NEWS

How a University of Tennessee insider turned on a program she once loved

Anita Wadhwani
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee
Jenny Wright stands in her neighborhood in Knoxville on Friday. Wright is a former Tennessee official who is taking on her once beloved university.

If there was ever a fan born with Big Orange flowing in her veins, it was Jenny Wright.

Born to parents who met as college sweethearts at the University of Tennessee — season ticket holders who brought their daughter to her first football game at age 4 — Wright’s path seemed clear.

She joined a sorority and went on to earn three degrees at UT. After law school, Wright went to work for UT in the office that decided what would happen to students who got in trouble. It was where she might have spent her entire career — if things hadn't worked out the way they did.

Wright, 35, is now squarely on the opposing side of an institution she once held dear — a supporting player in a sweeping lawsuit making searing allegations against UT over its handling of sexual assaults by male athletes.

The lawsuit brought by eight former female students alleges that the university administration and athletics department officials systematically enabled student-athletes to escape punishment when accused of sexual assault. It claims that women who brought allegations were retaliated against. It claims officials with the athletic department tried to influence discipline of student athletes accused of sexual assault. And it claims that women felt compelled to leave the university because of a one-sided campus disciplinary process.

Wright is in a good position to know about the disciplinary process. She used to be in charge of it. She is now helping attorneys for the eight women.

UT has not yet filed a formal legal response to the lawsuit filed Feb. 9, but its attorney, Bill Ramsey, has strongly disputed the allegations. And on Thursday, Athletics Director Dave Hart said athletes are "absolutely not treated any differently" from other students facing campus discipline.

"Any assertion that we do not take sexual assault seriously enough is simply not true," Ramsey said. "To claim that we have allowed a culture to exist contrary to our institutional commitment to providing a safe environment for our students or that we do not support those who report sexual assault is just false."

'...by the end, I was just scared'

Wright, the former director of Student Judicial Affairs, says that over the course of two years — between 2011 and 2013 — she felt pressure, intimidation and finally fear in her dealings with members of the athletic department, including its then-newly hired director — Hart — as she tried to do her job when it came to disciplining student athletes.

"I always knew that everything I did was being heavily watched and I had a  lot of eyes on me, but that was just part of the job," Wright said last week. "But by the end, I was just scared."

Fans mingle outside Neyland Stadium before the University of Tennessee plays Georgia in this file image from Saturday Oct. 10, 2015, in Knoxville.

Wright's job was to review and investigate allegations of misconduct against all students, including athletes, for a wide variety of offenses that violated UT's student codes of conduct. Those included infractions such as cheating, underage drinking, drug use and sexual assault.  Wright conducted investigations, interviewed witnesses, made recommendations for penalties and oversaw a campus probationary process, which required students to meet regularly with her.

Dozens of football players went through the student discipline process during that time, she said.

Attending one 2011 football game, Wright recalls: “I counted 25 players who had been in my office.”

In the spring of 2011, Wright received a report that a female student had been sexually assaulted by a football player. She interviewed the player and witnesses, including members of the football team who had been in the same apartment where the alleged assault took place.

Sweeping sex assault suit filed against University of Tennessee

Timeline: Sexual assault incidents at University of Tennessee

What struck her as strange was the stories of players told were exactly the same, as if they had memorized a script.

"It got to the point where it was humorous," she said. "By the third interview, I was in disbelief. It's not uncommon for individuals to get together and make sure their stories are straight, but the level of details —  that they were using the exact same words, word for word —  made it seem so well orchestrated and remarkable."

When Wright interviewed the woman's roommates, they told Wright that members of the athletic department had already asked them questions. The woman decided not to go through the process any further, telling Wright she felt intimidated and that the process was dragging out too long.

"We found out after the fact that the athletic department did their own investigation," she said. "They interviewed the woman’s roommates. It's one thing to talk to their own guys and say, 'what happened?', but to reach out to people not from their team and do interviews, that’s just not OK."

A confrontation, then pressures

Wright began to earn the wrath of the athletics department as she pursued other complaints against athletes, particularly football players, even over minor offenses, she said.

"They felt like I was being overly punitive," Wright said.

On one occasion in 2012, Hart confronted Wright in a hallway before a female athletics luncheon, she said.

Students walk past Volunteer Hall on the University of Tennessee campus.

Hart told her that he did not agree with penalties she had given football players, Wright said. He questioned whether she was harsher on athletes than traditional students and criticized her specifically over the punishment she had given to a football player who had initially been involved in a minor incident, but who then gave false information to Wright. Wright said she denied treating athletes differently than other students.

"During our discussion, Mr. Hart stood in front of me, leaned his face toward mine, raised his voice as he spoke and became visibly angry," Wright said. "It was intimidating."

