Tennessee Facing Federal Sexual Violence Investigation: Latest Details, Reaction

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights is investigating allegations of sexual violence regarding football players at the University of Tennessee.

“While privacy laws prevent the university from disclosing the details of the complaint, I can assure you we will cooperate fully with OCR as it investigates the complaint,” chancellor Jimmy Cheek said in an email, per Anita Wadhwani of the Tennessean.

Tennessee joins Florida State and Vanderbilt among major universities at the center of government probes. With sexual violence long a problem on college campuses, increased social pressure and media coverage have spurred efforts into investigating these claims.

No fewer than six Tennessee players on the 2014 roster—Michael Williams, A.J. Johnson, Von Pearson, Riyahd Jones, Marlin Lane and another unnamed player—have been accused of sexual assault. Williams and Johnson were both allegedly involved in the November sexual assault of another student athlete; Williams has been indicted on charges while Johnson was named a suspect, per Wadhwani.

Jones, Lane and Pearson were all named as suspects in separate attacks. None of the cases has been prosecuted, nor have arrests been made.

Tennessee last August implemented a new sexual assault policy on an interim basis that will be finalized in time for the fall semester. If found guilty of Title IX violations, Tennessee could risk losing some—or even all—of its federal funding, per WSMV.com.     

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