Report Faults LSU’s Title IX Practices

Louisiana State University was aware that athletics department officials failed to properly report allegations of sexual misconduct by athletes and kept the accounts of students alleging assault and dating violence “in house,” according to USA Today, which obtained a report on a 2018 Title IX investigation into athletics staff members’ reporting practices.

The newspaper reported that a university investigator was assigned to investigate a staff member’s violation of Title IX, the law that prohibits sex discrimination at federally funded institutions, and the investigator wrote the report in November 2018. The investigation found that an athletics staff member had improperly told students to report their sexual misconduct allegations to Miriam Segar, a senior associate athletic director, rather than to the university’s Title IX office, as required by university policy.

Reporting allegations to Segar was a widespread practice in the department and prevented students’ complaints from being investigated by the Title IX office, which could have also provided support to the students who said they were harassed or assaulted, USA Today reported. Despite receiving the investigator’s report two years ago and other prior red flags, the university did not take steps to correct the mishandling of complaints within the athletics department, the newspaper reported.

The university is currently undergoing a $100,000 review of its Title IX process by Husch Blackwell, a law firm that specializes in college compliance with the law, USA Today reported. Interim president Thomas Galligan has said a report from the law firm is expected by February.