NCAA creates new policy on sexual violence

NCAA member schools will be required to provide sexual violence education for all college athletes, coaches and athletics administrators under a policy announced Thursday by the organization’s board of governors.

Campus leaders such as athletic directors and school presidents will be required to attest that athletes, coaches and administrators have been educated on sexual violence each year.

The policy also requires campus leaders to declare athletic departments are knowledgeable and compliant with school policies on sexual violence prevention, adjudication and resolution. School policies on sexual violence and the name and contact information of the Title IX coordinator must be distributed throughout the athletic department and to all athletes.

The policy was adopted from a recommendation made by the Commission to Combat Campus Sexual Violence, created by the board last year.

The announcement from the NCAA came just one day after Youngstown State decided a football player who served jail time for a rape committed while he was in high school will not be allowed to play in games this season. Ma’Lik Richmond, who served about 10 months in a juvenile lockup after being convicted with another Steubenville (Ohio) High School football player of raping a 16-yearold girl in 2012, walked on at Youngstown State earlier this year. He is allowed to practise and participate in other team activities.

A move toward NCAA policy on sexual violence follows numerous high-profile cases involving athletes and athletic departments, most notably the scandal at Baylor that led to the ouster of head coach Art Briles and the departure of the university’s athletic director and president. An investigation by a law firm hired by Baylor found allegations of sexual assault, some against football players, were mishandled by the school.