NEW YORK — A leading advocate for victims' rights said Tuesday that major colleges are more concerned with protecting the reputations of their athletic programs than in investigating cases of alleged rape and other violent acts by players.
"We are growing weary of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's reluctance to establish any sort of policy against athlete violence," said Kathy Redmond, founder of the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes.
She urged Congress to investigate the NCAA's finances and called on the governing body to establish a national policy on violence by athletes. She added that her Littleton, Colo., group has created a lobbying wing to pressure lawmakers into following its recommendations.
"We want the NCAA to adopt athlete-violence policies," she said. "Right now, they're not even touching it; they refuse to touch it."
NCAA spokesman Bob Williams insists his group does not have a lax attitude.
"If an athlete commits a violent act, they should be prosecuted just like any other citizen," Williams said. "This is a law-enforcement issue and should be handled by law enforcement."
He added there are 360,000 athletes who compete in NCAA sports, and "the vast majority do so in a manner keeping with acceptable behavior in society."
Redmond founded her organization in the late 1990s after saying she had been raped by a lineman while attending Nebraska. Although the player was never charged, she received a $50,000 settlement in 1997 from the university in her lawsuit.
Redmond was joined at a news conference by several women who shared their stories of violent encounters with athletes. They contended the athletes were protected by both the college administration and law-enforcement authorities, who were more interested in caring for the athletes than their victims.
One woman, Julia Meyers, said her sister and brother were attacked by a football player in the parking lot of a bar after the player made a lewd comment at the woman. She said that when she tried to pursue the matter, a university official warned her against taking action, saying "football players are celebrities."