[Vision2020] Spear Responds to Johnson Case

[Tom Hansen]

"Spear echoed the sentiments of UI by relating the situation to his daughter.

 'I have a daughter who is a college student on this campus, and I am the
last person who would bring an alleged 
 well, a sexual predator on this
campus,' he said."

This may very well be true, Mr. Spear, but not all female UI students have
parents on the UI management payroll.


Courtesy of the Friday (April 29, 2011) edition of the UI Argonaut at

http://www.uiargonaut.com/sections/news/stories/2011/april/42911/spear_responds_to.html

--------------------------

Spear Responds to Johnson Case

Former University of Idaho basketball player Steffan Johnson was awarded a
full-ride scholarship to UI two months after being expelled from
University of the Pacific under allegations of sexual assault. He was
recruited by coach Don Verlin, and Athletic Director Rob Spear agreed with
the decision, but had no direct contact with UOP, and said they were aware
of all the facts surrounding Johnson's expulsion.
 "You have to understand the facts behind the case, and I am not at
liberty to discuss those facts, but if you knew the facts as we know them
you would be making the decision that we did to bring him to this campus
to participate as a student athlete and be a productive citizen here,"
Spear said.
 Spear said it was alleged that Johnson had been associated with the
sexual assault of former UOP student-athlete Beckett Brennan in May 2008,
which was featured on an episode of "60 Minutes" that aired April 17.
Johnson was one of three men named in the incident, but the only to be
expelled after an investigation by UOP's Judiciary Committee.
 Brennan never brought legal charges against the three men. The Judiciary
Committee was made of three students, one faculty member and one
administrator who spent 25 hours deliberating, Brennan said. Johnson
claimed he was not present during the alleged sexual assault.
 Johnson was never charged with any crime in the court system.
 At the time of his recruitment, Johnson had not been officially named as
one of the students accused in the case, but had been removed from the
2008-09 team roster along with the two other players who were suspended
from school and the team after the incident. Johnson had been connected
to the incident in various media reports.
 "Coach Verlin and I had several discussions about this. Coach Verlin did
his due diligence with this in recruiting Johnson as in recruiting any
student athlete," Spear said. "Verlin talked with administration down at
the UOP, he talked with the investigating police officer and talked with
his twin brother, who is an assistant basketball coach at UOP."
 Verlin, who declined to comment, relayed the information from UOP to
Spear during Johnson's recruitment process, according to Spear. Spear
also said Verlin spoke extensively with his brother, someone Spear said
was a reliable source of information.
 "I would think that if your brother was telling you that there was a kid
who played at the UOP who was a model citizen for three years and never
caused them any trouble, was never involved in any type of situation,
that you would trust your brother on that recommendation," Spear said.
 Spear said the facts they had gathered from this communication told them
Johnson would come to campus, be a good citizen, contribute to the
basketball program and leave with a degree. Johnson graduated from UI in
May 2010 with a bachelor's in communication studies.
 "If you look at our history here, we have made the right decision
regarding the behavior of student athletes," Spear said. "If you look
back, it wasn't too long ago that coach (Robb) Akey dismissed 17
scholarship football players for not being good citizens, so we have a
history of doing the right thing, and that history tells us that we are
not going to bring in kids that are a risk to our campus."
 UI released a statement after the episode of "60 Minutes" aired, which
stated they were aware of Johnson's past.
 "The circumstances that led to the student's expulsion from Pacific were
disclosed to the University of Idaho, which considered them before
accepting his transfer," according to the release. "The University of
Idaho takes seriously its commitment to creating a safe environment for
all of its students and does review its student applications with care."

 Spear echoed the sentiments of UI by relating the situation to his daughter.

 "I have a daughter who is a college student on this campus, and I am the
last person who would bring an alleged 
 well, a sexual predator on this
campus," he said.

 He said the Athletic Department has received emails questioning how they
could bring a person who was connected to a sexual assault allegation to
campus, and said the facts don't back up the allegation. He said if the
facts had supported the allegations, then Johnson would have been
charged, tried and probably convicted, which would have prevented Johnson
from enrolling as a UI student.
 "People are assuming that because Johnson was expelled that he has
automatically played a larger role in this incident than the other two
students, and I will tell you that there are facts that we gathered that
allowed us to make an informed decision on his admittance to the UI,"
Spear said.
 Spear emphasized that the university did its "due diligence," and said he
believes they made the right decision at the time. But after the "bad
publicity" generated from "60 Minutes," Spear said he might not make the
same decision today.
 "Well hindsight is always 20/20," Spear said, "and if I had known that UI
was going to be placed in a bad light because of a '60 Minutes' story, we
might not have done this."

-----------------------------------

Convince us, Mr. Spear, that you are doing the right thing before you give
away tax-supported scholarships to students of questionable ethics.

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho


"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to
changeand the Realist adjusts his sails."

 - Unknown