CU Football-Promise Keepers and Misogynists

[LiviaOlivia]

The Denver Post
Promise Keepers worker says he won't quit inquiry
By Dave Curtin
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%7E30780%7E1962584,00.html
Wednesday, February 18, 2004 -

A Pentecostal bishop said he will not resign from an independent commission appointed by the University of Colorado regents despite the fact that he works for Promise Keepers, a religious organization founded by a former CU football coach.

The commission will investigate allegations that sex and alcohol are used to entice high school recruits.

"I've been told by the regents that there was concern (but that) the majority of the regents want to keep me. I can serve, and I intend to do that," said Bishop Phillip Porter, who still works for Promise Keepers, an evangelical Christian men's movement founded in 1990 by then- CU head coach Bill McCartney.

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Regina Cowles, president of the Boulder chapter of the National Organization for Women, said Tuesday that Porter's association with McCartney is "way too close for comfort.

"It's not right. It's a complete shock. To see his name arise out of this list (of recommended panelists) that included many qualified sexual-assault experts and not even one of them was even nominated is baffling."

She also is upset that Promise Keepers promotes narrowly defined gender roles, which Porter denied.

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http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%7E30780%7E1964220,00.html

The Denver Post

CU president reprimands coach over Hnida comments
By Erin Emery
Denver Post Southern Colorado Bureau


Thursday, February 19, 2004 -

COLORADO SPRINGS - University of Colorado President Betsy Hoffman said today she reprimanded CU football coach Gary Barnett for criticizing former player Katie Hnida's athletic skills when he was asked about her allegations of rape and harassment while on the team.

Hoffman also said that one area to be investigated in the ongoing probe of alleged recruiting misdeeds at CU will be Barnett's claims that he was unaware of any wrongdoing.

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Hoffman, who was in Colorado Springs today to give a speech, said that Barnett's comments Tuesday to reporters about Hnida outraged her because Barnett essentially blamed the victim.

Hnida - a kicker and one of the first females ever to play for a major college football team - had told Sports Illustrated that she was harassed by her CU teammates and raped by one of them. She later left the school.

On Tuesday, when reporters asked about Hnida, Barnett said in part: "It was obvious that Katie was not very good. She was awful. You know what guys do - they respect your ability. Katie was a girl, and not only was she a girl, she was terrible. OK? There's no other way to say it. She couldn't kick the ball through the uprights."

Today, Hoffman said: "I was deeply disturbed by the comments coach Barnett made (Tuesday), focusing more on her kicking ability than on the message at hand, which is that we really need to address the sexual assault."

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