Listen Here
By Abbey Nickel
Another football player from the University of Findlay has been expelled following a new and separate sexual assault investigation that took place last week.
According to Dave Emsweller, vice president for student affairs, the student who was dismissed is Laceem McCall, a freshman defensive lineman from Suwanee Georgia. McCall was dismissed on Nov. 7 based on the findings of an investigation that showed a “preponderance of evidence,” according to Emsweller.
Emsweller sent an email to university staff and students that stated the alleged incident happened on the night of Sept. 26 and the incident was reported on Nov. 2. An investigation started immediately after the incident was reported, according to Emsweller. The incident occurred in a University dorm, and the victim was not a UF student, but was visiting campus for the weekend, according to Emsweller.
This investigation, the second sexual assault investigation this semester, started rumors online on social media apps such as Yik Yak according to Emsweller. One student discussed the incident on the app which led some students to believe that led to the investigation, but Emsweller says that was not a factor in the investigation.
Emsweller said that McCall has appealed his dismissal. A decision to reject or accept the appeal should be made by Nov. 14.
Emsweller believes alcohol was a factor in this incident, and wants to emphasize the importance of understanding the issue of consent.
“Moving forward, we need to keep educating students about sexual assault and what consent really means,” said Emsweller. “I think because we have increased our resources so much and we have been pretty committed in trying to improve the understanding of sexual assault, we have removed some of the barriers to reporting for the victims.”
Emsweller also said that even though this is the third student athlete to be dismissed this semester for an alleged sexual assault, these incidents are not a reflection of the athletic department.
“The fact that this student was an athlete has nothing to do with any of these cases,” said Emsweller. “Two sexual assault incidents that happened to have involved athletes is in no way an indication of a trend. It’s not appropriate to make assumptions about our athletes based on these two incidents.”
The victim did not file charges with the Findlay Police department as of press time.
Emsweller said that similarly to the student expulsions last month, it’s up the victim to report the incident to law enforcement because of recent amendments made to the Clery Act. The University has the right to dismiss students based on any offense that they might consider inappropriate, Emsweller said.
