<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Iowa City, Ia. — University of Iowa officials, including athletic director Gary Barta and football coach Kirk Ferentz, encouraged the victim of an alleged sexual assault involving Hawkeye football players to keep the matter in-house, the mother of the alleged victim says. In a letter sent last fall to U of I officials, the alleged victim's mother chronicled the process she and her family followed and the university's response during a five-week period following the alleged assault in October 2007 at Hillcrest Residence Hall in Iowa City. "University of Iowa's character was nonexistent. It is disappointing, to say the very least," the alleged victim's mother said in a telephone interview. "We were told the school will take care of it. 'We will keep it in-house. We will be swift. We will be just, and you don't have to worry about it.' "My understanding is that the athletic department wants to wash its hands on this, saying they did what she wanted (them) to do, and that is not the case," the mother said. The newspaper does not identify victims of sexual assault, so it is not identifying the alleged victim's mother. The alleged victim, a U of I student-athlete, says she was sexually assaulted by former football players Cedric Everson and Abe Satterfield on Oct. 14, 2007, between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. in the residence hall. Everson has been charged with second-degree sexual assault and Satterfield has been charged with second- and third-degree sexual assault. Everson has pleaded not guilty, and Satterfield's lawyer has said Satterfield plans to plead not guilty. The alleged victim's mother dated her letter Nov. 19, 2007, and sent it to U of I officials within the next two days. She said she received no response. U of I officials, including Barta, Ferentz and President Sally Mason, did not return messages Friday seeking comment. The university declined to say whether Mason or other university officials had seen the letter and declined to answer specific questions, but issued a statement: "We understand the strong emotions arising from this difficult case and continue to feel compassion for what this student and her family must be going through. The safety and well-being of the student has always been at the forefront of our concern. "Each step of the way everyone involved with the university worked in accordance with university policy and procedures and attempted to convey those policies and procedures to the student and her family. At all times, she and her family had the ability to determine whether to pursue this matter within the university or outside of it, and we repeatedly informed them of those options." U of I Department of Public Safety Director Chuck Green said he received the letter, and Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness said she was aware of the letter but could not recall whether she had seen it. The letter details the alleged victim's and her family's frustration with the unresponsiveness, a lack of answers and a lack of transparency from university officials.</div> <div align="center">Read More @ Des Moines Register</div> Terrible stuff. It reminds me of the allegations that surround the 2000-2001 Washington Huskies.
