ST. LOUIS (AP) - A former University of Missouri swimmer’s allegations that she had been sexually assaulted by several football players as a freshman before later committing suicide will come up at a curators’ meeting this week, two members of the board said Monday.
University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe has called for an external legal review into Sasha Menu Courey’s death in June 2011, and curators David Bradley and Wayne Goode told The Associated Press the board will review that request.
The Board of Curators’ regularly scheduled meeting begins Wednesday in Columbia and concludes Friday.
Menu Courey’s family has accused the university of failing to properly investigate the alleged attack, which the swimmer said happened off campus in February 2010. The allegations have gained attention since ESPN published a story about the swimmer.
The school says neither Menu Courey, nor her parents, who live in suburban Toronto, sought a police investigation and didn’t respond to a later request for more information.
But on Saturday - after the story was posted online but a day before ESPN broadcast it on TV - the school said it was turning over information about the off-campus incident to Columbia police, citing newly available details including “names of individuals who might have relevant information.”
Columbia police confirmed Monday that they hadn’t opened their own investigation.
On Sunday, Wolfe had said he would seek an outside review of the university’s handling of the case.
Bradley said Monday that he’s “open to listening” to Wolfe’s request but deferred further comment. Goode, an ex-state lawmaker and the group’s former chairman, was more expansive in his response and suggested he’s likely to approve an outside investigation.
“The university needs to take this situation very seriously,” he said. “We need to see if there’s something we haven’t been able to find that could be brought to the surface.”
The family released a written statement Monday supporting a new look at the case. Sasha Menu Courey was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder after the alleged assault.
“It is not until universities are willing to take responsibility for the seriousness of these issues that young people will be safe on campuses and families can rest easy knowing that others will not have to go through the horror that (we) and Sasha went through,” the statement reads. “The system failed Sasha in many ways.”
The Associated Press normally doesn’t name victims of sexual assault, but Menu Courey’s parents have publicly discussed the case at length. The AP is not naming an alleged assailant who told ESPN he had consensual sex with Menu Courey because no criminal charges have been filed.
Another former football player, Rolandis Woodland, said she had told him about the attack. Woodland told ESPN he had also seen a tape of the alleged incident but that it has since gone missing.
Among those closely watching the university’s response is U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri graduate and former prosecutor.
“We must create a safe space for all women to report sexual assault to law enforcement - and no matter who the alleged perpetrator is, there must be a thorough and professional investigation,” she said. “There are real questions about why none of that happened in this case, and it’s important the university figure out why and what must be done to fix it.”
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