Following several allegations of abuse within the athletics department, former student-athletes are hopeful that their open letter and upcoming meeting with U of G’s provost will lead to an independent investigation
After a year’s worth of pandemic restrictions and physical distancing, many were eager to return to campus for an in-person semester. It must surely have come as a shock and a disappointment, then, to those who experienced the surge of sexual and gender-based violence just weeks into the fall semester.
Back in September, reports surfaced about women’s drinks being spiked during U of G student gatherings, and students and faculty were quick to organize a walk-out to raise awareness of such violence. The university was also quick to speak in solidarity and make informative social media posts about consent and sexual violence.
However, our athletic community has been facing similar concerns for over a decade, and the actions that have been taken to address this have felt inadequate to those affected.
On Sept. 24, an open letter to student-athletes, the University of Guelph, and the Canadian running community was published on iRun.ca by a group of former U of G track and field athletes. In the letter, the group expressed disappointment in the university’s response to health and sexual violence concerns, stating that a decade’s worth of complaints had been ignored.
There were also significant concerns about the toxic team environment. Public and private humiliation, encouraging athletes to train and compete while injured, and the labelling of detractors as “crazy” are just some of the examples of systematic mistreatment outlined in the open letter. Athletes also felt they had a lack of autonomy over their health and confidentiality and that they were discouraged from seeking a second opinion from non-coach-affiliated health professionals.
The letter was also published as a response to U of G’s questionable handling of the abuse allegations towards Dave Scott-Thomas. The former coach was investigated in 2006 following a complaint from a student-athlete’s family member. It was determined that misconduct had taken place, and Scott-Thomas was suspended for four weeks as a result, although the nature of the misconduct was not specified.
In 2019, former U of G track and field athlete Megan Brown shared her experiences in a Globe and Mail article in which she stated that Scott-Thomas had groomed her for a sexual relationship in high school that continued into her studies at U of G. Scott-Thomas was promptly fired, and the university launched a limited policy review and survey of current student-athlete experiences which concluded in November of 2020.
According to the alumni who authored the iRun open letter, this review was not the thorough investigation advocated for by over 200 faculty and community members when Scott-Thomas’ abuse came to light.
The review was conducted by McLaren Global Sports Solutions (MGSS) who reportedly failed to address allegations of abuse. Additionally, the review only surveyed current student-athletes. Alumni who wished to participate were directed to U of G’s HR department to have their experiences “summarized” for the review. Further requests to meet with U of G officials regarding the review were either denied or redirected to the HR department.
Robyn Mildren is one of the open letter’s authors. She told The Ontarion that publishing the letter was not what she and the other authors set out to do and were even apprehensive about doing so, but they felt this was their last best option for getting through to the university.
Sure enough, the U of G released a response to the open letter on iRun within a day of its publishing. There, U of G communications emphasized its commitment to “continual improvement and positive change” and recognized that it needed to further review policies, practices, and the environment in the Department of Athletics.
Also posted in the response letter was a list of new initiatives since January of 2020, including but not limited to a Safe Disclosure Policy and resource in student-athlete handbooks, a Rule of Two policy (no one-on-one meetings between coaches and athletes), coach education on sexual violence and mental health, and an increased budget in the track and field department to hire more female coaches.
“U of G’s response was painfully predictable and consistent with their previous responses to date,” said Mildren, explaining that the letter failed to address the issues that were outlined in the open letter.
“Their response underscores the fact that we (and others) need to be persistent in order to affect change.”
The absence of an independent investigation highlights the lack of understanding of U of G’s toxic athletic culture, and the lack of understanding subsequently makes it impossible to rectify the systems currently in place, according to Mildren.
“This includes systems that oversee varsity programs, enable individuals to safely provide feedback and complaints, and programs for re-education of coaching and the integrated sports team (IST) staff. The MGSS review failed to identify many of the major issues that we experienced, and as a result some of their conclusions and recommendations are misguided.”
One such example of the review’s misguided recommendation is its emphasis on the “importance” that students make use of IST. However, Mildren says this particular resource was one that was “carefully selected” by Scott-Thomas himself which the review neglects to mention. Many of the open letter authors also felt that the IST resource failed them during their time as student-athletes.
The university’s provost, Gwen Chapman, who is also the chair of U of G’s Steering Committee on Preventing and Addressing Sexual Violence, has since emailed apologies to the open letter authors and has also sent them an invitation to meet.
Mildren told The Ontarion that she is hopeful about the opportunity to work with the university and advocate for a comprehensive, transparent, and independent investigation.
Until then, each former student-athlete who contributed to the open letter hopes their words will empower current athletes to advocate for themselves and look out for each other. They wrote in the letter that U of G was ultimately a place where they experienced “tremendous personal growth and made life-long friendships,” so they hope this will be a “critical moment” for U of G to demonstrate how an institution can conduct itself in the face of challenges and take the path towards understanding and owning its problems for the pursuit of a better system that will protect athletes.
“It took a lot of emotional energy to give [the open letter] the attention it required. But at the same time, I was hoping it would get widely noticed and help give us some traction to move forward with,” said Mildren.
“For the most part, we have received overwhelming support from the running community and faculty at U of G, and this has made us feel like we are at least pushing the needle in the right direction.”
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