Right from the start let’s be clear. SEXUAL ABUSE IS ALWAYS WRONG AND SHOULD BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW. But the recent surge in University abuse settlements has us scratching our heads. Aren’t all the athletes who were claiming abuse at the hands of their coaches considered adults? Does sexual abuse by one adult inflicted on another adult deserve hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements? As we said, sexual abuse is to be condemned in every instance but can an adult legally be found guilty of abusing another adult? And when we consider the consequences of the big payoffs it makes us sick to think that the student body pays the price in the form of higher tuition and fees. A better solution is to place direct blame for any reported abuse on the people and process that allowed such abuse to happen. People who allow such activity need to be fired all the way up the chain–not just the coach but also the Sports Director who hired the coach and the rest of the staff all the way up to the University President. Paying people off is the wrong answer. An anonymous survey process needs to be positioned and recorded frequently so that athletes have a way to get the Administration’s attention and rectify the situation before it multiplies. Why should the totally uninvolved student go further into debt because the University needs to save its reputation? Make changes, hold people accountable at the highest level, run anonymous surveys, and most importantly, hire thoroughly vetted coaches–not somebody’s brother-in-law.
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