Agreed. Kind of interesting, I think that the AD actually handled it fairly well, as the article and individual clearly indicated they didn't want to press charges.
UW only shared the finding with a small group of university and athletic department officials and, following Strickland’s wishes, did not report it to police, which it says is in line with university policy.
Strickland said she felt pressured to sign the settlement agreement in January. She was playing volleyball abroad and wanted to put what happened behind her. So she said after UW Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen, whom she considered a friend, reached out a few times offering to have the university pay for therapy, she figured she might as well sign and didn’t have an attorney review it first.
In a statement sent Tuesday night, athletic department spokesman Jay Hilbrands said the department felt it provided “the best possible support” to the athlete because it encouraged her to seek legal counsel and did not require that she keep the agreement confidential.
While Strickland ultimately decided not to move forward with the investigation, it went forward at Cohen’s request.
...
While colleges are allowed to inform law enforcement about alleged sexual violence, most only do this if the survivor requests it, said Brett Sokolow, president of the Association of Title IX Administrators.
I think it was clear UW offered the individual all of the options available to the individual, and continued to reach out to the individual after she had left the campus. Had the individual decided to press charges, it would not have been easy for the turd sandwich to obtain new employment. There are basically laws on the book that limit what a former employer can state. Also there isn't some web or information database among universities, especially from a public to private institution. It's easy to blame the UW but the fact they were reaching out to the individual, offering assistance, and yes, requesting notes (which can be used to determine if more care is needed, and as well, help them shape department policies) are all pretty commendable.
Agreed. Kind of interesting, I think that the AD actually handled it fairly well, as the article and individual clearly indicated they didn't want to press charges.
UW only shared the finding with a small group of university and athletic department officials and, following Strickland’s wishes, did not report it to police, which it says is in line with university policy.
Strickland said she felt pressured to sign the settlement agreement in January. She was playing volleyball abroad and wanted to put what happened behind her. So she said after UW Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen, whom she considered a friend, reached out a few times offering to have the university pay for therapy, she figured she might as well sign and didn’t have an attorney review it first.
In a statement sent Tuesday night, athletic department spokesman Jay Hilbrands said the department felt it provided “the best possible support” to the athlete because it encouraged her to seek legal counsel and did not require that she keep the agreement confidential.
While Strickland ultimately decided not to move forward with the investigation, it went forward at Cohen’s request.
...
While colleges are allowed to inform law enforcement about alleged sexual violence, most only do this if the survivor requests it, said Brett Sokolow, president of the Association of Title IX Administrators.
I think it was clear UW offered the individual all of the options available to the individual, and continued to reach out to the individual after she had left the campus. Had the individual decided to press charges, it would not have been easy for the turd sandwich to obtain new employment. There are basically laws on the book that limit what a former employer can state. Also there isn't some web or information database among universities, especially from a public to private institution. It's easy to blame the UW but the fact they were reaching out to the individual, offering assistance, and yes, requesting notes (which can be used to determine if more care is needed, and as well, help them shape department policies) are all pretty commendable.
For the most part it sounds like the AD did everything by the book. However, the psychologist informing Cohen of the "hypothetical" assault and Cohen then allowing Shick to get wind of it was a huge fuck up. Hard to say who between the two of them fucked up without knowing the specifics of the conversation, but letting Shick hear about allegations before they were made gave him every opportunity to intimidate Strickland or otherwise harm her.
And while the law may not require it, the AD absolutely has a moral responsibility to let other schools know about offenders. Letting Shick waltz off scott-free to GCU was reprehensible.
Situations like this are significantly more difficult to manage when the victim wants it kept private, which Strickland wanted, and you have to honor that to the best of your ability. The whole "we wish him luck..." bit was just a generic line to not raise any suspicion to a situation that you don't want to go public.
Cohen's one mistake was definitely consulting with others (including Shick) about how to handle the hypothetical situation instead of assuming that the hypothetical could be real, and that it could've pertained to anyone in the AD. Misplaced trust for sure, but in the grand scheme of things she handled the situation pretty well. You have to give her a lot of credit for pushing the investigation forward when it might not have happened otherwise.
The whole story is more of an indictment of the legal side of things... the UW AD should have full ability to privately disclose misconduct information when GCU was in the process of hiring Shick. Also a bad look for GCU as they evidently didn't directly ask UW if there were any issues with misconduct while Shick was here.
Situations like this are significantly more difficult to manage when the victim wants it kept private, which Strickland wanted, and you have to honor that to the best of your ability. The whole "we wish him luck..." bit was just a generic line to not raise any suspicion to a situation that you don't want to go public.
Cohen's one mistake was definitely consulting with others (including Shick) about how to handle the hypothetical situation instead of assuming that the hypothetical could be real, and that it could've pertained to anyone in the AD. Misplaced trust for sure, but in the grand scheme of things she handled the situation pretty well. You have to give her a lot of credit for pushing the investigation forward when it might not have happened otherwise.
The whole story is more of an indictment of the legal side of things... the UW AD should have full ability to privately disclose misconduct information when GCU was in the process of hiring Shick. Also a bad look for GCU as they evidently didn't directly ask UW if there were any issues with misconduct while Shick was here.
I am pretty sure almost every female (Including our ? AD), that is beyond a certain age, has experienced some level of the same type of thing. The only fault I find is that I can't fathom how she couldn't see this from the victim's perspective. At least to assume it may have happened until proving it didn't.
