Coach Barnett wrote a guest article for the Rocky Mountain News which appeared in today’s Opinion section. I think its very well written and does a good job of presenting the other side of most of these allegations. More to the point I think he certainly puts up some good points about the media sensationalizing so much of this and making him look bad. It’s a good read. The test is reprinted below.
Closer look will vindicate us
by Gary Barnett, March 25, 2004
If I had it to do over, I never would have said Katie Hnida was an awful kicker. It was an insensitive remark I wish I could take back. When a reporter asked about her ability, I should have better expressed my true feelings and said, “It didn’t make any difference what kind of kicker she was. We wanted her on our team, and we cared about her.”
Because we did. Only moments before, I had talked about how badly I wanted it to work with Katie. For about 15 minutes that day, I expressed dismay and concern about her allegation of rape, and I implored her to tell us who was responsible so we could pursue it. So I regret the 30 seconds near the end for several reasons. Not only did I say something inappropriate, but that moment has been manipulated to paint me as an ogre who runs a scandalous football program.
This hurts deeply because anyone who knows me knows that’s not who I am or what I’m about. For that sound bite, I have been judged and disciplined: The day after I said it, I was put on paid leave until April 30. And now, because of my status, I represent only myself in this forum and not the University of Colorado, the athletic department or football program.
A perception issue
For all the sensational accusations and innuendo swirling around our program, the reality is this is a perception issue. It’s a firestorm fueled by the oxygen and internal combustion of a media frenzy. To this date, there is not a shred of evidence that indicates a football program out of control or even that we’ve done anything wrong in administering it. We graduated 24 of our 26 seniors last year and have disciplined players 48 times in my five seasons. Are these earmarks of a lax program, a program in chaos?
Yet just as people now believe my response to Katie’s rape charge was to call her a terrible player, there are everywhere in this mess distortions of truth that have gone unchallenged and spread. For example, it’s been portrayed as fact that our program set up or condoned sex parties, hired escort services, sent players and recruits to strip clubs, and that we allowed rapists on our team.
The reality? One person has used the term sex parties and has not in any way substantiated the claim. A former recruiting assistant did use a university cell phone to call an escort service, but he admitted it was for his personal use and he is no longer with us.
As for the strip club, when players took recruits there they didn’t break the law (it was an 18-and-over establishment), they didn’t break either NCAA or University of Colorado rules. What they did was break my rules, so they were penalized.
Won’t tolerate rape
But the most repugnant of all the insinuations is that we would tolerate rape. Rape is a despicable crime and anyone convicted of it should be severely punished. But in the cases currently being tried in the media, there have been no convictions. In fact, there have been no arrests made and no charges brought. What remains are players either left unidentified or misidentified by those making the allegations.
Still pending is a civil suit regarding the events of Dec. 7, 2001, so I’m not at liberty to discuss it. But the details were documented in Sports Illustrated, and the district attorney, Mary Keenan, determined there was insufficient evidence to bring sexual assault charges. Despite Ms. Keenan’s decision, we took actions after that tawdry night. Although the charges were not brought, the behavior of those involved embarrassed our program. Some of my players have said they’ve never seen me angrier. I revoked four scholarships for a semester and initiated a 1 a.m. curfew for recruits. None of the recruits involved that night are at Colorado.
After that, we also began to have player-hosts promise in writing that they would not expose recruits to inappropriate behavior or alcohol. We never in any instance created, encouraged or set up in any way the use of alcohol, sex or drugs in the recruiting process or on campus. If there’s a player seeking those things on his recruiting trip, he’s not the kind of person we want in our program. It goes against our very nature as teachers and coaches, as well as my training as a counselor.
No intimidation
I’ve also been condemned for supposedly trying to intimidate the victim of a sexual assault that allegedly occurred in 2001 between a player and a university employee, who’s quoted in the police report as saying I would back the player “100 percent.” But there’s more to the story. It’s important first to point out that the employee didn’t report to me and her supervisor doesn’t report to me. But she requested a meeting with me after the alleged incident, and after she had spoken with police. Her supervisor also was there. In our meeting, she described the event and said she wanted the matter handled internally and discreetly. She said she did not want the player kicked off the team or punished. However, she wanted him told that what he had done was wrong.
