CougarCorner

Re: U of U sex abuse scandal

2013-04-03T08:46:00-06:00

I hate to say it, which is surprising considering my views on the University of Utah, but their whole athletic program is a seething pit of corruption and lies. Under Chris Hill's stewardship the program has fallen to all time lows out of a all encompassing hatred of BYU and a desire to beat them no matter the costs. Is Chris Hill a morally corrupt person or just incredibly inept?

Statistics: Posted by hawkwing — Wed Apr 03, 2013 8:46 am

Re: U of U sex abuse scandal

2013-04-03T08:19:04-06:00

Funny what things happen when the AD suddenly starts looking at the other programs instead of playing musical chairs with hoops players/coaches and developing ulcers over PEDs on the football team:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8655 ... linic.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Statistics: Posted by snoscythe — Wed Apr 03, 2013 8:19 am

Re: U of U sex abuse scandal

2013-03-13T21:17:01-06:00

After decades of listening to ward members, neighbors, co-workers, and family relatives (who are avid Ute fans) repeatedly mention "President Hinckley graduated from the U" and "President Monson graduated from the U" as if to imply that the U is the university of the "brethren", I can finally ask in kind..."Is this really the chosen university of President Monson?"

Statistics: Posted by SenorCougar — Wed Mar 13, 2013 9:17 pm

Re: U of U sex abuse scandal

2013-03-12T13:47:53-06:00

Thanks for posting that info, Stirfry. So it looks like there have been claims of sexual abuse while at the U of U. While obviously no where near the severity of the Sandusky case it is now repeated examples of abuse.

Hawkwing. As owner of this site, don't you feel some responsibility to be accurate about something this serious?

Where did you get this conclusion from what he posted.

Read it. The allegations of SEXUAL misconduct of this coach are from when he was employed by ASU 6 or 7 years ago. He apparently was involved in some youth program because the girl was 15 at the time and not an ASU student.

That girl, as a college age teen, came to the U and joined the swim team. A friend of hers on the team has been quoted as saying that this girl told her that the coach bought beer for her during or after a trip. The friend also reported that the girl told her that the coach had called her at night on several occasions to complain about his wife. She said there was no sexual relationship, but that the two clearly had an inappropriate personal closeness for a coach and an athlete and would joke with each other at times and yell at each other at times.

That is all that has been reported and the inappropriate relationship part was 2nd hand and it is not clear that the friend ever reported it.

Perhaps there was more to the reunion of coach and student than what was told to her friend. That would not shock me as the student seemed to want the relationship even at the U when she was no longer a minor. But apparently, the relationship soured, because now, 6 years later, she filed the complaint in Arizona about the incident when she was 15. Nothing has been reported involving sexual misconduct at U. So until there is a report of it - your comment is inaccurate.

The U and Hill knew nothing about sexual misconduct of the coach until about December when ASU law enforcement informed them of their investigation and asked them to keep it confidential.

Now - as to the independent investigation Hill requested the U President to make. It is independent of the AD Office. But it is being conducted by a local attorney with close ties to U and an out of state attorney known for helping universities clear up purported violations. So IMHSO with the S meaning SPECULATIVE, this independent investigation is far more about damage control than transparency.

The U messed up big-time in dealing with complaints about abusive coaching tactics, punitive actions against whistle blowers, and may or may not have been aware of his alcohol problem or buying of beer for an underage team member. This alone will be enough for them to lose several lawsuits and to possibly get some NCAA reprimands.

No need to go over the top and accuse the U of covering up sexual abuse - unless such a complaint gets filed. It may. It may not. If there was some, it appears to have gone unreported.

As to the people who keep wigging out about "did not report directly to" Hill. Hill is responsible for the entire athletic department. He had several Assistant ADs between him and other parts of the organization just like the hierarchy in any organization has a chain of command. But delegation of authority does not absolve the person delegating it from responsibility for it. This is why the supposedly independent investigation was started outside of the athletic department. It will be independent of the AD department for sure, but it will be covering the U's butt.

Statistics: Posted by Cougarbib — Tue Mar 12, 2013 1:47 pm

Re: U of U sex abuse scandal

2013-03-12T13:17:51-06:00

Recent conversation in the U of U AD department:

AD Secretary: Sir, Yahoo! Sports is on the line asking for comment on coach Winslow and the swim team.

Hill: We have a swim team? Tell them I'm unable to talk right now...sigh...too busy covering up football controversies.

Statistics: Posted by Gunk — Tue Mar 12, 2013 1:17 pm

Re: U of U sex abuse scandal

2013-03-12T13:09:13-06:00

KSL is now carrying a summary of the radio interview I mentioned:
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?sid=243769 ... featured-3" uncited">

Hill refused to directly address any timeline questions.

“Anything I could say now could be interpreted as trying to influence some kind of investigation,” he said.

One possible explanation in Hill’s favor involves former athletic administrator Pete Olsachek, who supervised the swim program and reported to the athletic director. Hill, who directly oversees football, both basketball programs and gymnastics, wouldn’t comment if Olsachek’s departure from the university late last year was related to the Winslow situation.

“That’s really something I don’t’ feel comfortable talking about for a little while,” he said.

Ignorance is Hill’s best alibi. It’s hard to think he would consider deliberately overlooking any wrongdoing to protect the swim program.

This isn’t to excuse inappropriate behavior at any level, but there’s no reason to cover up misdeeds in a non-revenue program that generates no public interest. What incentive does Hill have to risk his career for the swim team?

