Jerry Bovee, interim athletic director in 2023, was one of three Utah State University officials fired last week.
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Jerry Bovee, interim athletic director in 2023, was one of three Utah State University officials fired last week.
The University also suspended Blake Anderson, head football coach, and Austin Albrecht, football director of player development and community. In a statement from the administration, they said Bovee along with Albrecht were both fired for not complying with Title IX policies in a spring 2023 incident.
The alleged incident involved a Utah State football player’s misconduct with a woman in April 2023. According to Bovee, the player transferred to another school shortly after the incident. No charges were ever filed in the case.
In a conversation with The Salt Lake Tribune, Bovee said he’s, “gone to great lengths to educate personnel and players at Utah State regarding issues of sexual misconduct, how to report it, how to eradicate it, how to – due to past history – how to make Utah State a ‘safe school.’"
Bovee and his attorney recently released a statement on the matter in which he said, “With decades of athletic leadership under his belt, Bovee is a firm supporter and defender of Title IX civil rights law. In his tenured career, he has never incurred disciplinary action or accusations of misconduct of any kind. He understands he was terminated based on an inconclusive and untimely review of an incident that took place more than a year ago in April of 2023, while he was interim athletic director. Contrary to what has been represented, Bovee and two other USU employees did in fact report the incident to the USU Office of Equity. Even so, the external review did not commence until the fall of 2023. And not until July 2, 2024, some eight months later, was Bovee summarily terminated, without an opportunity to respond to the results of the review.”
Utah State University has declined to comment until further notice.
The recent incidents and release of staff, come just a few years after Utah State University faced a federal investigation by the Department of Justice over it’s mishandling of sexual assault cases on campus.
A report by the Department of Justice revealed that the university received 240 reports of sexual harassment, but processed less than 25. More than 15 of the reports specifically involved USU football players and two reports involved USU football program staff. There were also a number of mishandled reports from the Greek system and music department, including one student’s explanation that they, “did not know where to report discrimination during their time at USU.”
Given this history of mishandled reports and dropped balls, Bovee will face an uphill battle in appealing the administration's decision on his termination. University officials have increased responsiveness to reports of sexual misconduct, and it shows. USU’s most recent survey regarding sexual misconduct resulted in 98% of students saying they feel safe on campus.
Still, Bovee and his attorney are prepared for that uphill battle. They went on to say in a statement, “He fully intends to file a grievance pursuant to USU policy within 30 days of termination. Bovee has no ill will against USU, an institution that he loves. He trusts the University will consider in good faith all the circumstances specific to actions taken by Bovee in considering his grievance and will also refrain from further comment while his grievance is pending.”
