How far up did SJSU sex abuse cover-up reach?
The recent disclosure of a long-secret 2016 memo exposes former San Jose State University President Mary Papazian's cover-up of a trainer's sexual abuse of female athletes — and raises questions about who above her also was culpable.
The four-page memo, written to Papazian as she took the helm at the campus, was authored by her predecessor, former interim President Sue Martin. It warned about trainer Scott Shaw, who abused more than a dozen female athletes.
“There was inappropriate handling, touching of female athletes by the director of sports medicine, who is still here!” Martin wrote to Papazian. Yet Shaw continued treating female athletes for another four years, unfettered, leaving at least two additional victims — and perhaps more — in his wake.
As the Bay Area News Group's Julia Prodis Sulek reported last Sunday, the memo also warned that then-deputy athletic director Marie Tuite promoted a toxic culture of fear and retaliation and threatened anyone who brought up allegations against Shaw. The university launched a formal “climate review” of the athletic program in 2016, but Papazian inexcusably failed to act. Instead, she promoted Tuite to athletic director.
In 2020, after the first news story about the abuse, Papazian claimed she first learned about the case in late 2019 when whistleblowing Spartan swim coach Sage Hopkins took his yearslong crusade to protect his athletes from Shaw to the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
For more than a year after that, Papazian and the university did not acknowledge that the 2016 memo existed. After months of obfuscation and delay, lawyers from the Cal State system last month finally released Martin's memo to the Bay Area News Group.
Why the cover-up? And how high did it go in the Cal State system?
The statewide chancellor's office has oversight responsibility for SJSU and its president. When did the chancellor's office first become aware of the sexual abuse case and the memo? If they didn't know about the memo in 2016, why not? And if they did know and took no action, heads should roll.
Shaw resigned in August 2020 but only after a new victim came forward with fresh allegations. He has not been criminally charged and remains under investigation by the FBI.
The Department of Justice in September 2021 blasted the university's handling of the claims and announced that the university had agreed to pay $1.6 million to 13 of the victims. Two weeks later Papazian announced she would step down as president. Tuite left the university in October.
Michael Uhlenkamp, a spokesman for the chancellor's office, said Thursday in an email that an external Title IX procedural response investigation is underway and “we are hoping that the investigation is concluded in the near future and to be able to share our findings.” He declined to respond to specific questions related to the investigation.
The victims of the abuse and the San Jose State community deserve more than “hope.” The only way to bring closure to this dark period of the university's history and begin rebuilding trust is full transparency.