How are UW athletes educated about conduct?
MADISON – The sexual assault charges filed this week against Wisconsin wide receiver Quintez Cephus raised many questions.
Those included:
How thoroughly are UW athletes educated about the type of behavior expected of them?
Are they taught about preventing sexual violence?
Do they understand the meaning of consent?
“Every one of these guys participates in university-mandated (programs) dealing with all types of conduct,” UW head football coach Paul Chryst said this week. “As an athletic department, we do it. There’s NCAA things you do. You’re always trying to find ways that you can help (the) message and help them grow.
“You're always looking at what you’re doing and how you can do it better. You’re always trying to assess that.”
Cephus faces two counts of sexual assault stemming from an alleged incident in April and appeared in court on Thursday. He has been suspended indefinitely under UW’s student-athlete discipline policy.
Sophomore wide receiver Danny Davis was suspended Wednesday for the first two games of the season for his connection to the charges against Cephus. According to the criminal complaint against Cephus, Davis was present at the time of the April incident and took at least one photo of one of the two women involved. He has not been charged with any crimes.
UW officials supplied the Journal Sentinel with the educational programming required for athletes.
University requirements for first-year students
» U Got This: A 60-minute online interactive violence prevention and policy disclosure program through University Health Services.
» GetWIse Workshop: A 60- to 90minute in-person training session to further explore content on sexual violence prevention through University Health Services and UW Police.
» During the 2017-’18 academic year, all second-, third-, fourth- and fifthyear student-athletes were required to attend the “Green Dot Keynote” presentation. That 90-minute presentation was given March 5 in the UW Field House. It was given by a Green Dot staff member. Green Dot is a bystander intervention strategy that UW-Madison University Health Services adopted and deployed campus-wide.
Specific requirements for football players
» Football players participate in meetings with UW Police, including a session of at least one hour during preseason camp.
» Freshmen-only meetings with UW Police are held once a year, during the winter for early enrollees and in the summer for the remainder of the freshmen.
» NCAA requirements for all studentathletes, coaches and staff.
Further topics of education
Each year, education must be provided to all student-athletes, coaches and athletic administrators, covering the following topics:
» Healthy relationships (respectful communication)
» Consent (negotiating, giving, and respecting consent)
» Sexual violence prevalence and attitudes
» Harassment
» Hazing and bullying
» Stalking
» Discrimination
» Misogynistic, homophobic, demeaning and hostile language
» How negative language choices adversely impact team cultures
» How positive language choices can contribute to respectful and healthy environments
» Bystander intervention » Relationship between sexual violence and alcohol/other drugs
» Survivor support (active listening, managing a referral process & campus resources)