Using Smith's own words and the surveillance video, police collected enough evidence to charge him with burglary, robbery and assault. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. The University of Rochester has responded to an EEOC complaint against professor Florian Jaeger. "But it was a little weird, especially on the first day.". Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. According to documents obtained by Outside the Lines, Rochester assistant football coach Dan Kyle signed a $15,000 bond to bail Smith out. Pretending he was also a victim, Smith, who was uninjured, went with the wounded men to the hospital. Canale described Jaeger's demeanor on that first day as "a little forward," alludingto his use ofcrude comments and foul language. The harassment tends to be not just verbal but physical, and offenders often are serial harassers, according to the survey in which more than 150,000 students responded. ", Hughes, it turns out, was the girlfriend of Rivera, the man who had promised revenge. His leg flies out at an odd angle with every step; his gait has a deep dip that wasn't there before. ); The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy. With Nina Feldman. All this started with concerns that a man wasnt valuing women based on their work. Greene and Lees did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Auburn partners with St. Joe's and University of Rochester Medical Center. The ESPNspecial said Kyle signed a $15,000 bond "to bail Smith out of jail." Lawmakers and higher ed leaders are facing off over the proposed state budget. But its early response raisedclaims of retaliation and contributed to departures that threaten to decimate a prestigious science department. "If as a victim you're going to be victimized by the public, why would you?" Kyle says he got a ride back with the two sophomore players. "It was special. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. "And theres nobody else in the department who does what he does." When Smith was arrested in 2015, Bronson was the team's quarterback and all three players were sophomores. 4:40. University of Rochester football player kidnapped, tortured for 40 hours A college football player thought he and a friend were going to meet up with two women. Reyes also played football for Rochester under Greene about a decade ago. The investigation also spotlighted police evidence photos and cell phone video showing how Kollias was shot and, along with a second teammate, tortured with a rifle, rebar, a plunger, a clothing iron and other household implements four days after Smith was bailed out of jail. During Lydell Strickland's trial in December 2016, prosecutors described him as the "ringleader" and "mastermind" of the plot. Brady Prieskorn, 4-star TE from Rochester Adams, picks Michigan football for 2024. A college dean warned Irrera that prospective employers would seek out Humphreys for a reference and school officials couldnt protect him,Irrera said. "We had everything going for us. City investigators spotted strange activity in Kollias' bank account -- thousands of dollars were being withdrawn from ATMs. When the player had returned to campus, he told his friends, his room was blocked off with yellow police tape. Strickland is holding orange hedge clippers when he asks the camera, "You recording, homie?" "There's no doubt the absolute intent was, once they got the money from that account, these kids would have been killed," Ciminelli says. 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", Clockwise from top left: Lydell Strickland, Samantha Hughes, Leah Gigliotti and Elliot Rivera Rochester Police Department. Faculty and students with backgrounds not only in cognitive science and psychologybut also neuroscience were recruited. ", That night, the seventh-floor roommate who had ignored Hughes' Facebook messages reached out to Isaiah Smith, asking him whether he knew anything about what had happened to their teammates. ", In an email, Kyle's attorney, Brendan Reyes, clarified that "it was Mr. Kyle's belief and understanding that the players had arranged to pay the bail bondsman and that one of the coaches would sign the bond. The course, taught byJaeger, was a general requirement for her degree, and she was excited to learn what the semester had to offer. Copyright 2023 WLS-TV. Career Statistics/Records (1889-2022) Football All-Time Coaching Records All-Time Player Names (1974-present) 2022 Football Statistics 2022 Football Statcrew Our labs were thriving. Kidd alleged sexual harassment from Jaeger, her superior for years, that she said continued because of the substantial power differential that existed between them, according to the federal complaint filed Aug. 30. ", Kyle claims he accompanied his fellow assistant coach "in Lees' car to the Monroe County Hall of Justice," but "Lees had difficulty finding parking," according to the lawsuit. In the minutes after the