A story that Michigan hopes will quickly fade into the background simply won’t. If anything, it continues to do nothing but grow in size and scope.
According to the Detroit News, an arm of the United State Department of Education, the Office for Civil Rights, has launched an investigation into the university’s handling of and response to an alleged rape in 2009. The victim in the alleged rape was a UM student while the alleged attacker was former Wolverines kicker Brendan Gibbons.
While Gibbons was arrested in connection to the alleged rape, he was never formally charged.
Two formal complaints filed with the Department of Education prompted the investigation. Thus far, the timeline of the university’s response to the alleged incident has raised questions as to the handling of the situation. with some hinting of a coverup on behalf of the storied football program. Head coach Brady Hoke released a statement earlier this month defending the “character... integrity” of the program and the university, but questions still remain as to why it took four years for Gibbons to be expelled.According to the Michigan Daily report, revised university policies related to sexual misconduct on campus led to review of various allegations, including the case involving Gibbons. This revised policy ultimately led to the school’s decision to expel Gibbons.
Nov. 20 of last year, Gibbons was informed via a letter from the university that it had been determined there is a “preponderance of evidence” to suggest he committed sexual misconduct. Three days later, Gibbons played in Michigan’s three-point loss to Iowa. Gibbons did not play in the regular-season finale against Ohio State due to what was described as a muscle pull. Hoke announced Dec. 23 that Gibbons would not travel with the team for the Wolverines’ Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl game against Kansas State due to a family matter.
Three days prior to Hoke’s revelation, Gibbons was notified by the school that he had been expelled. Questions of when Hoke and the football program became aware of the issue surrounding Gibbons have swirled of late, although Hoke, when asked that question directly, cited privacy laws in declining to answer. In his statement defending the UM athletic department, Hoke said that “while I would like to be more forthcoming, I can’t provide any details due to federal privacy laws and University policies.”
One of the complaints that prompted the DOE probe came from blogger Douglas Smith, who received the following response from the federal agency:
"[The Office for Civil Rights] has determined it is appropriate to proceed to investigation on the following issue: that the university failed to promptly and equitably respond to complaints, reports and/or incidents of sexual violence of which it had notice, and, as a result, students were subjected to a sexually hostile environment.”
For its part, the university said in a statement that it is proud of its policy in regards to matters such as these and that it is fully cooperating with the DOE.
“We’re very proud of our student sexual misconduct policy, our prevention efforts and our programs to support survivors of sexual misconduct,” UM spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said according to the Press. “We will fully cooperate with the Department of Education and we believe that a review of our policy, programs and investigations will conclude that the University of Michigan is doing what it should in this important area.”