BATON ROUGE, La. — Dozens of Louisiana State University students, upset with the university’s handling of sexual misconduct complaints, protested outside the university’s Football Operations Building on Monday.
WBRZ-TV reports the protest, organized by Tigers Against Sexual Assault, comes just days after LSU released a law firm’s 148-page review of the cases, which offered a scathing view of the resources and attention LSU dedicated to complaints of sexual misconduct and violence against women campus-wide.
Much of the report centers around LSU’s athletics department, where incidents were allegedly covered up over the past decade.
Then-athletic director Joe Alleva's 2013 recommendation to former LSU President F. King Alexander to fire Les Miles is detailed in the report by the Husch Blackwell law firm.
Kansas placed Miles on administrative leave Friday night, hours after the report was released. The 67-year-old Miles has denied allegations he made sexual advances toward students and has said he merely sought to serve as a mentor for students who expressed an interest in pursuing careers in sports.
Miles was investigated after two female student workers in LSU’s football program accused the coach of inappropriate behavior.
While that 2013 investigation by the Taylor Porter law firm found Miles showed poor judgment, it did not find violations of law or that he had a sexual relationship with any students. Taylor Porter also concluded it could not confirm one student’s allegation that Miles kissed her while they were in the coach’s car with no one else present.
Alleva recommended Miles be fired with cause. In an email dated June 2013, Alleva wrote Miles was guilty of “insubordination, inappropriate behavior, putting the university, athletic dept (cq) and football program at great risk.”
The Taylor Porter review had been kept confidential for about eight years until a redacted version of it was released this week after a lawsuit filed by USA Today.
Miles was hired by LSU in 2005 and won a national title in 2007.
The Husch Blackwell report, which revisits the Miles investigation, also describes how the former coach “tried to sexualize the staff of student workers in the football program by, for instance, allegedly demanding that he wanted blondes with big breasts and 'pretty girls.’”
Meanwhile, LSU has not fired any current employees whose conduct was criticized in the Husch Blackwell report. LSU suspended executive deputy athletic director Verge Ausberry for 30 days and senior associate athletic director, Miriam Segar, for 21 days. Both are suspended without pay and ordered to undergo sexual violence training.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.