University officials awarded a former UNM student-athlete a settlement after she alleged an assistant coach within the Athletics department sexually assaulted her.
Brittany Wolfgang, a former player for the women's basketball team, alleged she was assaulted by an assistant coach in the Tow Diehm facility within University Stadium in April of 2002.
The settlement came after an administrative investigation, conducted by a local lawyer at the request of UNM, failed to determine if the accusation was valid.
UNM officials said a criminal investigation may have uncovered more evidence but because a report was never filed with University police, their hands were tied.
However, Allegra Carpenter, Wolfgang's attorney, said her client never filed a police report because UNM officials told her if she did, she would put herself in the public spotlight and increase the chance of her name being mentioned in local media.
"I have told the truth about what happened to me," Wolfgang said in a statement given to the Daily Lobo by Carpenter. "When I wanted to file a police report, I was told that it would result in a story in the newspapers, and I didn't want that publicity for myself or the school. When the school felt it could not put together a strong enough case against the perpetrator, it offered to resolve matters with me in a way that provides for my tuition at another college. I hope to receive my degree and begin my career as a teacher in the next two years."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Julie Weaks Gutierrez, UNM vice president for Business and Finance, ordered the administrative investigation. Weaks Gutierrez said she told Wolfgang filing a police report would alert local media to the allegation, increasing the chance Wolfgang's name would appear in print or on television.
The investigation, conducted by Albuquerque lawyer Elizabeth German, examined statements and phone records regarding the allegation.
"My instructions to her (German) were to leave no stone unturned," Weaks Gutierrez said.
The investigation was inconclusive, she said, and it did not offer any evidence to clear the coach of the accusation.
"On the other hand, it gave us no evidence to allow taking action (against the coach)," Weaks Gutierrez said. "There was no evidence that substantiated the complaint."
Despite the absence of a clear conclusion, Weaks Gutierrez said she chose to award Wolfgang a settlement.
"My feeling was that something happened to this young woman," Weaks Gutierrez said. "I felt it was a modest settlement."
Weaks Gutierrez said federal law prevents her from releasing the settlement figures until six months after the mediation agreement. The amount was "roughly the equivalent to the remainder of her scholarship and attorney's fees," she said.
Wolfgang had two years of full-scholarship eligibility remaining before she left UNM last year.
UNM recruited Wolfgang to begin playing in the 2000-01 season, but sickness and injuries limited her to only 23 minutes of playing time during her Lobo career.
Carpenter said Wolfgang no longer is enrolled at UNM because the coach she accused still works for the University.
She added that Wolfgang will probably not file a police report, even though her name has been included in several local media stories about the alleged assault.
"I think that she has accepted that in these he-said, she-said situations, it's hard to prove it; so what's the point?" Carpenter said.
