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Pair of high-ranking LSU Athletics officials suspended in wake of Title IX report; read it here

3 years 2 weeks 1 hour ago Friday, March 05 2021 Mar 5, 2021 March 05, 2021 7:44 AM March 05, 2021 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - LSU has released Husch Blackwell's full findings of its investigation into LSU's Title IX policies, which were the focus of a scathing USA Today report that shed light on the university's shortcomings in reporting sexual misconduct. 

Click here to view the full report

Watch coverage on WBRZ Plus and WBRZ Ch 2: Breaking news is streamed live here.

Read key points from the report and meeting below.

-LSU did not have a full-time Title IX coordinator until 2014.

-Title IX coordinator advocated for more resources in 2016 but got a lackluster response from LSU.

-Policies surrounding mandatory reporting have been "unclear" for years at LSU with nothing done to remedy it.

-LSU's process for reporting sexual misconduct was "enormously complicated," often making victims feel forced to give up on reporting the abuse.

-Husch Blackwell reports some improvements made over past year, including within athletics department under Scott Woodward.

-LSU president says university plans to act on Husch Blackwell's 18 recommendations in the report.

-30-day suspension without pay for Executive Deputy AD Verge Ausberry, including training.

-21-day suspension without pay for Senior Associated AD Miriam Segar.

-Internal emails from 2013 reveal former AD Joe Alleva wanted Les Miles gone, saying he is "guilty of insubordination, inappropriate behavior, putting the university, athletic dept and football program at great risk."

The report was produced by the law firm Husch Blackwell.

In an email to LSU students and staff Friday morning before the meeting, interim LSU President Thomas Galligan called it a "milestone" moment and a "brutally honest" look into the university's policies and what should be changed.

LSU Athletic Director Scott Woodward released a letter as the report was released, highlighting steps he says the department is taking to address the problems. Read that full statement here

Executive Deputy AD Verge Ausberry also released a statement Friday afternoon addressing his suspension.

"I accept the conclusions and decisions rendered by the university and absolutely respect the commitment to putting the welfare of all students first. My entire career has been dedicated to LSU and the ideal of promoting and protecting student interests and I regret that my actions in this instance fell short of that standard. I intend to redouble my personal efforts to make our university a model for best practices in the area of domestic and campus safety and dignity."

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