Just to re-cap the timeline for those who forgot:
12/10: Victim calls MM
12/10: MM talks to RG
12/11: Victim calls MM again
12/14: Banashek, defense lawyer for Tumpkin, calls victim
12/16: Victim tells MM via text and voicemail she's going to Colorado on 12/19 to get a protective order against Tumpkin. 1 hour later, Banashek calls the victim again
12/16: MM names Tumpkin interim DC for the bowl game
12/20: Protective order issued after interview on 12/19. Broomfield PD informs Banashek.
12/29: CU plays in bowl game with Tumpkin acting as DC
1/5: Banashek contacts victim again; she says she's planning on getting a permanent restraining order on 1/31
1/6: Daily Camera story breaks. RG comments. Later that day, Tumpkin is suspended.
1/27: Charges filed, Tumpkin resigns.
Regardless of what happened in context, the optics and facts are not good:
- CU did not involve the authorities at all
- CU had multiple chances to put Tumpkin on leave until these (very serious) allegations were sorted out. They did NOTHING until the story was public knowledge.
For those of you saying that PSU and bailer are different than this situation: They are, and I acknowledge(d) as much. They are different in scope, but there are enough similarities in terms of the appearance of a cover-up that the regents are right to investigate this and assure everyone that is invested in the program that this was a one-time lapse in judgment, not standard operating procedure.
Like many of you, I am disgusted with what happened at PSU and bailer. I know that their sins were several orders of magnitude larger than what happened at CU, even if the absolute worst is true. But I want to be assured that CU is not going to turn into either of those programs where winning trumps all.