A woman who accused two Florida Gators football players of sexual assault has decided to boycott a Title IX hearing involving one of the players because Florida appointed a Gators football booster to adjudicate the proceedings. In December, the woman reported to Florida's student conduct and conflict resolution office that both Treon Harris and Antonio Callaway sexually assaulted her. In July, Harris announced that he was leaving Florida and according to ESPN, the decision was part of a plea deal related to the Title IX case. He also reportedly apologized to the woman. Callaway, on the other hand, has maintained his innocence and that case will proceed, however without the woman, her parents, and five witnesses on her behalf.John Clune, the same attorney who represented Erica Kinsman against former Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston in another farcical Title IX hearing, is also representing this woman and announced that she will not attend the hearing as long as Jake Schickel, a Florida Law alum and Jacksonville attorney remains involved.A former track and field athlete at Florida, Schickel is a Scholarship Club donor to Florida Football Boosters, which requires annual contributions of $4,800 to $8,599, according to a 2014-15 Year In Review program published by the UF athletics department. According to the documents, Schickel is also a 3-Point Club donor to Florida basketball, which requires annual contributions of $2,000 to $4,999.In a 2011 letter from the U.S. Department of Education concerning Title IX hearings, it was made clear that "a school's investigation and hearing process cannot be equitable unless they are impartial." At the very least, any potential conflicts of interests are required to be disclosed to all the parties, but common sense says conflicts should be avoided whenever possible. According to Clune, not only did Florida appoint an individual with financial ties to the program involved—surely he is not the only attorney near Gainesville—but they did not even alert him about it. He and his office discovered it for themselves when they looked into Schickel.Clune had previously written to Florida's Deputy general counsel to object to Schickel's involvement, offering various alternatives, but he said those "efforts have all fallen on deaf ears and UF seems even more determined to move forward with their selection." So, today, he wrote again, this time advising that his client would not be participating."This has been a difficult decision but as I previously indicated to you, the fact that UF has hired a football booster to adjudicate a sexual assault allegation against one of the team's own football players is a fundamentally skewed process in which [the complainant] refuses to participate," Clune wrote in letter sent Friday morning to UF deputy general counsel Amy Hass. "To be clear, [the complainant] remains very willing to participate in a fair and unbiased disciplinary process. Mr. Calloway's [sic] behavior has had a great impact on her life and continuing as a student at UF is of great importance to her and her future."Clune makes clear he is not impeaching the character of Schickel—he is impeccably credentialed—but points out that Florida has needlessly put him in a position where there is a clear and obvious perception (at least) of bias.It is dumbfounding at this point in time—after Winston, and Baylor, and the myriad other sexual assault cases involving athletes on college campuses—that an institution of higher education would be this stupid and shortsighted. This is such an easily-avoided controversy; just appoint an unbiased person to oversee the proceeding. Short of that, definitely don't appoint a person, no matter how qualified, who has literally donated thousands of dollars to the team that will be affected by his decision.[ESPN]
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