Lawsuit: Kansas "Encouraged" Rowers Raped By Football Player To Cheer At Games

Kansas is currently being sued by two former rowers who say they were raped by the same football player. The player was investigated and expelled, but in their lawsuits both women say the university still violated Title IX in many ways. They claim that they suffered retaliation from the rowing coaches after reporting what happened; that Kansas ignored a history of sexual assault reports from the dorm that the football players were in, which was where the rapes happened; and that Kansas’s investigation was slow and didn’t take enough steps to stop harassment from the player.

Kansas filed a motion asking to dismiss one of the lawsuits, by Daisy Tackett, and since then Tackett’s legal team filed an amended complaint on Tuesday with new details. (I’m using the women’s names because both have identified themselves in previous reports). One section from the lawsuit really stands out, first reported by the . From the lawsuit:

KU has an official policy that requires female rowers to attend KU football games, and to cheer and encourage the football players as they enter the field.

Even two rowers like Plaintiff and Sarah McClure, who had been sexually assaulted by a KU football player, were encouraged and expected to attend and root on the KU football players under KU’s policy.

KU has an official policy and practice of entertaining football recruits in hotels just off campus and encouraging female KU athletes to attend parties with the recruits.

Both women also are part of a class-action lawsuit against Kansas, saying it misrepresented the safety of its dorms. The full amended complaint in Tackett’s lawsuit can be read below or by clicking here.