BALTIMORE – The University of Maryland, Baltimore County violated federal regulations by failing to protect students from sexual harassment and discrimination at the hands of the school's former head swimming coach, a U.S. Department of Justice investigation found .
The results of the investigation, which began in 2020, were published on Monday. Justice Department investigators found that the university failed to comply with Title IX, the federal law that prohibits gender discrimination in education.
The swimmers were subjected to a “hypersexualized environment where their coach, on a daily basis, in plain view and typically when wearing only swim trunks, subjected male student-athletes to unwanted sexual touching, inappropriate sexual comments, and other inappropriate sexual conduct,” they found. the researchers.
The coach, Chad Cradock, had overseen the university's Division I swimming and diving program for nearly 20 years before he was suspended in October 2020 pending the federal investigation. He committed suicide in March 2021 after receiving an amended notice of the allegations against him, according to the Justice Department report.
In a letter to the university community on Monday, President Valerie Sheares Ashby called the investigation's findings “deeply troubling.”
“We take full responsibility for what happened and are committed to not only addressing the failures, but also rebuilding the trust of our community,” he wrote.
He also said university leaders will soon sign an agreement with the Department of Justice that details “critical changes to how the university responds to reports of discrimination and sexual misconduct.”
Located in the suburbs of Baltimore, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, has a student population of approximately 14,000. Title IX applies to educational institutions and programs that receive federal funds.
Despite obvious signs and reports of Cradock's abusive behavior, university leaders turned a blind eye and allowed it to continue for years, federal investigators found. They said Craddock took advantage of his stature within the university community and preyed on vulnerable students, controlling nearly every aspect of his university experience.
Female swimmers, meanwhile, experienced a different type of hostile environment, including sexual harassment from their male counterparts, degrading comments about their bodies and invasive questions about their sex lives, the investigation found. Craddock, who oversaw both teams, favored men while encouraging romantic relationships between male and female swimmers.
“Too many school officials and administrators knew something for UMBC to have done nothing,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said in a statement Monday.
Six former college swimmers sued the university in federal court last year alleging violations of Title IX in a case that remains ongoing.
