Fifteen former Columbia student-athletes have asked the university to take further action against head coach Megan Griffith, who was suspended for the first three games of this season for “interactions with the team that did not align with expectations,” The Athletic reported Thursday.
The Athletic also reported an allegation brought against the coach in 2019, which the university investigated and determined to be unfounded, and provided more detail about the September complaint to Columbia president Jennifer Mnookin that included statements from five other former players who were members of the team going back to Griffith’s first year leading the program in 2016.
“Following a thorough external review by the University, Columbia Women’s Basketball Head Coach Megan Griffith served a suspension for the first three games of the season. The review did not require notice to the NCAA of any rules violations and did not involve any allegations of violations of the University’s Anti-Discrimination policies, Title IX or related policies,” a university spokesperson said in a statement. “The University is committed to the well-being of its student-athletes and an inclusive and supportive environment for Women’s Basketball and all of our athletic programs.”
In addition to the suspension, a university official noted that Griffith is receiving additional coaching mentoring and oversight.
Griffith released a statement to The Athletic before its article was published: “I fully respect the process of the University review and take complete responsibility for everything that happens in the program, including the times my conduct fell short. As the Head Coach and a former student-athlete at Columbia University, there is nothing more important to me than the success and well-being of my players.”
Ivy Hoops Online sought comment from Mnookin and athletics director Peter Pilling but was told by a university official that there would be no follow-up statements.
Thursday’s article detailed what the former players, who were said to request anonymity because of fear of retaliation, told The Athletic was “a culture of emotional and psychological abuse, the mistreatment of injured players, and the utter disregard for athletes’ mental health.”
Among their allegations were:
- “postgame tirades” in which the coach singled players out, kicked them out of practice and the locker room and used demeaning language towards them
- the creation of a culture of verbal abuse, bullying and manipulation
- athletes feeling pressured to play through injuries and prioritize training over recovery
In a statement reported by The Athletic, the athletes were concerned by the lack of transparency of the investigation, as well as its findings and conclusions.
A university official told Ivy Hoops Online that the external review was conducted by Washington, D.C.-based law firm Dunn Isaacson Rhee LLP after the university received the complaint about Griffith’s coaching behavior. The investigative team, which was led by Danielle Conley, spoke to almost 50 individuals associated with the program, including many former players, per the official.
Conley is a partner in the firm and previously served as deputy White House counsel in the Biden administration, deputy on the Biden-Harris Transition’s Department of Justice Agency Review Team and associate deputy attorney general at the DOJ during the Obama administration. Per her workplace bio, she defends universities and companies in civil litigation involving workplace conduct claims and focuses on managing legal and reputational risk.
Since an external review is usually conducted by individuals or groups engaged by an organization, in this instance Columbia University, Ivy Hoops Online inquired to find out if the firm’s investigation was also an independent review, but that question went unanswered by the institution.
Griffith, Columbia’s all-time winningest coach through her 11-year tenure and the architect of a program that went from among the nation’s worst to one consistently in the mix for an NCAA Tournament bid, continues to have many devoted current and former players.
“One thing I’m going to say about her [Griffith] and about our entire coaching staff is they love us so much. Yes, they push us, we push each other, but they love us so much, and I think even having her back today, we felt that love the entire time,” senior guard and co-captain Fliss Henderson told the assembled media following an 81-58 Columbia loss Thursday at No. 2 Michigan. “Division I basketball is hard, I’m putting it out there, but you’re in the game and it’s tough. We’re fighting, all 14 of us we’re fighting, but we feel the love from them [the coaches] the whole time.”
Other Ivy coaches who have drawn scrutiny
In January 2023, more than a dozen former players on the Harvard women’s hockey team told the Boston Globe about abusive coaching practices by coach Katey Stone. After the article was published, around 45 former players wrote a letter of support for the coach to the paper.
The university looked into an allegation from the previous season, but it was determined that she did not create a toxic work environment or engage in a pattern of unprofessional conduct. However, the school did put her on a performance in practice (PIP) plan to address concerns raised by the players.
Following another university investigation after the publication of the article, Stone retired that June after leading the Crimson to more than 500 victories over a 27-year period. A year later, she filed a lawsuit against Harvard for gender discrimination, and the two parties are presently in mediation.
