NCAA Releases New Guidelines On Handling Sexual Assaults
By Ray Boyd
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Following the infamous Penn State scandal involving Jerry Sandusky, the actions of NCAA member institutions in relation to how they deal with sexual assaults has been under a microscope. The entire instance seemed to be something that occurred as a result of a lack of checks and balances for these type of situations.
On Wednesday, the NCAA released a handbook to outline how universities should handle instances of sexual assaults. The handbook does not outline any punishments for schools that deviate from it. It is merely a way to give universities some help in dealing with these matters.
The handbook was developed by the NCAA's Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct. The basis of it is making sure that universities have the means to educate their student-athletes and faculty on sexual assault and interpersonal violence.
The handbook is pretty straightforward in its mission, but some wording in it may seem contrary to those who followed the Penn State situation closely and especially for those who sympathized with the university following the NCAA's severe sanctions.
The handbook states the following when describing how athletic departments should handle sexual assault occurrences after the fact:
"Cooperate with but not manage, direct, control or interfere with college or university investigations into allegations of sexual violence ensuring that investigations involving student-athletes and athletics department staff are managed in the same manner as all other students and staff on campus."
The handbook also made it clear that athletic department members should immediately report any instances of sexual assault to campus officials for "investigation and adjudication."
CLICK HERE to read the NCAA's Handbook on Sexual Assault and Interpersonal Violence
These specific highlights from the book may raise some eyebrows in Happy Valley. The school agreed to serious sanctions from the NCAA who found that Joe Paterno did not act in a satisfactory enough manner in that he only reported what he knew about Jerry Sandusky to Tim Curley and Gary Schultz.
It now sounds as though he did what the NCAA is now encourage members to do. The NCAA found that Penn State acted in a manner in which they put the football program ahead of the well being of individuals in the near vicinity of their program.
Those findings led to unprecedented sanctions which included a $60 million fine, a four year postseason ban, a four year reduction in scholarships, five years of probation and a vacating of wins from 1998-2011 which reflected itself in Paterno's record.
Could this new handbook be the NCAA's way of saying they overreacted due to the pressure and that people should behave very similarly to Paterno in the future?
Paterno's son Jay Paterno spoke with The Morning Call and expressed his feelings about the new guidelines.
"It invalidates the very foundation of the consent decree and Mark Emmert's press conference statements that Penn State failed to act appropriately. The course taken by Joe Paterno and the athletic department was exactly what the NCAA recommends.
There is a reason a coach is not to follow up by finding and contacting a potential victim of a sexual assault. Regardless of a coach's intent, a victim could feel pressured to recant her or his story. They are good guidelines. Because Penn State followed them, the NCAA should remove the sanctions."
Paterno may have a point. When the NCAA was dealing with this situation in 2011, they were trying to make statements and take actions in attempt to correct past transgressions. They very well may still be doing that.
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