ASUI Senate calls for UI AD Spear to resign

MOSCOW — The ASUI Senate passed a resolution calling for the resignation of University of Idaho athletic director Rob Spear during a meeting Wednesday night in the Summit Conference Room of the Idaho Commons.

The 10-5 simple majority vote in favor of the S18-R06 bill was preceded by a passionate address from Spear during the open forum segment of the assembly. The athletic director was placed on a 60-day administrative leave Tuesday morning, but was granted permission by the university to attend the student legislative meeting.

“I’m taking responsibility for a confusing situation with the policy, whether it was a policy or not,” Spear said regarding the Title IX violations, which occurred in April 2013. “I could probably stand here tonight and say I didn’t violate policy because we followed the policy that was on the books.”

Although the ASUI Senate has no power to enforce the resignation, the passing of the resolution could serve as encouragement for UI President Chuck Staben to pursue additional action against Spear, aside from his current paid administrative leave. The resolution was penned after former Vandal diver Mairin Jameson detailed in a Tumblr post an instance of sexual assault involving football player Jahrie Level, as well as the university’s missteps in handling the situation.

“It seems when it comes to being brave and bold, Mairin is more of a Vandal than Rob Spear,” ASUI senator Jordan Kizer said during the meeting.

The vote followed a tense question-and-answer portion of the open forum, which included a fiery exchange between Spear and ASUI Sen. Jacob Lockhart, who asked if the athletic director could discuss the definition of rape culture.

“I can’t define rape culture because it doesn’t exist in our department,” Spear said, his response drawing audible gasps from attendees.

After concluding his address, Spear immediately left the room and did not return for the remainder of the meeting. Students, athletes and community members then took the podium to discuss the resolution with mixed reactions in front of the ASUI Senate. Women’s basketball senior post Geraldine McCorkell voiced her support of Spear in a short statement, while spirit squad co-captain Maddy Roppe followed with a candid anecdote about her experiences involving harassment from current athletes at the university.

“This basketball season, 2018, I watched some of my teammates get catcalled by fellow Vandal athletes on our way to the court for a game,” Roppe said. “... This occurred inside the Kibbie Dome before a basketball game in which we are supposed to cheer on our fellow Vandals. While I appreciate the university’s effort to combat sexual harassment, the current culture in the athletic department made these athletes feel comfortable harassing my fellow teammates in a place where we are supposed to feel safe and supported.”

A written statement from former distance runner Maggie Miller was also read at the open forum. Miller reported an on-campus instance of harassment involving Level approximately two weeks before Jameson was allegedly sexually assaulted by the wideout at a local nightclub.

“Myself and Mairin turned to the people we believed we could trust — men in the athletic department that were in positions of power that we believed were there to protect us,” Miller wrote. “But they did not protect us.”

The ASUI Senate also grilled Spear over the transfer of Steffan Johnson, who joined the Vandal men’s basketball team on a full-ride scholarship in the fall of 2009. Johnson was expelled from Pacific following his involvement in a sexual assault case.

“I guess I shouldn’t address that because it might violate his FERPA regulations,” Spear said when pressed on the issue. “... At this point in time, we do a great amount of due diligence (regarding transfers).”

Before ASUI Senate voted on the resolution, an amendment was added to strike Paul Petrino’s name from the original item. The sixth-year football coach would have had a “last chance agreement” clause added to his current contract, meaning another Title IX mishandling would result in immediate termination.

“We put a lot of thought into the wording of this resolution, and I think the ball is in their court now,” ASUI Vice President Catherine Yenne said. “We really hope that they act on it in a way that supports survivors of sexual assault and violence.”