Our View: Volleyball players suffer from Athletics’ mistakes

The University of Idaho has let down the volleyball players in almost every way throughout Head Coach Chris Gonzalez’s time in Moscow. 

In November 2023, the university’s Office for Civil Rights and Investigations launched an investigation into Gonzalez’s alleged abusive behavior. It was a year too late. In November 2022, multiple players approached university administration, including Athletic Director Terry Gawlik, about behaviors from Gonzalez. 

Kate Doorn, a setter on the 2022-2023 Idaho team, and her father wrote a letter to university administration, detailing alleged abusive conduct toward players. This letter, combined with a meeting with administration in November 2022, detailed instances where Gonzalez reportedly restricted the players’ food intake, pushed a player to the ground during practice and made comments about the players’ bodies. 

These claims were ignored by university administration, namely Gawlik, but also President Scott Green. Anonymous players previously told the Argonaut that they were “laughed out of her office.” They were struggling to find purpose and passion on their collegiate team. The players wanted their time as a Vandal to be unforgettable, to be their golden days. The players approached Gawlik specifically because she has a background in women’s athletics. 

Before coming to UI, Gawlik worked for 14 years at the University of Wisconsin as the designated senior woman administrator. In this role, Gawlik specifically “oversaw the department’s implementation and compliance with policies and procedures regarding Title IX, gender equity, diversity and sexual assault and violence training,” according to her UI biography. Gawlik has more than a decade of experience at a major Division I school working with similar problems as the Idaho players were facing in November 2022. And yet, when the players built up the courage to approach those they thought could help, their voices were silenced. Their voices were laughed out of the office. 

Because of this, good players left the school. Doorn transferred to Sacramento State after the 2022 season. The Hornets finished the season at 22-12 and 13-3 in Big Sky Conference play with Doorn as their starting setter. Even with Doorn as the starting setter for Idaho in the 2022 season, Idaho finished at 4-24 overall and 1-15 in conference play.  

The records don’t lie. Idaho had the players and the skillset to find success on the court. If they had the talent, why did the Vandals only rake in one conference win? The players knew why. The players told the university administration why. They said that Gonzalez was reportedly physically, mentally, emotionally and verbally abusing them. 

He was showing fail montage videos of a single player after games, Idaho player Emma Patterson previously told the Argonaut. He was commenting on their bodies. He was saying the program “has been crap for almost 50 years.” He said that other teams laugh at the Vandals, that they humiliate them. All these allegations combined with a 4-24 record was not enough evidence for the university to reconsider Gonzalez’s employment.  

If that wasn’t enough evidence for the university, there might not ever be enough. They repeated the exact same offenses a year later. Once again, players approached university administration. They asked Gawlik for help. They asked associate athletic director Chris Walsh for help. They filed formal complaints with the OCRI. 

And once again, Gawlik “laughed them out of the office” for the same allegations against Gonzalez in September 2023 that she was made aware of in November 2022. An anonymous player told the Argonaut earlier this year that Gonzalez heard the players complained about him to administration and brought it up in a September 2023 meeting. He reportedly told the players he sees and hears everything they are saying about him. That he warned them to never do that again. 

This fear of retaliation forced the players to seek help outside of the university and outside of the programs that are supposedly put in place to protect athletes from these kinds of situations. The players were forced to speak to the media. The only person that would lend them an ear and give them a voice was a news outlet in southern California, and after the story broke, the Argonaut. 

With the news breaking and the story no longer being one the university could laugh out of an office and sweep under a rug, the administration continued to avoid accountability. Yes, they sent out a Jan. 19 memo to the student body voicing support for Vandal athletes. Yes, they said this situation is awful and that no athletes should have to go through it. 

And yet, their actions said otherwise. Patterson told the Argonaut that even though Gonzalez was being investigated for alleged abuse, the players initially could not opt out of practice. They could only opt out of non-physical volleyball activities, such as film and team meetings. Patterson said the players had to specifically request the ability to opt out multiple times before it was approved. 

That shouldn’t have even been a conversation. They should have immediately been able to opt out of practicing with and for their alleged abuser. Their alleged abuser should not have been at practice in the first place. Gonzalez was under investigation as soon as the 2023 season ended in November. 

He was placed on paid administrative leave on March 27. The university took more than four months to place Gonzalez on leave. Because of this, Gonzalez was actively coaching players. He was actively recruiting and signing players for the fall, allll while he was under investigation for alleged abuse.  

It almost seems like the university wants to keep Gonzalez around. They ignored complaints in 2022. They ignored complaints in 2023. They ignored a 4-24 record. They ignored a 1-27 record. And they ignored their duty to place him on leave while the investigation was being conducted. 

They only placed him on leave after the 42-page preliminary report was completed, detailing the exact same situations players brought to light in the previous two seasons. The university seemed to only believe the allegations because they came from a lawyer’s mouth and not a player’s. 

This extreme delay, lack of accountability and the intense instability for the volleyball program is a disservice to the volleyball players. It is a disservice to the Vandal Family. 

These players deserve better. They deserve to be heard and to be believed. They deserve to take pride in being a Vandal and to not be ashamed of the black and gold. 

The same people that heard the complaints more than a year ago will be the same people making a decision regarding Gonzalez’s employment. Hopefully the final OCRI report, the recommendation from OCRI director Jackie Wernz and the complete and utter support from the Vandal Family for the players is enough evidence for the university to make the right decision, to prioritize the team and to get rid of Gonzalez. 

Hopefully the university listens to the lawyers, because it doesn’t seem like they listen to Vandals themselves. 

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