LSU Suspends Executive Deputy Athletic Director Verge Ausberry, Senior Associate AD Miriam Segar
LSU announced on Friday that it will be suspending Senior Associate Athletic Director Verge Ausberry for 30 days without pay. Senior Associate Athletic Director Miriam Segar will be suspended 21 days without pay.
During that time, both Ausberry and Segar will undergo sexual violence training. This news comes on the heels of a 148 page detailed report from Husch Blackwell detailing LSU's mishandling of sexual assault and Title IX allegations.
It's been widely reported about Ausberry's involvement in the report, mostly his involvement with the Drake Davis allegations. It was reported by The Advocate that Davis texted Ausberry that he had struck his girlfriend that played on the tennis team at the time, retracted his statement to Ausberry and Ausberry didn't pursue the matter any further.
President Tom Galligan issued a statement before the report was released, acknowledging that the university has failed its students in years past. Among the most important recommendations from Husch Blackwell that Galligan and LSU plan to address first is the proper hiring of a Title IX staff, which hasn't existed to this day.
"Perhaps most troubling of all the report’s findings is the understanding that, whether through our actions or inactions, our institution betrayed the very people we are sworn to protect," Galligan wrote. "Our job is to protect our students and support them in their times of need. It has become clear we haven’t always fully lived up to our commitment. That will no longer be the case."
The full Title IX report can be read here.
