One of the men who prepared the report on sexual assault case at the University of Iowa was asked again Thursday about whether the report was a cover-up for the Hawkeye athletic department. Lawyer James Bryant of the Stolar Partnership of St. Louis says the exact opposite is true.
Bryant says the only bias they had coming in was probably against athletics. “I deal a lot with athletic departments through my practice and generally are suspicious of coaches and administrators in athletics, often times they talk a lot about character but don’t live that,” Bryant explained, “So I think my mindset and probably that of the team, if there was any bias, was probably against athletics.”
The report from Stolar’s group found the university followed flawed procedures, but did not try to cover up the case. Bryant says it was “probably a surprise to all the team” to find that the athletic department was not guilty of a cover-up by the athletic department and he says they’re very comfortable with those conclusions about athletics.
The vice president for student affairs and the university’s general counsel took much of the blame for the poor handling of the case and were subsequently fired. Bryant says they had not idea going in that those two officials would face criticism.
Bryant says the ones that were criticized the most weren’t on the radar going in, but the athletic department was. Bryant says, “When you find facts at the end that weren’t the one you were looking for, that’s probably a good sign that you’ve found the truth to the extent you can find the truth.” Bryant made his comments after a question from regent Robert Downer.