{"id":109615,"date":"2021-03-15T18:34:08","date_gmt":"2021-03-15T18:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=109615"},"modified":"2021-03-15T18:34:08","modified_gmt":"2021-03-15T18:34:08","slug":"oregon-state-president-could-face-discipline-over-sexual-misconduct-failures-at-lsu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/business\/oregon-state-president-could-face-discipline-over-sexual-misconduct-failures-at-lsu\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregon State president could face discipline over sexual misconduct failures at LSU"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fallout from Louisiana State University\u2019s mishandling of sexual misconduct complaints has extended to Oregon State, where the board of trustees will meet Wednesday to discuss president F. King Alexander\u2019s role in the failings, and decide whether he should be disciplined or even fired.<\/p>\n

Alexander was president at LSU until last July.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also understand the profound impact this is having on all members of the university community, and on Oregon State University as an institution,\u201d board chair Rani Borkar wrote in a Monday letter to the Oregon State community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI assure you that trustees read each message, and we hear your concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexander has come under increasingly heavy criticism since the March 5 release of the Husch Blackwell report, which detailed LSU\u2019s \u201cserious institutional failure\u201d when it came to handling cases of physical and gender violence. Husch Blackwell is the outside law firm LSU hired in November to review its handling of Title IX cases after USA TODAY chronicled systemic failures.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

LSU president F. King Alexander, right, and Scott Woodward hoist the 'WIN!' bar after Woodward was introduced as athletics director in 2019. (Photo: The Associated Press)<\/span><\/p>\n

Among Husch Blackwell\u2019s revelations was that then-athletic director Joe Alleva urged Alexander to fire head football coach Les Miles in 2013 after another internal investigation found Miles had behaved inappropriately with female student workers, and that LSU had intentionally hired an outside law firm to do the investigation so the report wouldn\u2019t be made public.<\/p>\n

Miles was not fired until 2016, after LSU started the season 2-2. The 2013 investigation did not come to light until last month, after USA TODAY sued for a copy of the report.<\/p>\n

Alexander last week apologized for his role, saying he now sees LSU should have acted sooner.<\/p>\n

“The results of the initial inquiry into coach Miles were inconsistent with my and LSU’s community values and should have been acted on further,”\u00a0Alexander wrote. “In hindsight, beyond limitations that were put into place between the coach and students, I now regret that we did not take stronger action earlier against coach Miles, including suspension leading to further investigation and dismissal for violations of university policy.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kansas, which hired Miles as head coach in 2018, parted ways with him and athletic director Jeff Long last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Kansas parted ways with head football coach Les Miles when misconduct allegations from his days at Louisiana State University became public following a USA TODAY investigation. The allegations involved behavior toward female student employees that LSU investigators deemed inappropriate. (Photo: Denny Medley, USA TODAY Sports)<\/span><\/p>\n

Borkar said Oregon State’s board will spend the next two days reviewing the Husch Blackwell report as well as additional information it has received from \u201cOSU community members, stakeholders and the public.\u201d The board will then hold a 4\u00bd-hour public meeting Wednesday, followed by an executive session \u201cto consider the dismissal or disciplining of, or to hear complaints or charges brought against\u201d King, according to a release from Oregon State.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The board will then return to open session \u201cfor discussion and consideration of next steps and may consider and take potential action,\u201d the Oregon State release said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI know many of you have questions about the possible outcome of Wednesday\u2019s meeting,\u201d Borkar wrote in her statement. \u201cI assure you that we are committed to a thoughtful process and discussion to inform our thinking and potential action.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE ON THE INVESTIGATION AT LSU<\/strong><\/p>\n