Hart has previously called it "patently and unequivocally false that he engaged in a shouting match with Jenny Wright."

Tim Rogers, the former vice chancellor of student affairs and Wright's former boss, witnessed the incident. It was one of many concerns about undue influence by the athletics department on student discipline outlined in a memo he took in person to University of Tennessee president Joe DiPietro and UT Chancellor Jimmy Cheek a year later.

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Rogers' memo noted his “earliest recollections” of such influence was “Dave Hart shouting” at Wright. He cited the “constant criticism of disciplinary penalties assigned to athletes.”

Rogers requested that “specific measures to curtail inappropriate influence and/or criticism by the Athletics Department, Chancellor and/or other senior level university staff should be adopted,” according to the memo obtained by The Tennessean. Such influence, he warned, placed students "in peril."

Rogers declined to comment for this story, beyond an emailed statement that said:  "I stand by the concerns I expressed at the time I left the University. The story should remain with and be told by the women who filed the complaints."

On other occasions, Wright said, a former football administrator would call her to criticize her discipline of student athletes. The calls, Wright said, grew more and more threatening.

“When you have someone calling you and saying ‘you can’t hide from us' and telling me 'I can have your boss fired in an instant,' it’s really scary,” Wright said. “I was afraid. I thought they would do something to try and get rid of me.”

In September 2012, Wright went to the university's Office of Equity and Diversity to say she was afraid that the athletic department was going to try and get rid of her. Wright ultimately decided not to file a formal complaint because, she said, "I thought they would do anything to get rid of me, and I was fearful the (complaint) process, which is designed to protect victims, would lead to retaliation against me if I went through with it."

A 'hold up' on investigation

In April 2013, Wright reviewed a University of Tennessee Police Department report about an alleged sexual assault by football player Marlin Lane. Lane was accused of assaulting an 18-year-old high school student shortly after she had consensual sex with this roommate, football player Gerardo Orta, according to the police report. The woman told university police she did not wish to pursue the case. Lane was not charged.

Wright was told by Rogers to "hold up" the investigation.

Wright eventually did lose her job. As pressure continued from the athletics department, a student-athlete going through the disciplinary process in 2013 alleged Wright had an inappropriate relationship with him. The allegation received widespread media coverage.

Wright was fired for insubordination after she declined to participate in a campus investigation that would, she feared, harm her and her reputation further.

An investigation conducted by an outside legal consultant hired by the university later cleared Wright, but by then the damage had been done. The investigation took more than a year to be made public.

By then, Wright said, she had lost almost everything: her career was over and her reputation damaged. Co-workers stopped speaking to her.

The investigation included interviews with Wright's former colleagues, who reported that even before the student's allegations were made against Wright, she had confided that she had received messages from a football administrator saying "they could take her down" and "they could make her pay." The report redacts the name of the administrator, but notes he denied threatening Wright.

This file image shows fans creating a checkerboard in Neyland Stadium for the Tennessee vs Oklahoma game on Sept. 12, 2015, in Knoxville.

The student who brought the allegation forward refused to cooperate with the investigation. The student's name is redacted from the investigative report. The student's attorney, Knoxville lawyer Don Bosch, is singled out in the lawsuit for repeatedly representing UT athletes accused of misconduct. Bosch, who was on the UT Athletics Board, has not responded to requests for an interview.

COMPLETE COVERAGE: University of Tennessee sex assault lawsuit

Rogers, a 38-year veteran of the university, retired within weeks of Wright's departure, citing an "intolerable situation" in his resignation letter.

Wright is not a party to the lawsuit, or to any potential settlement or monetary judgment that may result, but she is speaking to lawyers for the eight women about her experience, The lawsuit also details Rogers' memo. Together, Rogers and Wright could prove to be key witnesses if the case goes to trial. One of the lawsuit's allegations is that university officials were warned about the "undue influence" by the athletics department on student discipline, particularly for football players accused of sexual assault.

"UT consciously disregarded the general and specific warnings raised by Jenny Wright and Tim Rogers," the lawsuit said.

Now working as a project manager for a Knoxville company, Wright says her 180-degree life change has ultimately brought her happiness, with the support of friends and family.

Wright is the third generation in her family to hold season tickets. For years, she almost never missed a home game. But in losing her job, she also lost the heart to go to games.

“Knowing some of the things I know about what players have done who are still on the field, I can’t go,” she said. "Once I don’t know anyone on the roster and it will be all new to me, I won’t have personal feelings about the program. Once the slate has been wiped clean, I hope I can enjoy it again.”

Reach Anita Wadhwani at 615-259-8092 or on Twitter@AnitaWadhwani.