Re: “,” June 12 Ross Kaminsky column.
According to Ross Kaminsky, student-athlete Grant Neal “remains suspended from CSU-Pueblo for ‘non-consensual sexual intercourse’ with a fellow student despite her telling school officials and her own parents that any such activity between them was absolutely consensual.”
CSU’s rejection of “innocent until proven guilty” shows regulatory overreach trumping law. However, consider how academia provided refuge in cases like Jerry Sandusky’s and the Baylor scandal.
Peripheral activities like athletics are not “rights,” so when student sexual misconduct is alleged, an institution should be able to limit student activity until police investigations are complete, as long as the accused’s academics are not significantly curtailed. Granted, police investigations are not always impartial, but thatap what our law provides.
Likewise, if faculty is accused of impropriety, paid leave pending legal inquiry seems reasonable. Administrative responsibility should end upon referral to law enforcement with full legal cooperation. The specter of civil suit should not hang over any party once the situation is reported promptly and transparently, nor if the aggrieved refuses to file charges.
Institutions cannot function as quasi courts of law. Itap too easy for “quasi” to become “Nazi.”
Kevin Dawson, Rangely
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