BOULDER, Colo. — Calling it the right thing to do, the president of the University of Colorado reinstated suspended football coach Gary Barnett on Thursday and said no one will lose their jobs for one of the worst college athletics scandals in years.
"I do not believe that coaches and administrators at this university knowingly used sex, alcohol and drugs as recruiting tools," President Betsy Hoffman said at a crowded news conference. "It is clear that in a few isolated instances, recruits attended parties where they consumed alcohol and had sexual encounters. That is unacceptable, and we are taking steps to see that this kind of behavior does not occur again."
Hoffman and Richard Byyny, the chancellor of the flagship Boulder campus, also detailed a "sweeping" overhaul of the athletics department intended to boost oversight, clamp down on its autonomy and place a new emphasis on academic achievement.
Barnett and athletics director Richard Tharp will remain in place to help implement the changes.
The announcement had been eagerly anticipated, in part to see whether anyone would take the fall for a scandal that has helped prompt an NCAA task force and congressional hearings on recruiting.
Nine women since 1997 have accused Colorado football players or recruits of sexual assault, though local prosecutors and the attorney general decided against filing charges. Three of the women have sued Colorado in federal court, saying the school fostered a hostile environment that contributed to their assaults.
The lawsuits are still pending and so is a grand jury investigation believed to be looking into whether university funds were used to hire call girls.