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Independent report criticizes MU-Columbia handling of Menu Courey case, System president responds

April 11, 2014 By Mike Lear

Sasha Menu Courey

Sasha Menu Courey

An independent report on the University of Missouri Columbia campus’ handling of the alleged rape of a former student athlete is critical of the University on four counts.

The Dowd Bennett report on the handling of the Sasha Menu Courey case says the University failed to have Title IX policies in place for its employees despite Department of Education guidance; the University should have acted on information it had in November 2012 about Menu Courey’s alleged rape; there is no conclusion that university employees knew about the assault while Menu Courey was alive; and a Columbia Tribune article published in February 2012 should have been provided to the Title IX coordinator.

“I think it was a fair and accurate and in-depth report,” says University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe. “The recommendations were spot-on. I wouldn’t prioritize one over the other. I think that they’re all … we’re going to get to work on them and make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

Wolfe says the University is conducting a “major self-assessment” based on the Dowd Bennett findings and the recommendations of a sexual assault and mental health services task force.

He says the University will work to, “improve the way we serve people on our campuses in terms of sexual assault, prevention, reporting and education as well as mental health service delivery.”

Wolfe highlighted an executive order he issued on Wednesday to strengthen Title IX policies at the University.

“My order mandates that all University employees have an obligation to report sexual harassment or sexual assault allegations in which the alleged victim is a student, to the appropriate Title IX coordinator.”

The Columbia Police Department is investigating the alleged 2010 assault.

The MU swimmer said she was sexually assaulted by one or more Mizzou football players in 2010 and claimed she told a University employee about the incident. The school never investigated or referred the incident to police, and Menu Courey committed suicide in a Boston hospital in 2011.

Matt Tarnawa, KSSZ, contributed to this report.

Filed Under: News, Sports Tagged With: Mizzou, Tim Wolfe, University of Missouri

University of Missouri selects firm to investigate handling of Menu Courey case

February 14, 2014 By Mike Lear

The University of Missouri has selected the law firm that will conduct an independent review of the handling of sexual assault allegations of a former student athlete who later committed suicide.

The curators have hired St. Louis law firm Dowd Bennett, which features former U.S. Attorney Edward Dowd, who will try to determine whether University employees acted within the law and university policy in the case of Sasha Menu Courey, a former swimmer who said she had been raped by a Mizzou football player in February 2010 and killed herself more than a year later.

The case was brought to light by a report on ESPN’s Outside the Lines.

See our earlier stories on this case

Filed Under: News, Sports Tagged With: Mizzou, Sasha Menu Courey, University of Missouri

MU curators approve outside counsel to investigate Menu Courey case

January 30, 2014 By Bill Pollock

The University of Missouri Board of Curators agreed with system president Tim Wolfe and voted Wednesday night, after their regularly scheduled meeting, to hire independent legal counsel to investigate how the university handled the alleged rape of MU swimmer Sasha Menu Courey.  The board must next seek and hire a firm to conduct the investigation. The counsel will reconvene on the subject again, no later than April 11 at the curators’ next meeting in Rolla.

Board Chairman Don Downing released a statement following the meeting.

“Ms. Courey’s story is very tragic and sad, and our sympathy and prayers are with her family, friends and teammates. The board wants to take an independent look at what happened here. Separately, our chancellors are promptly reviewing their campus policies and procedures concerning the prevention and reporting of sexual assaults and availability of mental health services, and President Wolfe has rightly committed to devoting additional resources to the extent those policies and procedures are found to be lacking.  We need to do all we can do to address these issues at the University of Missouri, and provide appropriate assistance to those who are victimized.”

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: MIZ-SEC, news, Sasha Menu Courey, Sports

University of Missouri responds to questions surrounding Menu Courey story

January 28, 2014 By Bill Pollock

You read ESPN’s take and saw the Outside the Lines feature on Sunday morning regarding the story of former swimmer Sasha Menu Courey. Now, the University of Missouri-Columbia has sent out another press release attempting to answer some of the more common questions that have come up since the feature aired.

Q: Why didn’t the University start an investigation as soon as officials first knew about an allegation of sexual assault? 

