Florida wide receiver Antonio Callaway was found not guilty of sexual assault following the school's Title IX investigation, the hearing for which took place last Friday.
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ESPN released a bombshell report last week — according to reporters Mark Schlabach and Paula Lavigne, Harris and Callaway were accused in December of sexual assault by a female University of Florida student. The accuser and her attorney chose to boycott the school's Title IX hearing due to the university appointing a Florida football booster, Jake Schickel, to adjudicate the case. UF denied any bias last week in choosing to appoint Schickel last week. Below is their statement following the not guilty ruling for Callaway, courtesy of the Tampa Bay Times.
The University of Florida will not tolerate sexual misconduct and thoroughly investigates every allegation it receives through the student conduct and Title IX processes.
While we want to be as transparent as possible, we cannot address rumors, media reports or misleading statements from attorneys on this subject.
We cannot confirm whether or not any allegation or student conduct investigation exists; and the university is barred from discussing specific student disciplinary cases. Federal and state law are very clear on this front and require strict confidentiality of this kind of information.
Be assured that any situation of this serious nature reported to the university is immediately addressed following Title IX regulations, U.S. Department of Education guidelines and university policies. These policies and practices support those who report sexual misconduct of any kind and ensure a fair investigation and process for the accuser and the accused beginning with the initial report and through any appeal.
Either side may elect to appeal the decision in a student conduct case. A written appeal must be received by the reviewing authority designated by the university within 10 business days of the decision. An appeal may be made on any or all of the following grounds:
· Violation of student rights
· New information or evidence (students who attend the hearing)
· Preponderance of evidence was met (accuser appeal) or was not met (accused appeal)
· Inappropriate sanctions imposedA final decision would be made within 10 business days following receipt of the complete file and any meetings with the parties. Ultimately, the reviewing authority could require a new hearing or accept, modify or reject the decision or sanction imposed.
The accuser has up to ten days to appeal the Title IX decision.