At the same time, why did it take so long for the athletic department to recognize the problems? As the director, Hill is responsible for all that goes on in his department.

Given Hill’s salary ($587,481, according to the website utahsright.com), the buck stops with him.

“Even if all of these stories are lies, I just don’t see how . . . there’s not a thorough looking into this before 2012,” Adelson said.

He’s not alone. But until the report is released, Hill’s track record should earn him for the benefit of the doubt.

Statistics: Posted by Fido — Tue Mar 12, 2013 1:09 pm

Re: U of U sex abuse scandal

2013-03-12T12:34:21-06:00

Thanks for posting that info, Stirfry. So it looks like there have been claims of sexual abuse while at the U of U. While obviously no where near the severity of the Sandusky case it is now repeated examples of abuse.

Statistics: Posted by hawkwing — Tue Mar 12, 2013 12:34 pm

Re: U of U sex abuse scandal

2013-03-12T11:53:16-06:00

Dr. Hill was on KFAN yesterday and didn't answer most of the detailed questions--as you can imagine due to the ongoing investigation.

But he did confirm that the only sports that he is directly responsible for are Football, Men's and Women's Basketball, and Gymnastics. All the other sports are overseen by Assistant ADs (as was confirmed in these other reports). Hill would not discuss the reasons for the Asst. AD's departure, or anything related to what he knew and when he knew it so that he would not be seen as trying to influence the outcome of the investigation.

He did confirm that the sexual abuse allegations took him by surprise. He was aware of other allegations not of that nature prior to the story being published by Yahoo.

It appears from my view and hearing him respond to these issues that there are things he would have done differently in hindsight and he certainly sounded like he was under a ton of stress (understandably) and mentioned that the important thing is doing right by the student athletes. It may be too little too late depending on the findings of the investigation, but I do think they are now doing the right thing in appointing an independent investigation and letting them report their findings and recommendations. This will certainly be interesting to watch as it develops.

Statistics: Posted by Fido — Tue Mar 12, 2013 11:53 am

Re: U of U sex abuse scandal

2013-03-12T10:38:45-06:00

Who does oversee the swimming? What's the hierarchy?
Apparently - if the allegations are to be believed - the hierarchy ended at the head coach. He seems to have been the final arbiter of all things swimming.
Nonsense. First of all, that quote above is not from Hill or U - it is a reporter. And the reporter is not even saying that Chris Hill is not responsible for swimming.
[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/utes/55986 ... h.html.csp
A former associate athletic director, Pete Oliszczak, was directly over the school’s swimming and diving team. Oliszczak, who was at the University of North Dakota in the late 1990s at the same time Winslow was a swimmer there, left the department in November of last year.

An email obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune shows the Hill responded to one parent’s written complaint around the same time. That email started an investigation by the university’s Office of Equal Opportunity, which ultimately found the allegations — including a separate claim of sexual misconduct —did not warrant punishment.

Hill would not say if Olisczak’s departure was related to the investigation into Winslow.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/8655 ... andal.htmlIf I were conducting the independent investigation, one of the first things I’d want to clear up about Winslow is the role of former assistant athletics director for internal operations Pete Oliszczak. He abruptly left the university and moved out of state last fall, so he missed out on the recent drama. But before that, he was charged with overseeing swimming. Which leaves me to wonder how much he knew and how much he told Hill.

It would be stretching things to connect the dots between the swimming scandal and Oliszczak’s resignation, but this much is certain: He knew something. Swimming was part of his job description. In that sense, he’s the key to all this. How well did he report things to Hill?

Incidentally, Oliszczak worked five years at the NCAA headquarters before taking the Utah job in 2004. That’s rich, even though he was an assistant director of championships. You would think if anyone knew about investigating and reporting, it would be him.

There are 17 varsity sports at Utah and obviously Hill couldn’t be everywhere. There are academic, life skills, student services, communications, fund raising and marketing areas, among others. All of them report to athletics. Asked if he knew beforehand of all the alleged incidents listed in the Yahoo! story on Friday, Hill replied, “No. No, there are things that I didn’t know.”

Statistics: Posted by Stirfry — Tue Mar 12, 2013 10:38 am

Re: U of U sex abuse scandal

2013-03-12T10:16:19-06:00

Who does oversee the swimming? What's the hierarchy?
Apparently - if the allegations are to be believed - the hierarchy ended at the head coach. He seems to have been the final arbiter of all things swimming.

Nonsense. First of all, that quote above is not from Hill or U - it is a reporter. And the reporter is not even saying that Chris Hill is not responsible for swimming.

The article is saying; what several other articles have said: Until he left U recently, there was an Assistant AD between Hill and Swimming. That guy reported to Hill. All the article is saying is that parental and student complaints not only went to the Assistant AD, but several went directly to Chris Hill. So Chris Hill was aware. U has not said Hill is not responsible for swimming. Neither has Hill. I have even read quotes from Hill acknowledging that he received complaints from a parent and delegated followup to the Assistant AD and also in one case to the OEO for investigation.

So Chris Hill was aware that there were complaints about coaching techniques - not child molestation. Chris Hill is responsible for swimming and neither this article or anyone else has claimed otherwise. And if Hill does try to claim, which he has not, that the Assistant AD did not inform him of complaints - this article does indicate that he clearly was aware of those kind of complaints.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

Statistics: Posted by Cougarbib — Tue Mar 12, 2013 10:16 am