Situations like this are significantly more difficult to manage when the victim wants it kept private, which Strickland wanted, and you have to honor that to the best of your ability. The whole "we wish him luck..." bit was just a generic line to not raise any suspicion to a situation that you don't want to go public.
Cohen's one mistake was definitely consulting with others (including Shick) about how to handle the hypothetical situation instead of assuming that the hypothetical could be real, and that it could've pertained to anyone in the AD. Misplaced trust for sure, but in the grand scheme of things she handled the situation pretty well. You have to give her a lot of credit for pushing the investigation forward when it might not have happened otherwise.
The whole story is more of an indictment of the legal side of things... the UW AD should have full ability to privately disclose misconduct information when GCU was in the process of hiring Shick. Also a bad look for GCU as they evidently didn't directly ask UW if there were any issues with misconduct while Shick was here.
I am pretty sure almost every female (Including our ? AD), that is beyond a certain age, has experienced some level of the same type of thing. The only fault I find is that I can't fathom how she couldn't see this from the victim's perspective. At least to assume it may have happened until proving it didn't.
But that's what the article points out, that she did pursue it, investigated, and found Shick to be at fault. You have to investigate. Biggest mistake was not firing him immediately. Jen continued to seek assistance for Strickland after she had left campus, continued to contact Strickland with the offer for care. As an organization of course you get things in writing. As noted this isn't an easy situation at all, and had Strickland sought to press charges, I think the AD would have supported Strickland in that pursuit.
It's safe to say that this will happen again, and hopefully the AD puts in the appropriate measures to deal with it so there is no grey area.
Situations like this are significantly more difficult to manage when the victim wants it kept private, which Strickland wanted, and you have to honor that to the best of your ability. The whole "we wish him luck..." bit was just a generic line to not raise any suspicion to a situation that you don't want to go public.
Cohen's one mistake was definitely consulting with others (including Shick) about how to handle the hypothetical situation instead of assuming that the hypothetical could be real, and that it could've pertained to anyone in the AD. Misplaced trust for sure, but in the grand scheme of things she handled the situation pretty well. You have to give her a lot of credit for pushing the investigation forward when it might not have happened otherwise.
The whole story is more of an indictment of the legal side of things... the UW AD should have full ability to privately disclose misconduct information when GCU was in the process of hiring Shick. Also a bad look for GCU as they evidently didn't directly ask UW if there were any issues with misconduct while Shick was here.
I am pretty sure almost every female (Including our ? AD), that is beyond a certain age, has experienced some level of the same type of thing. The only fault I find is that I can't fathom how she couldn't see this from the victim's perspective. At least to assume it may have happened until proving it didn't.
But that's what the article points out, that she did pursue it, investigated, and found Shick to be at fault. You have to investigate. Biggest mistake was not firing him immediately. Jen continued to seek assistance for Strickland after she had left campus, continued to contact Strickland with the offer for care. As an organization of course you get things in writing. As noted this isn't an easy situation at all, and had Strickland sought to press charges, I think the AD would have supported Strickland in that pursuit.
It's safe to say that this will happen again, and hopefully the AD puts in the appropriate measures to deal with it so there is no grey area.
He resigned before the investigation was complete. Firing him before that would've a) assumed his guilt and b) drawn attention to the misconduct when Strickland wanted it under wraps
In general, with the last decade containing disgraces from the likes of Penn State, MSU, and Baylor, we should be pretty fucking pleased with how Cohen handled everything, even if she did get sloppy with a few aspects (don't touch that last one).
MikeDamone
Member Posts: 37,781
Comments
Strickland said she felt pressured to sign the settlement agreement in January. She was playing volleyball abroad and wanted to put what happened behind her. So she said after UW Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen, whom she considered a friend, reached out a few times offering to have the university pay for therapy, she figured she might as well sign and didn’t have an attorney review it first.
In a statement sent Tuesday night, athletic department spokesman Jay Hilbrands said the department felt it provided “the best possible support” to the athlete because it encouraged her to seek legal counsel and did not require that she keep the agreement confidential.
...
While colleges are allowed to inform law enforcement about alleged sexual violence, most only do this if the survivor requests it, said Brett Sokolow, president of the Association of Title IX Administrators.
I think it was clear UW offered the individual all of the options available to the individual, and continued to reach out to the individual after she had left the campus. Had the individual decided to press charges, it would not have been easy for the turd sandwich to obtain new employment. There are basically laws on the book that limit what a former employer can state. Also there isn't some web or information database among universities, especially from a public to private institution. It's easy to blame the UW but the fact they were reaching out to the individual, offering assistance, and yes, requesting notes (which can be used to determine if more care is needed, and as well, help them shape department policies) are all pretty commendable.
And while the law may not require it, the AD absolutely has a moral responsibility to let other schools know about offenders. Letting Shick waltz off scott-free to GCU was reprehensible.
Show us your tits! The rubber has met the road!
Cohen's one mistake was definitely consulting with others (including Shick) about how to handle the hypothetical situation instead of assuming that the hypothetical could be real, and that it could've pertained to anyone in the AD. Misplaced trust for sure, but in the grand scheme of things she handled the situation pretty well. You have to give her a lot of credit for pushing the investigation forward when it might not have happened otherwise.
The whole story is more of an indictment of the legal side of things... the UW AD should have full ability to privately disclose misconduct information when GCU was in the process of hiring Shick. Also a bad look for GCU as they evidently didn't directly ask UW if there were any issues with misconduct while Shick was here.
It's safe to say that this will happen again, and hopefully the AD puts in the appropriate measures to deal with it so there is no grey area.
how many tims have I said that in my lifetim.