raid, Ciminelli caught a look at Kollias and his teammate. Signers include 1,100 academics and professionals from across the USA and at least two dozen other countries. By Saturday night, campus police had turned over their investigation to the Rochester PD, a bigger force with more resources. ", "The kids who were the better athletes were definitely on a longer leash," the other teammate says. Smith asked the officer whether "anything which he may say" would "impact his status as a student at the University of Rochester." According to prosecutors, they carried with them 4 pounds of marijuana. Niko Kollias watched his blood swirl down the bathtub drain. He laughed when a judge sentenced him to 155 years in prison. That's when they said they were going to kill us. Grading big trades during the NFL draft: Who won the D'Andre Swift deal? University of Rochester researchers who rely on new graduate students to grow their laboratories have felt unfairly punished for sins they didn't commit, Panneton said. ", Kollias and his teammate's captors used several household items to torture them, including this iron. But who were they? Kollias was unable to walk. Prosecutors say that they were away on Thanksgiving break but that Smith knew they kept a spare key hidden in a fire extinguisher box. Produced by Will Reid and Michael Simon Johnson. Investigators said at a news conference the pair were kidnapped and held against their will. "I thought they were burning down the house.". The organization announced Monday that it will hold summer practices on the Pittsford campus in 2023. It was small money, but he was one of the best football players on the team, and he could definitely be intimidating. 1 NFL draft picks were like as college football recruits: Only how many five-stars?! And I didn't know how much longer I could go," Kollias says. In his lawsuit, Kyle alleges that at least three others from the football team were involved in Smith's release. When he rolled down the car window to use Kollias' card, Strickland was wearing the same black and white skull mask he wore in the cellphone video. In January of 1927, after a Big Ten meeting in Chicago attended by the university presidents, athletic directors, faculty representatives, and football coaches, the Conference announced the adoption of a set of specific regulations concerning the recruiting of ath-letes by university personnel and also addressed alumni involvement in the process. "They started shooting everywhere and putting the gun into our mouths and up to my skin and just shooting and pulling away at the last second. Authorities said the students were targeted and there is no reason for other students at the university to be worried. (); : "I had heard that he was a professor known for sleeping with grad students through friends in the department, but nothing to the same extent of what's come out since.". Getting published increases stature and advances a career. "Just came in extremely angry," Kollias remembers. "I was pretty much fine with dying at that point.". It was now a race against time. An assistant University of Rochester football coach who lost his job after the kidnapping and torture of two players is suing the school for comments that a university spokeswoman made to Outside the Lines for an investigation that detailed the harrowing story. It soothes him. "Clearly this was an unusual situation that needed an immediate response," he says. she asked. "I just remember the first thing that I smelled was urine and feces, and it was totally disgusting," Kollias says. All Rights Reserved. Robby Klein for ESPN. Not wanting to go alone, she brought Leah Gigliotti with her. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. "They start saying that I had been lying to them, and the cards weren't working anymore, and they couldn't get any more money. In the case at the University of Rochester,Kidd said it took her nearly a decadeuntil she was a tenured faculty member with the support of colleagues to be in a positionwhere she felt safe enough to come forward. Kollias appeared in an ESPN "E:60" special this summer to talk about the incident, which led to six people being charged with a total of 84 counts, including kidnapping, gang assault, firearms charges, robbery and sexual assault. He could no longer feel that leg and couldn't see it because so much blood kept pouring into his eyes from his scalp, over which they had smashed a long, fluorescent lightbulb. You have /5 articles left.Sign up for a free account or log in. That same day, Kollias says the masked men put a gun to his head and demanded he call his bank. The two assistant coaches, according to Kyle, agreed that "Lees could go back to campus, as the coaches were responsible for opening the weight room for the players at 4:15 P.M." Lees drove back to the campus. Smith then waved at the three men on the steps, drawing their attention to a black sedan rolling into the