ACUHO-I News Blog

A federal appeals court reinstated a sexual harassment lawsuit against the University of Georgia by a female student who alleges that Tony Cole, a basketball player with a full scholarship, encouraged two other athletes to rape her in Cole’s residence hall room in 2002.  Before coming to UGA, Cole had already been booted by two other schools for serious disciplinary infractions. Employees in the athletics department of a community college accused him of sexually assaulting them, and another college team cut him because of discipline issues. The suit alleged that officials at UGA had not only known about Cole’s unsavory reputation, they had not monitored his behavior at UGA or warned him to  behave himself.  Ultimately, the whole men’s basketball program was sanctioned by the NCAA for academic fraud, improper gifts and conduct issues.

The case goes beyond the University of Georgia, which has since  rebuilt the basketball program under new leadership, said speakers at the National Association of College and University Attorneys‘ annual meeting in Toronto. Judges seem to be developing a stricter, more proactive conception of prevention, they said, and if this continues, institutions could be held liable for incidents which could have been prevented by institution action, even if the institution did not have a direct role in the event itself and acted appropriately afterward.

Student athletes are not the only ones who can behave badly, of course. Legal scholars warn that schools may be responsible for the behavior of students who have previous convictions or had serious discipline problems at another college or in high school. It’s a lot to keep in mind, but it may be necessary.