I told her that whatever she wanted to do with the situation was what we were going to do. I also said if the player denied the allegation, if it became a she-said he-said deal, then to be fair I would have no other option than to support the player. Her supervisor said he would back her in that situation. I agreed. But I also emphasized that I would support her in a decision to take any appropriate action she believed to be in her best interests. Her supervisor guided her to a university counselor.
Then she spoke with the police again. In the very report in which the “100 percent” quote is used, it also said, “She was told that Coach Barnett would take care of this problem and make sure that \[the player\] got treatment. \[She\] expressed that she wanted to wait and see before filing charges to give the coach time to carry out her wishes.” These parts of the report immediately preceded and followed the “100 percent” quote, but almost nobody reported them. Instead, it became, “Barnett supports player 100 percent in rape case.”
But that’s not what happened. In absolutely no way did I attempt to intimidate her. The player had a different version of the story, but we carried out her wishes and sent him a very strong message. We did what she asked, and we maintained her privacy. Nobody knew about this until it circulated in February, just after Ms. Keenan’s unfounded statement that we were conducting sex parties.
The other rape case being discussed that took place during my tenure was based on a 2002 incident in which two of my players were suspects and had DNA samples taken. When this allegation also resurfaced in February, a number of media outlets reported “another allegation” against Colorado football players. But they failed to report that DNA testing already ruled out one player. The test results are still pending with regard to the other, and no charges have been brought. What if we hadn’t stood behind this poor kid? Let’s say this happened to your son; what do you want me to do as his football coach? I’m trying to be fair to them, just like I want to be fair to the person lodging the allegations.
Allegation upsetting
Maybe that’s why I became upset after Sports Illustrated’s Rick Reilly reported Katie’s accusation of being raped by an unnamed player in 2000. By not telling authorities a name, she essentially accused everyone that had been on our team. As the coach, I wanted to know how we could have missed such a thing, and how we could have not known about the groping and abuse she said she’d dealt with. When she was here, we had worked to create a positive environment for her. In fact, I punished the only player I knew had said rude things to her. Where had we gone wrong?
I called former kickers, Katie’s friends from the team and women around the program at that time, one of our counselors, everyone I thought might have known if we’d missed something that happened to her. There was no corroboration. No one yet has confirmed her stories. And I wasn’t calling those people to disprove it. I was calling them to prove it. I still want names from Katie. After I’d given the infamous answer about Katie’s abilities, I was immediately asked if that justified mistreatment. I said, “Absolutely not.” I also said, “No one should be treated that way.”
But no one seemed to hear any of that. I challenge anyone to hear the full press conference, available on the KUSA Web site, and still believe I trivialized the accusation.
Can’t live their lives for them
When Rick Reilly wrote the story about Katie’s accusations, he also wrote: “You show me a coach who maintains he is unaware of recruiting parties featuring paid strippers, of four alleged rapes, of sexual harassment claims by one of his players against other players, and I’ll show you a coach who is hell-bent on not knowing.” But I’m sure Rick knows it’s not always possible to have knowledge or control of everything that young people do. As a coach, I have a responsibility to educate our players about proper behavior and the way they live their lives. But I can’t live their lives for them. If they don’t behave appropriately, I have the clout and responsibility to hand out consequences. And I do. But should I not trust players at all?
I don’t know that I could trust my players any less and still be respected as their coach. At what point does their judgment take over? When do you let your son or daughter go out on their first date, or by themselves in a car? When do you let your son or daughter drive for the first time?
The perfect storm
As I look at all this, I think the perfect storm is the perfect analogy. In the perfect storm, a storm cell in and of itself isn’t disastrous. It’s when they all start feeding off each other’s energy that they together become a formula for disaster.
I don’t understand all the cells at play here. Some people think this is about politics, money or race. Maybe. Maybe it’s just too irresistible for the media to focus on sound bites and oversimplify complicated situations. Maybe people don’t understand the changing culture on college campuses. But because of all these forces I either don’t understand or can’t control, I embrace the investigation of our program. CU is committed to doing the right thing. I’m confident that closer examination will cast light on the truth, vindicate us and put everything in context.

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  3. Barnett to Appear on Larry King Live Tonight