Demand Investigation into Penn State Women's Gymnastics & Athletics
334 Comments
E
Emilie Murden
10 years ago
Jeff showed his true colours during the Gymnastike interview that he did about recruiting when at Auburn. Obviously, his coaching style and philosophy haven't changed with the change of employers. The athletes at Penn State deserve better.
D
Dori Columbus
10 years ago
This needs to be looked into.
M
Mark Richard
10 years ago
Do not rely on embarrassing Title IX suits to fix harassment or discrimination. Challenge Penn State to do the right thing.
M
Michael Peter Deeb
10 years ago
Enough is enough.
D
David Frede
10 years ago
This situation has gone far too long.
E
Erin DeBoer
10 years ago
How long is the administration at PU going to continue to bury their heads in the sand? These ladies deserve better!
B
Brandon Terry
10 years ago
Sandi Barbour, the AD at Penn State, was previously the AD at Cal-Berkeley. She failed to do anything with gymnastics head coach Cari DuBois at Cal, also, which resulted in the program being run into the ground - and nearly elimiated by the school due to her inability to deal with gymnasts properly. The same type of situation is happening at Penn State and it's time to do something about it.
S
Sunflower Chastity Greene
10 years ago
I believe based on complaints from students and staff the this should be looked into by the NCAA and that they have a duty to make sure their athletes are taken care of
D
Devon Bennett
10 years ago
PSU has enough scandal don't add to it fix it
K
Kerry Silverman
10 years ago
no athlete at this level, with this type of achievement deserves to be treated like this
S
Sandi Lillard
10 years ago
I saw where Jeff posted he was on a recruiting trip. Here's to hoping the gymnastics community is small enough that parents of athletes and athletes are aware of what is being alleged here. Regardless of whether I know firsthand whether any alleged incidents occurred, I would run the other way just reading Sandy Barbour's responses. And certainly if I were aware there were allegations going back to Auburn and several gymnasts over several years at PSU, I wouldn't be comfortable with this blame the whistle blower attitude.
A
Angie Montgomery
10 years ago
As a mother of a former Auburn University gymnast-a walk on on an academic scholarship-I am more than happy to sign this petition. I went to the athletic department at Auburn after my daughter was removed from the team following a phone call I made to Jeff. I was concerned about the fact that my daughter was told that she should be available at "all hours" to pick up team members who were too drunk to drive home. When I told Jeff I was concerned that my daughter was on an academic scholarship and needed to be prepared for classes and not out at all hours he was angry that my daughter had shared the "team business" with me. He and Rachelle proceeded to humiliate her in front of her teammates in a very vicious way. This was on top of the horrible treatment she received after she had ankle surgery and was attempting to rehab and be ready to compete. Once again the humiliation and mistreatment that was used against her haunts her to this day. Her ankle will never be the same as she was forced back into training much too soon after her surgery. After driving to Auburn and meeting with the Associate AD and the AD himself, we were very pleased the the Thompson's contract was not renewed. The disappointing thing is that they were hired by another program to continue their inappropriate and damaging behavior. Auburn did the right thing and Penn State should too. I have had two other children who were D-1 athletes as well, one a gymnast and one a baseball player, I am not naive to the fact that college athletics is a business and not a pretty one at that but physical and emotional abuse should not be tolerated at any level of sport.
L
Leslie
10 years ago
I was a University of Georgia gymnast and we were treated with respect. I hope this petition will help other gymnasts and programs in the future!
S
Sherry Ellis
10 years ago
These athletes deserve to be heard
J
Judy
10 years ago
I heard about issues at Auburn.
J
JoAnn Tarrant
10 years ago
As a mental health counselor, I have seen entirely too many young people negatively impacted by the demands and harsh coaching styles inflicted on them. We must protect our youth!
D
David A Johnson
10 years ago
Unfortunately, this is not a surprise that this has eventually happened at Penn State. I had met Jeff Thompson several times during his tenure at CGA and he seemed like a nice guy. Things changed during his horrible reign at Auburn and have only gotten worse at Penn State. I have no idea if this is because of him or Rachelle. I suspect, more of the latter. But, either way, he is the head coach, and it is 100% his responsibility along with that of the AD. The entire department is in denial. I have no other recourse than to 100% trust what Sam Brown is saying. I don't know exactly what was happening and wouldn't ask her for fear of hampering the investigations or her future. She would have nothing to gain by making any of this up. Penn State wasn't in a bad place with their previous coaching staff. Now look where they are. Do the right thing, Penn State, fire this duo, start over, get the right culture in your Athletic Department.