A: University of Missouri officials were not aware of any allegation of sexual assault until late 2012. (Sasha died in 2011.) In the process of gathering documents in response to Sasha’s parents’ Sunshine Law request, MU discovered a transcript of an online chat between Sasha and a crisis hotline that included a reference to an alleged sexual assault. Sasha had never reported this to University officials or requested an investigation while she was alive, and the transcript did not include the name of an assailant or any other specific information that would prompt an investigation. However, after discovering this document, the University contacted the parents and asked if they would like an investigation to take place. The parents did not respond. Therefore, at that point in time, which was after Sasha’s death, the University was unable to go forward with an investigation due to no request for an investigation and a lack of specific information. Prior to this, the only personnel who knew of Sasha’s allegations of sexual assault were health care providers who are restricted by privacy laws from discussing a patient’s conversations without the consent of the patient. ESPN acknowledges that health care providers are not required to make reports about sexual assaults without patients’ permission.

Q: Isn’t MU required to do a Title IX investigation, especially after the Columbia Daily Tribune reported in early 2012 that an assault had occurred?

A: The U.S. Department of Education’s official guidance on Title IX states, “If a school knows or reasonably should know about student-on-student harassment that creates a hostile environment, Title IX requires the school to take immediate action to eliminate the harassment, prevent its recurrence, and address its effects.” The Feb. 12, 2012 Columbia Daily Tribune article contained only these two sentences about an alleged assault: “Menu Courey also wrote in her diary months later that she was sexually assaulted at the end of her freshman year. She did not name the attacker.”

This information did not suggest that the alleged assault occurred on or near campus or in this country or Canada; nor did it indicate that any other students were involved. This is not enough information to suggest that the University “reasonably should know about student-on-student harassment that creates a hostile environment.”

Although Sasha’s parents shared this information from her journal with the Columbia Daily Tribune prior to publication of the Feb. 12, 2012 article, they never – not at that time or since – brought this information to the attention of the University or otherwise asked the University to investigate.

Q: Why is the University now turning over information to the Columbia Police Department and asking them to investigate? 

A: Although Sasha’s parents still have never responded to the University’s inquiry, the ESPN story quotes them as saying that they want an investigation to be conducted. In addition, the ESPN story included names of individuals who might have relevant information regarding the alleged February 2010 assault. This was the first time that University officials had any concrete information on which to base an investigation. When the name of the man with whom Sasha had consensual sex and at whose residence the alleged assault occurred was revealed, the University checked its records and determined that the man had an off-campus address. Accordingly, the information was referred to the appropriate law enforcement officials, the Columbia Police Department.

Q: Why was Sasha taken off the swim team? 

A: Sasha was never “taken off” the swim team. From the time she came to MU in 2009 until Sasha, in consultation with her parents, approved submission of a withdrawal form in the spring of 2011, she remained a team member and was receiving a scholarship. Sasha’s scholarship was not cancelled even upon her withdrawal from classes, and she was entered into the financial aid system for summer school on May 3, 2011. Sasha remained enrolled in fall semester classes until her death.

Specific questions have been raised regarding Sasha’s withdrawal from classes in spring of 2011. Sasha had been a patient at University Hospital following her suicide attempt. Based on her parents’ decision to move her to an inpatient mental health care facility in Kansas City, an athletics department academic advisor suggested, to protect Sasha’s academic record, that Sasha sign a form of withdrawal from classes while still in Columbia, to be used only if it became evident that Sasha would not return to school that semester. Sasha and her parents agreed. Sasha signed and dated the form April 6, 2011. Sasha’s parents then decided to move Sasha from Kansas City to a facility in Boston. At this time the unlikelihood of her return to school that semester was discussed, and Sasha and her family made the decision to have the withdrawal form submitted. The appropriate University official signed it on April 19, 2011.

Q: Are you concerned about sexual assaults involving students? 

