at an unprecedented level for Baylor. Winning leads to money and Baylor has to pay for their new, $250 million football stadium. Winning and the money that comes with it affords coach Briles the luxury of not having to comment on the sexual assault allegations surrounding his university.
The Louisville basketball program's recent prostitution scandal hasn't phased their legendary coach, Rick Pitino or the university. Coach Pitino claimed to have no knowledge that the basketball dorm named in honor of his late brother-in-law was used essentially as a basketball-led brothel on recruiting weekends. The coach is no stranger to sexual scandals himself. In 2009, Rick Pitino, married father of five, admitted to having a consensual, extra-marital affair with a woman and then reportedly paying her $3,000 to have an abortion. Despite these two incidents, Rick Pitino remains the men's basketball coach at Louisville.
Once again, the lack of action on the part of the University of Louisville isn't a big shock. Their head football coach, Bobby Petrino was fired from Arkansas after a motorcycle wreck revealed an adulterous relationship between the coach and Jessica Dorrell. Dorrell was a former volleyball player at the University of Arkansas and was at the time of the accident an employee within the university's athletic program. At one point she was given a gift of $20,000 from Petrino. That gift eventually led to his dismissal as head football coach. He was re-hired by Louisville in 2014 after being their football coach from 2003-2006. Winning is what Bobby Petrino does best. He is 58-18 as the head football coach at Louisville and that is what qualified him for a second tenure at the school despite his considerable baggage.
Think sexual assault is a recent problem, isolated to two universities? Think again. Sexual assault has unfortunately enjoyed a long and prevalent existence within the athletic departments of colleges and universities. In 1974, a woman accused six Notre Dame football players of raping her. For her actions she spent a month in psychiatric care. Two years later, a 17-year-old student at nearby St. Mary's was raped by three men. Two of the three men had been accused in the 1974 case.
In 1986, four football players at the University of California were accused of raping a female student. The players agreed to apologize to her, undergo counseling, and perform community service because the resolution was "what she wanted out of the case," according to a school official. The men weren't prosecuted and continued to play football. In 1991, Derrick Dodson, a football player at the University of Arkansas pleaded guilty to rape and burglary and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Most recently, Florida State agreed to pay $950,000 to the accuser in the Jameis Winston rape case.
The sexual assault issue isn't just a problem in college football. According to a December 8, 2015 report by Broadly.com, there are 44 NFL players who have been accused of sexual or physical assault. There are big names and well-known cases on the list like Ray Rice, Greg Hardy and Ben Roethlisberger. There are also the less-known cases involving high profile players like Julian Edelman, accused of inappropriately touching a woman and Mark Sanchez, accused of sexual assault in 2006. Adam "Pacman" Jones is accused of assaulting five different women, yet he can still play for the Bengals every Sunday.
These accusations of sexual assault and domestic violence call into question whether colleges, universities and professional sports are living up to their self-imposed, high standards of personal conduct. The people who have been placed in positions of power in multi-million and in the case of the NFL, multi-billion dollar entities like college and professional football should be held accountable for the actions of those they employ indirectly through a scholarship or directly with a salary. By not taking action, in essence, these entities are enablers of sexual assault and domestic violence.
A PSA produced by Made by Women Media is taking a stand and creating awareness against these issues. The recently released video on YouTube highlights the NFL's attempt to raise awareness for breast cancer every October but how their efforts fall short when it comes to addressing the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault. Messages like this should serve as a call to action for colleges, universities, professional sports and society as a whole to not tolerate these behaviors and address those directly who seek to cover up such issues. These types of predatory incidents have been tolerated and enabled far too long in our society, especially within sports. It is so prevalent that sexual and physical assaults seem more mundane than newsworthy. It's time to expect more from those we place in charge of safety and well-being of our students at institutions of higher education and those we cheer for every weekend in the fall and for the big game on Sunday.
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