A
Anonymous
10 years ago
I saw what they put my sister through and it was unhealthy
A
Anonymous
10 years ago
Based on the heinous allegations, I am ashamed that my alma mater has not investigated properly.
L
Lawrence H
10 years ago
Featured
Sam Muhleman Brown successfully competed under a known-to-be super intense coach- Suzanne Yoculan. Of course she would understand when coaching behavior crosses the line. How in the world was her perspective as an assistant coach just completely ignored?
Jeff showed his true colours during the Gymnastike interview that he did about recruiting when at Auburn. Obviously, his coaching style and philosophy haven't changed with the change of employers. The athletes at Penn State deserve better.
This needs to be looked into.
Do not rely on embarrassing Title IX suits to fix harassment or discrimination. Challenge Penn State to do the right thing.
Enough is enough.
This situation has gone far too long.
How long is the administration at PU going to continue to bury their heads in the sand? These ladies deserve better!
Sandi Barbour, the AD at Penn State, was previously the AD at Cal-Berkeley. She failed to do anything with gymnastics head coach Cari DuBois at Cal, also, which resulted in the program being run into the ground - and nearly elimiated by the school due to her inability to deal with gymnasts properly. The same type of situation is happening at Penn State and it's time to do something about it.
I believe based on complaints from students and staff the this should be looked into by the NCAA and that they have a duty to make sure their athletes are taken care of
PSU has enough scandal don't add to it fix it
no athlete at this level, with this type of achievement deserves to be treated like this
I saw where Jeff posted he was on a recruiting trip. Here's to hoping the gymnastics community is small enough that parents of athletes and athletes are aware of what is being alleged here. Regardless of whether I know firsthand whether any alleged incidents occurred, I would run the other way just reading Sandy Barbour's responses. And certainly if I were aware there were allegations going back to Auburn and several gymnasts over several years at PSU, I wouldn't be comfortable with this blame the whistle blower attitude.
As a mother of a former Auburn University gymnast-a walk on on an academic scholarship-I am more than happy to sign this petition. I went to the athletic department at Auburn after my daughter was removed from the team following a phone call I made to Jeff. I was concerned about the fact that my daughter was told that she should be available at "all hours" to pick up team members who were too drunk to drive home. When I told Jeff I was concerned that my daughter was on an academic scholarship and needed to be prepared for classes and not out at all hours he was angry that my daughter had shared the "team business" with me. He and Rachelle proceeded to humiliate her in front of her teammates in a very vicious way. This was on top of the horrible treatment she received after she had ankle surgery and was attempting to rehab and be ready to compete. Once again the humiliation and mistreatment that was used against her haunts her to this day. Her ankle will never be the same as she was forced back into training much too soon after her surgery. After driving to Auburn and meeting with the Associate AD and the AD himself, we were very pleased the the Thompson's contract was not renewed. The disappointing thing is that they were hired by another program to continue their inappropriate and damaging behavior. Auburn did the right thing and Penn State should too. I have had two other children who were D-1 athletes as well, one a gymnast and one a baseball player, I am not naive to the fact that college athletics is a business and not a pretty one at that but physical and emotional abuse should not be tolerated at any level of sport.
I was a University of Georgia gymnast and we were treated with respect. I hope this petition will help other gymnasts and programs in the future!
These athletes deserve to be heard
I heard about issues at Auburn.
As a mental health counselor, I have seen entirely too many young people negatively impacted by the demands and harsh coaching styles inflicted on them. We must protect our youth!
Unfortunately, this is not a surprise that this has eventually happened at Penn State. I had met Jeff Thompson several times during his tenure at CGA and he seemed like a nice guy. Things changed during his horrible reign at Auburn and have only gotten worse at Penn State. I have no idea if this is because of him or Rachelle. I suspect, more of the latter. But, either way, he is the head coach, and it is 100% his responsibility along with that of the AD. The entire department is in denial. I have no other recourse than to 100% trust what Sam Brown is saying. I don't know exactly what was happening and wouldn't ask her for fear of hampering the investigations or her future. She would have nothing to gain by making any of this up. Penn State wasn't in a bad place with their previous coaching staff. Now look where they are. Do the right thing, Penn State, fire this duo, start over, get the right culture in your Athletic Department.
I saw what they put my sister through and it was unhealthy
Based on the heinous allegations, I am ashamed that my alma mater has not investigated properly.
Sam Muhleman Brown successfully competed under a known-to-be super intense coach- Suzanne Yoculan. Of course she would understand when coaching behavior crosses the line. How in the world was her perspective as an assistant coach just completely ignored?