University of Minnesota football players have been accused of sexual assault, sexual harassment and retaliation in the past academic year, but the allegations didn't result in criminal charges, a university administrator said Thursday.
Kimberly Hewitt, the school's director of equal opportunity and affirmative action, said in a July 16 e-mail to then-athletic director Norwood Teague that her office had concerns regarding complaints about football players, including two reports of sexual assault "committed by individual players," two reports of sexual harassment involving "groups of football players" and a report of retaliation of involving "a group of football players."
The e-mail was obtained Wednesday through a records request by the Star Tribune. In an interview Thursday, Hewitt said the concerns were raised over the course of the 2014-15 academic year. She refused to be more specific, saying that doing so could compromise student privacy. She declined to say how many players were involved, the number of alleged victims, where the alleged incidents occurred or to provide any other details. No police reports were filed, a university spokesman said.
The U's general counsel refused Thursday to provide the numbers of complaints of sexual harassment and sexual assault reported since Sept. 1, 2014, involving allegations against football players, as well as the numbers of alleged victims. The general counsel's office said that because fewer than five reports of sexual assault and fewer than five reports of harassment were received in that time frame, the data could lead to the identification of individuals and the violation of their privacy rights.
Head football coach Jerry Kill said Thursday that he was aware of one allegation involving a current player that was referred to administrators and to police.
"I've taken care of the report that we received on a young man. We turned it into the administration and it was handled by the administration," he said.
Asked if concerns about the football team remain, Hewitt said, "I would say yes."
Teague himself resigned in August for sexually harassing two female colleagues at a leadership retreat July 15 — the day before Hewitt sent her memo.