Dive Brief:
- Two University of Texas football players were suspended from the team and kicked out of their dorm rooms Thursday after their arrest on charges of sexual assault.
- The players, Kendall Sanders and Montrel Meander, are accused of raping a female student on June 21 in Meander’s campus dorm room. Sanders is charged with improper photography for allegedly recording the incident.
- The university’s chief of police, David Carter, said in a press conference that the Sanders and Meander assault cases are the second and third at Texas this year.
Dive Insight:
Carter said the investigation took a month because investigators had to wade through contradictory statements and procure physical evidence, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Carter characterized the one-month period as pretty quick, considering the complications. Texas football coach Charlie Strong has five core values for the program; one of them is treating women with respect. Strong followed through on a statement earlier this week that he would suspend the two players if they were criminally charged. Bill Powers, the university’s president, said that an internal student judicial review is under way.