A: The University’s top priority is the safety and security of its students. Of course, we are concerned about alleged sexual assaults, and the University takes appropriate action to address such allegations. The first action is to make certain that the alleged victim is provided with all needed assistance. The University’s Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center’s (RSVP) staff, counseling services and medical personnel are on-call 24 hours a day to assist victims in a comprehensive way. The next action step is to ascertain the wishes of the alleged victim about the handling of the alleged assault. Consistent with Title IX, the University considers whether the alleged victim wishes to maintain confidentiality before determining whether to proceed with an investigation. Although an investigation may be necessary in some situations regardless of the wishes of the victim, the victim’s wishes are respected to the extent consistent with the University! ’s obligation to provide a safe environment. In addition, MUPD personnel inform the community through a Clery release if a threat to the university community exists.

Q: How do you feel about the investigation President Wolfe is calling for? 

A: We agree with President Wolfe that the safety and security of our students is our most important priority. While we feel that University of Missouri personnel did everything possible considering the amount of information available at the time to help Sasha Menu Courey, we support a full review of the university’s policies and procedures and look forward to any potential improvements that might be identified.

 

Filed Under: News, Sports Tagged With: Missouri Tigers, news, Sports

Columbia police open Menu Courey case

January 27, 2014 By Bill Pollock

A Columbia Police spokesman confirms the department has started its investigation into the alleged rape of a former Mizzou swimmer who would later commit suicide. Sergeant Joe Bernhard says CPD received info Saturday night from Missouri University Police about the possible sexual assault of Sasha Menu Courey in February 2010 at an apartment on Huntridge Drive just south of the Mizzou campus.

An ESPN report released Friday accused Mizzou athletics of not doing enough to pursue the rape allegations. The university disputes that, saying Menu Courey and her parents never came to the school with information about the assault.

Menu Courey committed suicide in 2011. MU System President Tim Wolfe announced Sunday that he wants an independent review of how the university handled the rape allegations.

Columbia Police official release

Filed Under: News, Sports Tagged With: Missouri Tigers, MIZ-SEC, news, Sasha Menu Courey, Sports

Missourinet Mornings–Did ESPN accurately report the Menu-Courey story? (VIDEO)

January 27, 2014 By Bill Pollock Leave a Comment

I’ve read ESPN.com’s article over and over, I watched the “Outside the Lines” program on Sunday and read each of the University of Missouri’s statements that they’ve released. In the 16-months that ESPN investigated this story of Sasha Menu Courey, did they do a fair job in reporting the facts?

The athletic department feels the story was “skewed and unfair.”

I’m not a lawyer, a health care provider, or expert on mental health. However, I am a father and in those simplest terms, the main point I keep going back to in my mind over this entire story is why didn’t the parents of Menu Courey reach out to officials at Missouri, if they felt that football players at the school may have been involved in a rape of their daughter?

They weren’t satisfied with the way they were treated at memorial services for their daughter. They felt there was a lack of initiative on the part of the university in contacting them about whether or not an investigation should be opened and apparently never responded.

That’s what doesn’t add up in this story for me? As a parent, I would want answers and if I was truly not pleased with follow up from the university you can bet I’d be calling, knocking on doors and getting in front of any university official I could demanding answers.

Share your thoughts and comments below.

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: Missourinet Mornings, Sports

Mizzou athletics sends out independent response to ESPN’s Menu Courey story

January 26, 2014 By Bill Pollock

Following Sunday morning’s broadcast of ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” program which focused on the case of former swimmer Sasha Menu Courey, who alleged being sexually assaulted by members of the Missouri football team, the athletic department released a statement on its website.

Read the full release below.

ESPN’s story identifies four points at which the University allegedly had information about a sexual assault against Sasha and claims that the University should have done more to address the alleged assault. But a look at the facts on each of those points shows that the claims in the ESPN story are skewed and unfair.

1. Sasha’s private discussions with health care providers. The ESPN story acknowledges that health care providers are not required to make reports when their patients tell them about sexual assault. Still, in the context of a piece suggesting that the University knew something about the assault and should have done more, the story repeatedly references records showing that Sasha mentioned a sexual assault to health care providers at the University. Since ESPN itself acknowledges that the health care providers can’t make reports without a patient’s authorization, this repeated emphasis on Sasha’s conversations with health care providers is misplaced and misleading.

