To the Editor,

I hope that the ten University of Minnesota football players who were suspended for their participation in an alleged sexual assault receive the fair hearing they requested and are entitled to under University and Title IX policies.

Once the outcomes of those hearings are determined, I hope that the new athletic director Mark Coyle and new football coach P.J Fleck will clearly and strongly signal that the University is headed in a new direction, and that, in President Kaler’s words, “certain behavior is simply unacceptable and antithetical to our institutional values.”

Irrespective of whether their behavior was “criminal,” any of the players finally determined to have participated in the sexual assault or sexual harassment should be permanently dismissed from the football team. This is the only way that Coyle and Fleck can truly embody President Kaler’s words.

Richard Portnoy

HR/Finance Manager

Minnesota Population Center