The first full week following revelations Friday that Louisiana State University buried an eight-year-old report indicating that then head football coach Les Miles behaved inappropriately around female students has gotten off to an eventful start.
On Monday, some 50 LSU students staged a sit-in, blocking all entrances and exits to the LSU Football Operations Center from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. and even preventing student-athletes from leaving the parking lot.
As reported by the Reveille student newspaper, Angelina Cantelli, co-president of Tigers Against Sexual Assault, said the organization chose the Operations Center as opposed to the administrative athletics building because it symbolized the privilege of LSU athletes who they believe are often treated differently in sexual assault cases. A separate investigative report made public last week examined LSU's handling of all sexual misconduct complaints, not just those naming Miles.
“We chose this building because it is a symbol of athletes privileges on campus,” Cantelli said. “No one else gets a building like this. This serves as a picture of the ways that athletes have been treated differently when it comes to sexual assault. Furthermore, this is where Coach O [current LSU coach Ed Orgeron] works and he hasn’t commented on the matter at all. We want the people in this office to care about this issue.”
Related: LSU Report on Les Miles Leaves Widespread Wake
Two other campuses have been embroiled in the ongoing controversy.
Oregon State University president F. King Alexander, who arrived at LSU in 2013 and then watched Miles coach for another three-plus seasons despite the existence of the initial investigative report, issued a statement Monday evening.
“This review includes matters that took place while I served as LSU’s president, and I am deeply saddened by the experiences of survivors of sexual misconduct detailed in this review,” Alexander wrote in a message sent to the OSU campus community, as reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting. “This review also offers essential information for all colleges and universities nationwide — including Oregon State University.”
At the University of Kansas, which parted ways with Miles as the Jayhawks head coach Monday in the aftermath of the LSU investigation revelations, athletic director Jeff Long continued to plead ignorance regarding Miles at the time of his hiring in Lawrence in 2018.
Related: Les Miles Leaving Kansas Over LSU-Era Misconduct
In a news conference Tuesday, Long told reporters that Kansas ran multiple background checks on Miles before he was hired, as reported by The Advocate of Baton Rouge. Long further said he directly asked Miles if there was anything in his background that could "embarrass" the university and that Miles told him no.
Jesse Newell, KU beat reporter for The Kansas City Star, tweeted Tuesday that the settlement agreement between KU and Miles, who had about $8 million left on a contract set to expire in 2023, will pay the disgraced coach $1,991,062.50 — monthly checks of $201,187.50 for April, May and June, and $231,250 for July through December.
