Vandy rape case records can expose culture

On Thursday, the state Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in The Tennessean's dispute with Metro Nashville to get public records that were collected as part of the rape case at Vanderbilt University involving four former football players.

Metro police routinely release documents and records similar to those sought by The Tennessean, but in this case, the city has said the public has no right to know what happened.

The horrific assault occurred in a dorm room when the young woman was unconscious. There is surveillance video of her being carried into the dorm room, and the men involved took cellphone photos during the attack. The Tennessean, and a coalition of media partners, are not seeking access to those images. We have said that repeatedly throughout this dispute. We do not want to invade the privacy of the victim or publish photos of her.

However, it is critical that Tennessee communities understand how the culture fostered on a college campus contributes to that violence. In Knoxville, for example, five current or former University of Tennessee football and basketball players may have been the subject of campus discipline for alleged sexual assaults since 2011.

The Tennessean and the media coalition are seeking, among other documents, more than 400,000 text messages, including those between coaches and their football players after the rape.

According to filings in the criminal trial, we know former head football coach James Franklin and former director of performance enhancement Dwight Galt — both now at Penn State University — contacted the victim by cellphone during a medical examination four days after the rape. Why would those coaches have her cellphone number?

Based on court documents, the victim told police that Franklin had called her months before the incident for a private meeting, saying he wanted her to get "15 pretty girls" together to form a team to assist with recruiting — something he told her all colleges did, according to court filings.

The relationship between female students and male athletes has been at the forefront of coverage by our reporter Anita Wadhwani. The longtime practice by some football programs, particularly in the SEC, to enlist students to serve as hostesses in recruiting players has come under scrutiny in recent years.

It is illustrative of what some say is a culture of permissiveness fostered by coaches to entice young men to their football programs.

Few people on a college campus have authority over the life of a student-athlete other than the coaches at our high-profile universities; their words and deeds define acceptable behavior for the student-athletes in their programs.

In May 2012, Franklin made comments during a radio interview about the need for his assistant coaches to have attractive wives.

"I've been saying it for a long time, I will not hire an assistant coach until I've seen his wife," Franklin said in the radio interview. "If she looks the part, and she's a D-1 recruit, then you got a chance to get hired. That's part of the deal."

The comments went viral, and at the time, Vanderbilt Vice Chancellor of Athletics David Williams said he addressed Franklin about how "inappropriate" the message was.

The coaches' wives comment could have been a one-time mistake, but in hindsight, it raises the question of the former head coach's attitude toward women.

How much of that attitude was prevalent when he talked to his players?

Did it set a tone for his players about women?

Vanderbilt dealt swiftly with the players accused of the sexual assault. The administration asked Metro police to get involved in the investigation. The players were suspended from the team and then dismissed from the school. Two of the four were convicted on rape charges earlier this year. Two still await trial.

The evidence in the case was damning. The victim was courageous, shown by her presence in the courtroom each day of the trial.

We know from our ongoing reporting that the majority of campus assaults investigated do not have the graphic evidence and a victim strong enough to face the court and her attackers.

At the University of Tennessee, a star running back was suspended in April 2013 from the team. There was no explanation from the university on why, but as Wadhwani reported, it came four days after an 18-year-old high school student accused the player of sexual assault. Knox County Assistant District Attorney Leslie Nassios declined to prosecute the player after the woman said she did not want to press charges. The case has since been closed. When the player was reinstated, coach Butch Jones called him a "success story."

Jones' words have been tempered in subsequent news conferences as allegations against other UT players mount.

The swift action by Vanderbilt is not always mirrored by other universities. Investigations by UT and other colleges into assault accusations have languished for months, and in some cases with no resolution or disciplinary action taken, the accused players transfer to other colleges.

That begs the question: Does the behavior that would be considered unacceptable and, at times, criminal by ordinary citizens simply move to another campus?

One former vice chancellor at UT alleged the athletics department inappropriately pressured officials in charge of campus discipline and exerted undue influence that placed students and institutional integrity in "peril" because misbehavior by athletes was not dealt with.

That type of influence, where athletes accused of crimes or inappropriate behavior are treated differently than other students or residents in a community, can foster prevailing attitudes of what is acceptable not only on campus but in society.

Just look at the National Football League. The epidemic of violence against women by NFL football players is finally being dealt with. But for years, as Stanley H. Teitelbaum noted in his piece for the Huffington Post, the violence was "sometimes condoned within their culture as simple lapses of misbehavior."

How do we prevent that?

Locally, our YWCA has launched an initiative to reduce violence against women. The Y is working with a national group and its co-founder Tony Porter to host workshops and training for sports organizations, schools and colleges. There are initiatives at some universities, like the Green Dot program at Vanderbilt, to raise awareness among athletes and other students about violence against women.

The Tennessean wants to raise awareness by shining a spotlight on the culture and standards set by coaches for their athletes to mirror at campuses throughout our state. That's why we're pursuing these public records.

Maria de Varenne is The Tennessean's news director. Email her at mdevarenne@tennessean.com, call her at 615-259-8003 or tweet to her at @mariadevarenne.

The coalition

A coalition of media organizations has joined The Tennessean in its lawsuit to get public records. They are: The Associated Press, Chattanooga Times Free Press, Knoxville News Sentinel, Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, Tennessee Associated Press Broadcasters, WZTV Fox 17, WBIR-TV Channel 10 in Knoxville, WTVF Channel 5 and WSMV Channel 4. Several national journalism groups have added their support as well.