RALEIGH - UNC sophomore Delaney Robinson said she was raped by UNC junior linebacker Allen Artis on Valentine’s Day last February, and went public Tuesday alleging that UNC did not follow proper Title IX procedures, and as a result no charges have been filed.
Robinson’s attorney, Denise Branch, said Tuesday that the family was going public so that this doesn’t happen to any other students, and since Robinson filed a self-serve warrant against Artis, that perhaps this case hasn’t reached a conclusion.
The details of Robinson’s allegations can be found a lot of places on the web by now, but determining or even commenting on the veracity of her allegations is not our job here at THI, what we will focus on here is how this affects the football program.
Really, there are only a few things that matter with respect to football:
*Even though this occurred six months ago, at no time has Robinson or anyone representing her attempted to contact anyone in the football program about this. So it’s conceivable, and until we learn more, Larry Fedora and his staff didn’t even know about this until earlier Tuesday.
*Branch and Robinson, who was joined at her attorney’s office by her father, didn’t assert that Artis has received preferential treatment because he’s a football player. That was made clear.
*Branch also said they are not going public because the accused is a football player. That he plays only matters because Robinson says football aspects remind her of him, and it makes her uncomfortable.
*And from a football perspective, this shouldn’t damage the program because there is zero evidence the program or anyone affiliated with the program played a role in this case. It’s an essentially fourth-string linebacker being accused of something that authorities investigated but ended up not applying charges for a lack of evidence. Perhaps it will become a civil case, as Branch did not shut the door on that possibility.
But as of now, this is a beef against UNC’s DPS and its handling of Title IX, not football.
As of now, there has been no word from UNC. Defensive coaches and players are available for interviews following Tuesday’s practice and Fedora’s weekly radio show will air at 7 p.m. as it always does.
Robinson’s attorney, Denise Branch, said Tuesday that the family was going public so that this doesn’t happen to any other students, and since Robinson filed a self-serve warrant against Artis, that perhaps this case hasn’t reached a conclusion.
The details of Robinson’s allegations can be found a lot of places on the web by now, but determining or even commenting on the veracity of her allegations is not our job here at THI, what we will focus on here is how this affects the football program.
Really, there are only a few things that matter with respect to football:
*Even though this occurred six months ago, at no time has Robinson or anyone representing her attempted to contact anyone in the football program about this. So it’s conceivable, and until we learn more, Larry Fedora and his staff didn’t even know about this until earlier Tuesday.
*Branch and Robinson, who was joined at her attorney’s office by her father, didn’t assert that Artis has received preferential treatment because he’s a football player. That was made clear.
*Branch also said they are not going public because the accused is a football player. That he plays only matters because Robinson says football aspects remind her of him, and it makes her uncomfortable.
*And from a football perspective, this shouldn’t damage the program because there is zero evidence the program or anyone affiliated with the program played a role in this case. It’s an essentially fourth-string linebacker being accused of something that authorities investigated but ended up not applying charges for a lack of evidence. Perhaps it will become a civil case, as Branch did not shut the door on that possibility.
But as of now, this is a beef against UNC’s DPS and its handling of Title IX, not football.
As of now, there has been no word from UNC. Defensive coaches and players are available for interviews following Tuesday’s practice and Fedora’s weekly radio show will air at 7 p.m. as it always does.