parking lot. "Jaeger slept with so many students at UR or other institutionsand made passes at so many othersthat his penchant for having sex with graduate students became well known among Ph.D.s and post-docs," the complaint states. Because of that, the 1958 football season has made an indelible mark on the University and on the players who made it possible. At the height of its success, the University of Rochester Brain and Cognitive Sciences department was regarded as one of the top sites in the country. I was just covered in so much blood." Court documents obtained by Outside the Lines showed that Kyle, the assistant coach, signed Smith's bond in 2015, releasing him from prison after he had been charged with robbery, burglary and assault. Five others charged in the case have taken plea deals. Football - University of Rochester Athletics The official Football page for the University of Rochester Yellowjackets The official Football page for the University of Rochester Yellowjackets The official Football page for the University of Rochester Yellowjackets Skip To Main Content Pause All Rotators Both were taken to the hospital, where one is recovering from a gunshot wound. Three of the seven complainants have left, and four others are considering following suit. ", Listen to this special OTL for E:60 podcast. An Outside the Lines investigation that published and aired in June revealed how the two players were brutally tortured for more than 40 hours as payback for a drug robbery committed by a third Rochester football player, Isaiah Smith, a star linebacker. Students choose a graduate program basedon its prestige and the ability to work with supporting expertise in their field. He played college ball at Michigan State, earning team MVP twice, before he was selected in the sixth round of the 1996 NFL Draft by Carolina. Since the allegations surfaced publicly in early September against psycholinguisticsprofessor T. Florian Jaeger, 41, the number of alleged victims has grown to 14,according to managing partner Jef McAllister ofMcAllister Olivarius law firm,the complainants legal team. 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In Seligmans meeting with the Faculty Senate, also Sept. 19, he said the forthcoming investigation would be "highly unbounded," opening the door to also taking on a separate sexual harassment and retaliation complaint emanating from the university's Eastman School of Music. "We kind of got into a little argument about, like, why they weren't letting them go," Hughes later testified. After returning from their meeting with campus police, the two women grew increasingly worried about what they'd gotten themselves into. University police sent out a . July 14:Women of color in STEM face greater risks of gender harassment July 3:Fox Sports boss Jamie Horowitz is out amid sexual harassment inquiry, In his email Friday,Jaeger addressed his continued commitment to his students:"I will try my best to continue to support my students/post-docs research and careers, and to help them navigate the uncertainties of the current situation. Scott Greene, the team's head coach, also called Kyle that day, "and thanked him for signing Smith's bond," according to Kyle's complaint. Nine people went to prison for the kidnapping and torture of Kollias and his teammate. The players would be physically, sexually and psychologically tortured for at least 40 hours, according to prosecutors. Kollias is finally starting to sleep again. After his piano audition, "I thought I would never make the cut in a million years," he says. "I heard stories that he knew how to work his way over on people. Campus police reached out to Hughes, asking to meet up with her and ask her a few questions. Police say Smith then led the four men with the weed into the apartment building. Irrera claimed that while pursuing his doctorate in music arts from 2009 to 2014 he rejected unwanted advances from teacherDouglas Humphreys, chairman of the piano department. 2 prospect in the state. Plaintiff Richard Aslin, a former dean of arts and sciences at Rochester who is now a clinical professor of psychology at Yale University, said, We hope this settlement encourages people affected by discrimination and retaliation to seek justice and never give up. Presumably referring to the 2018 resignation of former president Joel Seligman over how he handled the Jaeger case, Aslin said he hoped Rochesters changes to its leadership and policies will send a signal to other institutions that there is a more productive way to handle complaints about harassment., The unusual joint release, which was part of the unusually hefty settlement agreement, also notes that Lawrence Vilardo, the federal judge presiding over the case, responded to Rochesters earlier motion to dismiss by upholding the legal validity of most of the plaintiffs claims. He could still see the roll of duct tape nearby, covered with the bloody fingerprints