[News-releases] NOW Calls for Firing of Colorado Coach

Title: [News-releases]

 NOW Calls for Firing of Colorado Coach

February 19, 2004

The National Organization for Women joins with Colorado State NOW and
Boulder NOW leaders in calling for the dismissal of two men who have shown
complete disdain for the health and safety of the students at the
University of Colorado (CU). We also urge the immediate reorganization of
the panel convened to investigate the allegations, including the addition
of sexual assault prevention experts and the removal of individuals who
have demonstrated bias.

NOW calls for:

1.) The full dismissal of the University of Colorado's football coach Gary
Barnett and Athletic Director Richard Tharp. Placing Coach Barnett on paid
leave does not address the severity of this issue and leaving Director
Tharp in his position is unacceptable.

2.) The appointment of sexual assault prevention experts to the panel
investigating University of Colorado athletic recruiting scandals, and
sexual harassment and rape allegations.

3.) The removal of the co-chair of the panel investigating this scandal,
Joyce Lawrence. She has been outspoken in her suggestions that the women
victims weren't tough enough or brought it on themselves. Lawrence refuses
to step down even though she has proved herself incapable of unbiased
assessment.

4.) The removal of Bishop Philip Porter from the investigating panel
because of his close association with former Coach Bill McCartney, and
because of the revelation, after his appointment, of Porter's status as a
co-founder of Promise Keepers, which promotes the submission of women to
men.

Football Coach Gary Barnett and Athletic Director Richard Tharp have
failed in their duties to CU. As women who were victimized by CU football
players attempt to rebuild their lives, Barnett and Tharp have continued
to claim ignorance of the obvious problems within their football program,
and in recent days the ignorance has turned into malicious victim-bashing.

Coach Barnett spoke to a crowd of local reporters on Feb. 17, about Katie
Hnida. Hnida, a place-kicker on CU's 1999 football team, came forward in
recent weeks to reveal that she was harassed and raped while playing at
CU. Barnett said, "It was obvious Katie was not very good, she was awful,
you know what guys do, they respect your ability ... if you can go out and
play they respect you. Well Katie was a girl, not only was she a girl, she
was terrible."

Following Coach Barnett's statement was another allegation of misconduct
made by a University of Colorado-Boulder Athletic Department employee. The
woman told authorities late Wednesday that Barnett told her he would back
his players 100% if she went forward with an accusation of rape stemming
from an incident with a player in 2001.

Late Wednesday, CU-Boulder President Betsy Hoffman announced that Barnett
had been placed on paid administrative leave "mainly" over concern for his
"extremely inappropriate and insensitive" remarks about Hnida. Hoffman
also said that Barnett's comments in 2001 "utterly distressed" her and
added, "That is a statement we are very concerned about."

"Aside from insulting Katie Hnida and allegedly using intimidation to
protect his players, Barnett seems to be saying that bad players deserve
whatever they get?including assault. With statements like this, are we to
believe that Coach Barnett was completely unaware of his players'
actions?" asked NOW President Kim Gandy. "Furthermore, Barnett's immediate
'blame the victim' response to media inquiries only makes it more
suspicious that there was misconduct."

Later, Barnett issued a statement, saying that, "I sincerely regret that
yesterday a portion of my remarks were either misinterpreted or taken out
of context, and I apologize for answering that question in a manner where
I must have come across as insensitive." NOW believes this non-apology to
be insufficient considering the serious allegations of rape, and the
cover-ups that followed?and Barnett's obvious tendency to blame others who
"misinterpret" accounts of his public behavior.

"Coach Barnett insists that nothing inappropriate has gone on with the CU
football program, yet he is positive that this behavior exists at other
campuses. Is he so busy watching other football programs that he doesn't
know what's going on under his nose? I find that hard to believe," said
Regina Cowles, Boulder NOW President. NOW urges Colorado activists as well
as other concerned individuals to contact University of Colorado officials
who have the power to dismiss those responsible for the cover-up and lack
of enforcement of the school's policies against discrimination, harassment
and sexual assault.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: JENNY THALHEIMER, 202-628-8669 ext. 116