A February 2020 post on Dear Bluneo, a Brown student-run online platform that solicits and posts anonymous submissions, a series of unsubstantiated allegations were made against then-Brown women’s basketball head coach Sarah Behn, including emotional abuse, racism and weight-shaming. The post received supportive comments and “likes” from several former Brown players.
The Brown Daily Herald noted that it spoke to seven former players during the prior year, who alleged that the coach repeatedly made remarks about players’ weights, used language that they described as vulgar and singled out players for criticism. The paper’s leadership did not publish the story because it felt the publication needed to do additional reporting.
Due to the allegations, the Brown Band decided not to play at any more home games that season. Four players, however, wrote to the Herald in support of the coach.
Shortly after the conclusion of that season, her sixth in charge of the Bears, Behn stepped down from her position.
In 2019, seven then-current and former softball athletes alleged that Cornell softball head coach Julie Farlow had repeatedly mistreated athletes, citing incidents of ignored overuse injuries, neglect of concussion protocol and disregard of mental health issues.
Then-athletics director Andy Noel was aware that some players were critical of the coaches and the department but had “no basis for believing that Coach Farlow has acted in a destructive or inappropriate manner or with any intention but to help her team improve,” per a statement.
After the publication of the article by the Cornell Daily Sun, 52 Cornell softball alumni and two coaches who had worked alongside the coach voiced their support for her.
Farlow, an alumna of the university and a member of the Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame, stayed with the program until late in the 2024 season. With six games remaining, Nicki Moore, who took over for Noel in the winter of 2023, announced that the 10-year head coach was no longer with the program.
In 2019, several then-Penn volleyball athletes told the Daily Pennsylvanian that the conduct of then-head coach Iain Braddak left many on the team feeling offended, mistreated, or dejected. They also felt that the way that Penn Athletics handled eight separate grievances submitted after the 2018 season left them feeling unsupported.
Rudy Fuller, the then-senior associate athletics director and current deputy athletics director, stated that “Each grievance was thoroughly vetted and reviewed by the internal Penn Athletics Grievance Committee as well as the external, independent Student-Athlete Grievance Review Committee consisting of campus partners from the University faculty, the Division of Human Resources, and VPUL (Vice Provost for University Life),” according to the Daily Pennsylvanian.
When players returned for spring training in January 2019, Braddak was still leading the team, but his practices were often being monitored by Fuller and associate athletics director Matt Valenti.
The fall 2019 season was shut down by the department with two games left in the schedule due to the discovery of what they said were “vulgar, offensive, and disrespectful posters in the women’s volleyball locker room.”
Braddak resigned in February 2020 after two years at the helm of the program.
In January 2018, the Daily Pennsylvanian reported that 26 students left the softball program before their senior season – and allegations from five former athletes, three parents of former players and one former assistant coach that then-head coach Leslie King was insensitive to the physical and mental well-being of her players.
When asked about the significant number of players quitting the team, Penn Athletics referred the paper back to a statement the coach made the month prior. “We care about our players as people, students & athletes. We have a competitive D-I team and it’s not easy to do what our players do. Students do leave the program. Every student has their own unique experience and their unique reasons for leaving. Each time it happens, we take it to heart and reflect upon why they leave and what we can learn from it as coaches.”
There was never any reported discipline of the coach, and King retired from Penn in early 2023 after amassing 354 wins.
Shortly after the conclusion of the 2014 season, the Columbia Spectator reported on a letter 25 players sent to then-president Lee Bollinger, then-Board of Trustees chair Jonathan Schiller, and former Board of Trustees chair Bill Campbell alleging then-head coach Pete Mangurian mishandled relationships between younger players and upperclassmen and pressured players to play with concussions.
The letter also accused the coach “of being physically abusive, alienating injured players, imposing drastic and unrealistic weight regimens, and delivering a particularly scathing speech after the team’s 42-7 loss at Albany.”
While the letter was withdrawn by the athletes, Mangurian, who ended the year overseeing a 21-game losing streak, resigned a day later.
Amazing coverage, Rob