The Maryland Board of Public Works is set to vote April 3 on a proposed $4.1 million settlement with two groups of individuals who were abused by former University of Maryland, Baltimore County swimming and diving coach Chad Cradock.
As reported by William J. Ford of Maryland Matters, the settlement request comes from UMBC and the Office of the Attorney General after a U.S. Department of Justice Title IX investigation revealed March 18 that Cradock sexually and verbally abused members of the team for five years.
Related: DOJ: UMBC Knew of Swim Coach's Discrimination, Harassment but Failed to Respond
“If this settlement is approved, the Department of Justice will inform the individuals of the availability of the specific settlement payments to settle all claims against the University arising out of or related to sex discrimination at the University,” according to the April 3 board agenda, as reported by Ford
In a statement provided to Maryland Matters on Friday evening, Kacey Hammel, chief of staff to UMBC president Valerie Sheares Ashby, said, “UMBC has cooperated with the DOJ every step of the way and is committed to meeting the terms of the agreement, including the financial relief for individuals. Subject to BPW approval, the payment of funds under the agreement will have no impact on student services, activities, or programs, nor on any aspect of the academic enterprise.”
The DOJ investigation alleges Cradock began to sexually abuse students on the men’s team starting in 2015. The following year, members of the women’s team were harassed, stalked and subjected to “dating violence” by their male teammates. Cradock, who was once a scholarship swimmer at UMBC, served as head coach at the school from 2001 to 2020. He died of unknown causes March 7, 2021, three days shy of his 47th birthday.
In the DOJ letter addressed to Sheares Ashby, who began her tenure in August 2022, department officials said they conducted 70 interviews with former and current students, school administrators, staff with the athletic department and others, Ford reported.
The investigation that began in November 2020 focused on the school not complying with Title IX obligations “in its response to known allegations of sex discrimination in its athletics department.”
Unrelated to the DOJ investigation, UMBC’s Graduate Student Association will host a Title IX forum mere hours after the BPW meeting.
“This event serves as an introduction of the Office of Equity and Civil Rights (ECR) to the student body. They oversee the office of Title IX,” according to a forum description. “This is a space where individuals are able to advocate for themselves or others for reform to our school’s Title IX policies and services individuals need related to issues like this.”
“While this is a painful moment for the greater UMBC family, I cannot imagine how greater the pain must be for the students who were victimized,” said state senator Charles Sydnor, whose district incudes the UMBC campus and whose daughter attends the school, Ford reported, adding that Sydnor received a Masters of Public Studies degree at the university in 2000.
“The United States Department of Justice’s Title IX findings were difficult to read and the University’s failure to properly respond to the harms suffered by our students are inexcusable,” Syndor said in a statement Friday evening, as reported by Ford. “The students that were harmed deserved better than what they got. President Sheares Ashby committed to ensuring that failures like this ‘never happen again’ and that those who failed would be held to account. I take President Sheares Ashby at her word. I stand ready to support the students, President Sheares Ashby, and UMBC family.”
