Former student-athletes advocate for better protection against sexual abuse
The University of Utah is playing a role in efforts to stop the sexual abuse of student-athletes. (Photo: KUTV)
KUTV — The University of Utah is playing a role in efforts to stop the sexual abuse of student-athletes.
During a Friday morning forum, the abuse stories brought emotional accounts to the virtual event, capturing the attention of a local and global audience.
Two former collegiate athletes spoke, sharing their survival stories hoping to spark change. Both endured abuse at Michigan universities. Those athletes are Tiffany Thomas-Lopez and Jon Vaughn.
Thomas-Lopez was abused by Larry Nassar, a doctor with Michigan State University and USA gymnastics, who was convicted of sexually abusing hundreds of athletes.
Jon Vaughn played football at the University of Michigan in the 1980s. He and dozens of his former teammates filed a lawsuit against the university, claiming leaders enabled and stood by while a doctor abused them over and over again, through repeated and unnecessary medical examinations.
"We're talking about a man that over the course of a 50-year period of time, initiated 30,000 plus incidences of abuse molestation, and rape,” Vaughn said.
These victims and other advocates believe if universities and institutions have a no-tolerance policy for student-athletes, that zero-tolerance needs to go both ways.
They suggested schools start by putting student-athletes first. Then, productive conversations can lead to legislation that will set that standard of across-the-board accountability, they said.
