USU police chief resigns following ‘unacceptable’ comments to student-athletes
**Editor’s note: This is a continuing story that will be updated as more information is released.
USU Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police Earl Morris resigned on Thursday after being placed on administrative leave by the university on Wednesday. Morris had been put on leave “pending confirmation of reprehensible and unacceptable comments made to USU student-athletes,” according to a press release from the university.
Kent Harris, who has been a member of the USU Police for the last 12 years, has been named interim director and police chief.
According to an article released by the Salt Lake Tribune, Morris was recorded warning members of the Utah State Football team to make sure intimate relations with women, especially Latter-day Saint women, are consensual.
The Tribune claims that in the recording, Morris said a Latter-day Saint woman will often to go to her bishop after having sex and claim the act was nonconsensual because it is easier than admitting they broke the faith’s law of abstinence.
The Tribune quoted Morris saying, “If you’re not used to a Mormon community, folks, I’m here to tell you, the Latter-day Saints community … young ladies, they may have sex with you, but then they’re going to go talk to their minister, their bishop, priest, whatever you want to call it.”
The article then said Morris told the players the USU police would be required to investigate any incidents reported and if that were to occur, the odds would be stacked against the athletes from the beginning.
The meeting was an informal Q&A session that was requested by Head Coach Blake Anderson that discussed what the SAAVI and Title IX resource offices do and what they have to offer.
It also allowed the athletes an opportunity to ask any questions related to sexual misconduct and consent.
Morris was unable to make a comment to the Statesman by the time of publication.
The Statesman does not have possession of and has not seen the referenced recording. The recording was, however, used as evidence in a federal lawsuit involving current USU student Kaytriauna Flint.
Flint said she was the victim of a sexual assault involving a USU football player in her sophomore year of college in 2019. When the incident first happened, she said she was able to get a rape kit which indicated she was raped.
After reporting the sexual assault to the Logan City Police Department and USU’s Title IX Office, it became a long and grueling process for Flint. In the Tribune article, Flint explains the Title IX investigation was confusing after seeing no forward progress.
The recordings of Flint describing the incident were lost on multiple occasions, she was forced to switch investigators more than once, she was told they weren’t able to obtain her rape kit for proof and after the perpetrator appealed the lawsuit it was a long wait for a response, all while Flint continued to walk on eggshells around campus.
After five months, Flint reached out to the Title IX Office and the case was forced to start over again. After much frustration, Flint realized policies were changing without her knowledge.
In the article, Flint even says at one point a Title IX investigator told her the best and easiest option would be to leave USU.
Two years later, Flint has still not received justice or closure.
A previous article written by the Tribune in February 2020 revealed a Department of Justice report showing 15 reports of alleged sexual assault cases — all involving USU football players — that were closed after minimal investigation.
When the Tribune took to Twitter to release this statistic along with the rest of the recent article, many people took the opportunity to express their own opinions on the subject.
One of those people is Harry Palmdale — @NoSocksJonny — who wrote, “I love USU athletics so much, but the community and the university has to properly prioritize athletic success. There is no excuse for this.”
Cadence Woodland — @csmalldog — wrote, “My whole body flamed with rage reading this. Because I worked for BYU PD and know for a fact that this assumption is real and pernicious.”
DeRito claimed that over the last five years the university has made progress in regards to sexual misconduct prevention and has made positive changes including mandatory prevention education for students, additional education for student-athletes, updating policies and procedures, introducing an Upstanding program, and conducting three surveys a year to monitor progress.
The DOJ Compliance Review and Resolution Agreement showed in 2017 the DOJ found system-wide failures in USU’s processes regarding sexual misconduct.
The resolution agreement also noted that in 2020 the university acknowledged and accepted responsibility for failure to appropriately respond to such incidents and began a series of “sweeping changes.”
However, the Tribune also quoted an unidentified USU football coach from the recorded meeting who told the team that in current times it “has never been more glamorized to be a victim” and the athletes are a target to some people.
In a recent Utah State Today article, Anderson owned up to the statement and apologized.
“After reading my comments in the transcript that was released, I realize my choice of words was hurtful. I regret the words I used and I apologize to anyone who has bravely come forward with allegations of wrongdoing,” Anderson said in the article. “We have to do everything we can to encourage and protect anybody who has been the victim of a wrong, or whose personal rights have been violated. Giving victims a safe platform to address wrongs they’ve suffered is always the right thing to do, and something I’ll always stand for.”
The lawsuit states the recording is proof “USU is not only still failing to uphold its obligations under Title IX, (it’s also) still giving preferential treatment to male athletes accused of sexual misconduct.”
In her concluding comments on the issue, DeRito said the transcribed statements in the Tribune article do not match the university’s training or values.
“USU stands firm in its commitment to create a campus culture where individuals understand and practice sexual respect and survivors of sexual assault,” DeRito said.
-Jacee.Caldwell@usu.edu