Tiffany Reese

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The university's responses to our outreach for comment are included within our reporting this chapter.

Thank you so much for listening.

When it was passed in 1972, Title IX began to transform the landscape of American athletics by prohibiting sex-based discrimination in any federally funded education program, including school sports.

Although the law does not specifically mention athletics, it has been impactful, as opportunities for girls and women expanded dramatically in the decades that followed the passing of Title IX.

As a result, athletics became both a battleground and a symbol of Title IX's broader fight for gender equality in education.

However, the statistics of sexual assault show us a dark side to college athletics.

A study by Dr. Koss based on national data from 2015 concluded that male athletes were involved in roughly one-third of all reported sexual assaults committed on college campuses.

Previously, a 1996 study using official records from 10 Division I collegiate institutions concluded that while, quote, athletes constitute 3.3% of the college population, they perpetrate 19% of all sexual assaults on campus, end quote.

And as a 2005 U.S.

Department of Education Higher Education Center publication reports, quote,

quote, athletes account for less than 2% of the total college student population, but that 2% represents 23% of all sexual assault assailants and perpetrates 14% of the attempted sexual assaults on campuses, end quote.

Many victims of athlete-perpetrated sexual harassment or assault face an added layer of scrutiny amidst their journey to justice.

The public's opinion.

A 2024 study by Dr. Meyer highlights that when a well-known perpetrator is involved, public recourse surrounding sexual assault, quote, vilifies women and allows celebrity status to protect male transgressors by tapping into gendered cultural contexts of rape myths and empathy, end quote.

On college campuses, athletics are often the front door of the university brand.

In chapter three, we examine what happens when that brand is threatened.

Marissa, a student at Utah Valley University, experienced a devastating assault by an acquaintance, who at the time was a well-known football player at the University of Utah.

And although her rape was devastating, the institutional betrayal Marissa describes while seeking support from both universities was equally as detrimental.

Still, Marissa persevered, seeking accountability through every route possible, engaging the criminal courts, the civil courts, Title IX, and even the media.