It is important to point out this type of skewed and flawed reporting because it is dangerous. Victims of sexual assault need to know that they can seek medical care without the concern that reports will be made to police or campus officials without their consent. Otherwise some victims will be deterred from seeking medical care.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: News, Sports Tagged With: Missouri Tigers, MIZ-SEC, news, Sports

Mizzou places swim coach on leave after being made aware of “serious team management allegations”

October 30, 2018 By Bill Pollock

University of Missouri head coach Greg Rhodenbaugh has been placed on paid administrative leave while the school investigates “team management allegations.”

“We recently were made aware of serious team management allegations by our student-athletes, and it is appropriate that Coach Rhodenbaugh be placed on paid administrative leave while the University conducts a full investigation,” said Athletic Director Jim Sterk.

On his bio page on the school’s official website it boasts of Rhodenbaugh’s success:

In eight full seasons on the job, Head Swimming Coach Greg Rhodenbaugh has transformed the Tigers into a national power in the swimming world. The success of the program, which steadily improved since the Mizzou Aquatic Center opened in 2005, should continue to grow in Rhodenbaugh’s ninth season.

Rhodenbaugh was featured in a story for ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” in February of 2015 as the network did an investigative story on the university’s handling of Sasha Menu Courey’s allegations of rape.

Filed Under: Sports

Everyone needs to take a step back and relax as Mizzou continues Earleywine review (PODCAST)

May 9, 2016 By Bill Pollock

Mizzou's softball team is standing behind their coach Ehren Earleywine (photo/Mizzou Athletics)

Mizzou’s softball team is standing behind their coach Ehren Earleywine (photo/Mizzou Athletics)

There was another protest tied to Mizzou athletics this weekend and this time it was the softball team. According to our Columbia affiliate, KTGR, players handed out a statement before Saturday’s home game against South Carolina saying they were playing under protest, because of an investigation by the athletic department against head coach Ehren Earleywine.

It appears a couple players complained to the athletics department about Earleywine’s coaching style, triggering the investigation. The department has had little to say, except that the review continues.

Earleywine said his team is unified, and despite the investigation and player protest, the team took two out of three from South Carolina at home this weekend.

Listen to Earleywine’s comments on my Pressbox Podcast

http://cdn.missourinet.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Earleywine-podcast.mp3

Here’s the letter the players released on Saturday.

Mizzou letterBefore anyone outside of the softball program or athletic department start pointing fingers and accusing one side or the other, or Coach Earleywine of wrong doing, consider the situation and the consider the parties involved.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: MIZ-SEC, Mizzou, softball, Sports

Columbia senator on MU’s actions after ESPN report on rape allegation

January 27, 2014 By Mike Lear

The state senator that represents Columbia thinks investigation of an alleged rape at the University of Missouri and reported on by ESPN needs to follow two paths.

ESPN on its “Outside the Lines” program reports the University did not investigate or report to law enforcement the allegation that a student athlete, swimmer Sasha Menu Courey, was raped by members of the football team in 2010. Menu Courey committed suicide in 2011.

Columbia Senator Kurt Schaefer calls the situation “very serious.” He was glad to see that the University has turned over information it learned from the ESPN report to Columbia Police, and that MU System President Timothy Wolfe is calling for an independent investigation of how the allegation was handled by the University.

In one of two statements released by the University of Missouri athletics department, it says it believes it did the right thing and was respecting the wishes of Menu Courey’s parents, who its says did not reply when it contacted them about the incident.

Schaefer tells Missourinet he knows the University is refuting points in ESPN’s story, but says, “What I would hope is the University would be focused on really looking back at what happened and making sure policies are sufficient to make sure that something like this doesn’t ever happen, and also that this particular instance is investigated from a criminal perspective to determine whether anyone needs to be prosecuted.”

Schaefer says he hopes that nearly four years later, some physical evidence remains that can help determine whether a crime was committed. 

He says he does not anticipate legislative action regarding the case until the investigations are completed and their findings are known.

See our earlier stories related to Sasha Menu Courey

Filed Under: Crime / Courts, News, Sports Tagged With: Columbia, Kurt Schaefer, Mizzou, Sasha Menu Courey, University of Missouri

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