Minnesota football players have reportedly been accused of sexual assault and sexual harassment, according to Nick Bromberg of Yahoo! Sports.
The allegations have not resulted in criminal charges, according to a university administrator, via the Star Tribune. Kimberly Hewitt, the school's director of equal opportunity and affirmative action, reportedly sent an email to former athletic director Norwood Teague back in July. The email apparently included two reports of sexual assault "committed by individual players," and two reports of sexual harassment involving "groups of football players."
Teague resigned as Minnesota's athletic director after being accused by two female co-workers of groping them and sending them graphic text messages, according to Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press.
The email sent by Hewitt was obtained by the Star Tribune, and Hewitt said that the concerns were over the 2014-15 academic year at the University of Minnesota. Hewitt chose not to reveal any of the names or numbers regarding the alleged sexual harassments, saying that it would comprise student privacy.
Head football coach Jerry Kill said Thursday that he knew of one allegation involving a current player. "I've taken care of the report that we received on a young man. We turned it into the administration and it was handled by the administration," said Kill.
Hewitt wrote in her email that a player had violated the sexual harassment policy. However, other reports of sexual harassment did not provide enough evidence to claim that players violated the university's policy. The students who reported these incidents chose not to go forward with investigations, according to Hewitt.
The university is currently under investigation already by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights for potential violations regarding Title XI. The investigation reportedly started because there was a claim that the school discriminated female athletes by spending more money on male sports.
It will be interesting to see how Minnesota handles these allegations and what consequences the football team could face. This is not the first time Minnesota has been in the spotlight over sexual assault allegations, as back in 2007, three players were dismissed from the team after criminal complaints became public.