they'd left behind when they taped his hands and feet together before slamming the rebar and heavy metal pipes down onto him, over and over again. Gigliotti was high on cocaine; Hughes was high on weed and drunk on Remy. It is a multi-billion dollar business, and the main people involved in. Later that afternoon, the lawsuit claims Kyle "received text messages from Lees thanking" Kyle "for helping to free Smith from jail." In 2017, 9 faculty and students filed a sexual-harassment and retaliation suit against the University of Rochester. But prosecutors say the campus officers did not immediately connect Smith's drug heist to the missing men. The decision on administrative leave was made jointly, after a series of institutional choices that critics say compromised the safety and comfort of students and staff, the universitys standing, and an entire field of research. No party to the settlement admitted liability or fault. It said it has taken a number of steps to address the issues the case brought to light, including establishing an Office of Equity and Inclusion and strengthening and clarifying relevant policies, procedures and training. We werent planning on leaving. The lawsuit takes direct aim at President Joel Seligman and Provost Robert Clark. "He was just telling the student body kind of very vaguely of an incident that occurred on school campus property," Kollias says. "It is the case that we have a ways to go, but if your claims are totally vindicated in the review that Mary Jo White conducts, Ill be the first to fully support that. Our main athletics facilities are the Goergen Athletic Center and Brian F. Prince Athletic Complex, which include courts, fields, weight rooms, and an aquatic center. The University of Rochester settled a long-running legal case over alleged sexual harassment within its brain and cognitive sciences program for $9.4million, parties announced Friday. Greene announced his resignation, effective at season's end, on Tuesday. Greene was the Section V Player of the Year at Canandaigua in 1991. Mr. Kyle does not have any specific knowledge that the two players raised the money and, therefore, has no reason to doubt Mr. Bronson's statement.". Subscribe for free to Inside Higher Eds newsletters, featuring the latest news, opinion and great new careers in higher education delivered to your inbox. "They determine whether you pass your classes, your qualifying exams and the fate of your progression through the program.". Crouching in front of Rivera is a man with distinctive dreadlocks, wearing both a camouflage shirt and pants and a black and white plastic skull mask. When Kollias pleads, "Please, I'll do anything," he's hit in the head with the long fluorescent lightbulb. "My life was more important than any amount of money," Kollias now says. ", "I had three or four blood transfusions," Kollias says. The University of Rochester settled a long-running legal case over alleged sexual harassment within its brain and cognitive sciences program for $9.4 million, parties announced Friday. Two UR football players were kidnapped and tortured in a case of mistaken identity. football players who were kidnapped and tortured. It was only then, when the blood just wouldn't stop from that last blow, that they halted their attack and threw him in the shower. "The department is broken, and the question of how it is revitalized is of urgent consequence," Seligman said. Who won the spring transfer cycle? They emptied our pockets -- cellphones, wallets and car keys.". "I've been around a long time. Detectives told Ciminelli about Smith's communications in the very early hours of Sunday morning. University trustees appointed a special committee of its members back on Sept. 19, and hired high-powered special investigator Mary Jo White, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New . "He's like, 'Let's go. ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Two University of Rochester football players from Illinois were rescued after they were kidnapped and held hostage in New York, police said. Aug. 25:Women can't crack the glass ceiling when it comes to tech boards Aug. 23:Fort Benning drill sergeants suspended amid sexual misconduct claims, "I didn't actually know Jaeger too much before this year, but I do have multiple friends who were his advisees. Prosecutors say this is Lydell Strickland. "I'm in very bad shape at this point. Hayden's work providesalink between basic cognitive and neuroscience research. He narrowed his list down to Michigan, Ohio State, Tennessee, Penn . But life can get complicated if the adviser starts abusing his or her power. | Website designed by nclud, Higher Education News, Opinion and Careers | Weekdays, Quick Summary of the Week's Higher Ed News | Fridays, Admissions and Enrollment News, Opinion and Careers | Mondays, Diversity News, Opinion and Career Advice | Tuesdays, Student Success News, Ideas, Advice and Inspiration | Weekdays, Connecticut State System Warns of Devastating Cuts, GWU Students Protest Arming Campus Police, Adaptation Across the Higher Ed Landscape: A Special Report, Bennet Supports Debt-Free College in Education Plan. Just want to meet new people, and [I] never really think of girls as, like, evil or mean.". Wouldnt it be ironic if people in the field didnt value their work based on the man? 7 tight end nationally and No. "I just wanted to survive. "I think it was probably just him trying to be a cool professor," she said. I've seen a lot of things. "I apologize to you," he said, according to confidential draft meeting minutes obtained and verified by the Democrat and Chronicle. "And when those things happened, usually the players were all kicked off of the team. There are two students with the same names listed on the University of Rochester Yellowjackets football page. "The one thing that stood out to me is the almost blank stare they both had on their faces," Ciminelli said. None called back. FINAL! Police Chief Michael Ciminelli, a Rochester native with 12 years of experience with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, says he believes not being able to transfer money on the weekend might have saved Kollias' life. There's a tendency to question the motives of the victims instead of the validity of the accusations," Hastings said. "It was something that never leaves you, that binds you to other members of the team," Parrinello says. Kyle lost his job in 2015, soon after senior defensive lineman Nicholas Kollias and another teammate were kidnapped as part of a revenge plan gone awry. "But they said, 'We don't want money; we want blood.'". ", Lees told Kyle that he "should be looking for Dan Bronson and Kenyon 'KJ' Burnham -- two of Smith's friends and teammates on U of R's football team -- inside the Hall of Justice," because "Bronson and Burnham raised nearly $1,500 for Smith's bond but needed an adult over the age of 21 to sign the bond," according to Kyle's complaint. And every reason to not keep them alive, frankly. Previously, a jury convicted Smith for ten counts of robbery and burglary that investigators believe eventually led to the kidnapping and torture of two of his teammates on the football team.. For now, those plans required him to stay alive. He knows it didn't do anything for his pain. After receiving a report of assault, police sent an officer to the hospital. We had great labs, great students and great colleagues," said Cantlon, who said that she, too, is looking for faculty positions at other universities. Surveillance video from an ATM less than a mile from where Kollias was being held would later show Gigliotti's blue Dodge Dart pulling up to the machine. That day marked the only appearance Jaeger would make in front of a class before the allegations against him were made public, forcing him to step down from teaching and resulting in administrative leave until the investigation is completed. This could have turned out in a very different way," University of Rochester President Joel Seligan said. University of Rochester undertakes 50 or 60 investigations each year of employees accused of discrimination and harassment. But then Strickland pulled the mask off, giving the ATM cameras a clear view of his face. As the evening wore on, tension was mounting among his captors. Although all of their transactions went "smoothly" because of their football connection, the player says Smith developed a reputation for ripping other students off. "I was completely naked and just sitting in a chair and getting all this blood off me. The camera pans to the right, revealing Kollias on the bathroom floor. Reyes also played football for Rochester under Greene about a decade ago. Police said he was shot in the leg before the rescue operation began and is expected to recover. Both were arrested in the following days. The two who wrote a letter to the university Board of Trustees have been past department chairpersons who have worked a total of 57 years for the University of Rochester. "Things happen, like drunk driving," he explains. Follow Lauren Peace and Brian Sharp on Twitter:@LaurenMPeace and@SharpRoc. The lawsuit alleges "Smith made one or more calls to U of R football coaches from Monroe County Jail to discuss his arrest and bail" but never called Kyle while incarcerated over Thanksgiving weekend in 2015. Sept. 19:Asian women in tech are fighting deep-rooted discrimination Sept. 16:Amber Tamblyn pens NYTop-ed on sexual harassment. An estimated 1 in 10 female graduate students at 27 large U.S. universities reported that faculty hadsexually harassed them, Association of American Universities researchers found in 2015. The customer service agent, unable to see the gun next to Kollias' head, tells him, "Have a great weekend.". ", Kollias remembers grabbing his teammate's hand and holding it.
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