Editorial : SU should make 2005 investigation report public
The Syracuse University administration should publicly release the report from its 2005 investigation into a child molestation accusation against Bernie Fine, former associate head coach for men’s basketball.
Many of us on this campus and in the community care deeply about the soundness and integrity of the university. But in recent weeks, the media storm about the Fine scandal has led to a flurry of rumors, speculation and questions about how university and city authorities handled the original accusations years ago.
In 2002, an accuser went to Syracuse police alleging Fine molested him when he worked as a ball boy for the team. That same accuser, Bobby Davis, told the SU administration several years later. In 2005, SU launched its own investigation through its private law firm. SU did not tell the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office about its investigation or the accusation.
‘There are no charges. There are no indictments. There is no grand jury,’ said men’s basketball head coach Jim Boeheim on Tuesday after the men’s basketball game, criticizing premature speculation. But SU’s legal report, however lacking in recent revelations, would be that oasis of legal fact and evidence in the desert of sensationalized hearsay and bickering surrounding the case.
At this point, SU is the only institution that explored — through legal means — the possibility that Fine molested Davis.
After months, that internal investigation had revealed nothing that corroborated the accusation, said Chancellor Nancy Cantor. Even so, as an academic institution, we must value tempered and fact-based discussion as well as full transparency. Having SU’s legal report would greatly aid that cause.
The public has no use for the names of possible victims or corroborators, and these can be removed or abbreviated if they appear in the report. But the administration has a responsibility to restore faith, not with tall statements, but through fact, such as the plainest, legal document so far in existence.
