Over the last two years, Florida State University has been under major scrutiny following multiple arrests from players in the football program. As of late, the arrests have begun piling up even more with two athletes being arrested on battery charges.
Aside from gaining the national spotlight due to their performance on the field, these arrests are building anticipation and criticism nationwide because they all involve sexual abuse or battery towards females. Two charges fall under the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act (SaVE Act) that President Obama passed in 2013 to help aid in cases such as these.
Two years ago, Florida State had the emergence of a young quarterback who captivated the sports world and took it by storm. This young man was named Jameis Winston, who would soon become the Heisman Trophy winner and help lead Florida State to an undefeated season accompanied by a National Championship.
Entering the limelight in his young career and becoming widely popular, Winston became a victim of his own success when he was abruptly bombarded by a Florida State football scandal. A woman he had sexual relations with was declaring it as rape. After a long year or so of ongoing investigations and a multitude of accusations about what occurred, Winston was ultimately found innocent, largely due to a lack of evidence in the woman’s case.
This was just the beginning of the news the world would hear about Florida State football. In July 2015, another story leaked about backup quarterback De’Andre Johnson full-on striking a woman in the face at a bar in the Tallahassee area. Unlike Winston’s case, this battery charge were corroborated by a corresponding video of the freshman punching a woman and leaving her at the bar to spew blood all over the counter.
The case caused uproar nationwide, being closely related to the 2014 incident where professional football star Ray Rice was caught on tape knocking out his fiancé Janay in an elevator.
Johnson was originally suspended from the Florida State football program and eventually released from the team altogether for violating the team’s rules, and above all, casting a poor light on Florida State University as a whole. The university was put under heavy scrutiny, which brought another Florida State football scandal to the forefront
Less than a month after De’Andre Johnson was charged with battery and released from the school’s program, another story hit headlines involving star sophomore running back Dalvin Cook. A warrant was issued for Cook's arrest after a woman accused him of striking her outside of a Tallahassee bar. Cook was immediately suspended from the team indefinitely and is still under investigation.
The young running back has denied that this occurred while his lawyer is flabbergasted that this story even emerged. The two believe the woman, who is crying wolf even though multiple police reports have dictated that she was heavily intoxicated during the series of events that ensued when she claims she was hit, is accusing him due to some alternative motive.
Regardless, the two Florida State football scandals occurring within one month has surrounded the university with a ton of skepticism and disappointment. In response to the university being slammed by the media, school president John Thrasher wrote an open letter, which read in part:
“In light of recent off-field incidents, I reiterated to our players that they simply cannot put themselves in situations that reflect poor behavior or cause harm to others. They must remember that playing football for FSU is a privilege, not a right. The actions of a few have the capacity to do serious damage to the reputation of our entire university. I told them their coaches, the Athletics administration and I will do all we can to support them and help them learn the values we expect them to uphold. But they will be held accountable for their actions.”
While the media and others news outlets are claiming that the Florida State football news tarnishes the entire university, Florida State has handled the unfortunate events fairly well. In March 2013, when the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act (SaVE Act) was enacted, Florida State adapted to its principles entirely.
Due large in part because of this legislation, Florida State has undergone multiple extensive investigations with complete cooperation. Similarly, Florida State has not hesitated to punish players, which was shown by suspending and then releasing Johnson, along with suspending Cook immediately after these stories surfaced.
This legislation was an update to the Jenny Clery Act, which creates transparency, accountability, education, and collaboration for the university and its students when handling issues of sexual violence towards women. The Campus Save Act has been heavily enforced on Florida State campus, which is what has allowed these three women to get the help they are seeking in attempting to charge the men they feel violated them and their rights.
Even with the Campus Save Act in effect, there’s no stopping college students from committing horrendous acts towards women. The only way to contain this from happening is to spread awareness of such stories and to hammer home to students, and people everywhere, that this will not be tolerated.
Though some of these cases are still ongoing, and we don’t know the truths of everything yet, it’s good to know that with the national media investigating these issues, we can spread awareness and show students everywhere that sexual violence and battery towards women has consequences!
