UT fights to keep athletes’ sexual misconduct records private

AUSTINI – The Austin American-Statesman reports that five years after the American-Statesman sued the University of Texas for records on students who were disciplined for violence and sexual misconduct, and two years after an appellate court ordered the records released, the school is taking its fight to withhold the information to the state Supreme Court. Set for a hearing Oct. 1, the case may decide whether public universities in Texas can protect the names of students found responsible for such offenses through campus disciplinary proceedings — and could have broader ramifications for public information access in the state, experts say. The Statesman requested the records from UT and UT-El Paso in 2019 as part of a USA Today investigation into college athletes who were able to continue playing Division I sports after being found responsible for violent, criminal or sexual misconduct.

While fewer than 40 of the 226 U.S. schools contacted by USA Today produced disciplinary records, the investigation revealed that at least 33 student-athletes had been able to transfer schools and walk onto the field sometimes just months after being charged with crimes or being found responsible for violating school policies on violence and sexual harassment or assault. The newspaper asked the schools for three pieces of information as authorized for release by the federal Family Education Records and Privacy Act, or FERPA: the name of each student found responsible for a violent offense or sexual misconduct, the violation committed and any punishment imposed. While FERPA makes most aspects of student records confidential, Congress amended the law in 1998 to allow federally funded universities to disclose those records. “If students do not know about violent offenders in their college community, how will they know how to protect themselves?” U.S. Rep. Bill Goodling, R-Pennsylvania, said during floor debate on the provision.