John Chadima, Wisconsin Associate Athletic Director, Resigned After Allegation Of Sexual Assault

University of Wisconsin Associate Athletic Director John Chadima resigned from the school on Jan. 7. The early news surrounding the resignation, as reported by Martha Boem and Tony Galli of WKOW 27, was that Chadima was intoxicated and had been engaged in "embarrassing" actions during the trip to Southern California in late December and early January for the Wisconsin Badgers Rose Bowl appearance. The school announced that a review board was investigating, but there was no further information at the time.

On Tuesday, the school released their full Rose Bowl Incident Report (PDF), which was first brought to our attention by Adam Hoge of Badgers blog Bucky's Fifth Quarter. The report alleges that the misconduct in question was actually a sexual assault perpetrated by Chadima on an unnamed male student employee of the athletic department.

According to the report, the incident took place following a party that Chadima threw for "staff and student employees who worked 'behind the scenes' in support of the football team" in his suite at the J.W. Marriott in downtown Los Angeles on Dec. 30. The party, which included alcoholic beverages purchased with athletic department funds and provided to students, some of whom were underage, was attended by dozens of people, but the incident was alleged to have occurred after everyone but Chadima and the student employee had left.

The alleged victim, identified simply as John Doe, said that Chadima told him to, "stay here and have a drink with me" after the other students had left. Doe recalls making three drinks for each of them before the assault occurred. From the report:

At one point, as they were seated at the corner of a large table in the suite, Chadima told John Doe that he thought that Doe might be gay, and that some of the other student employees that Doe was gay. Doe told us he felt very uncomfortable and defensive but was not sure what was going on. He said that Chadima reached over and removed Does' pants belt and then inserted his hand inside Doe's pants on his genitals. Doe reported that he was shocked and frightened and slapped Chadima's hand away and swore at him. He reported that Chadima said, "I thought you liked it" and "What are you going to do about it?" and "I could have you fired." Doe quickly left the room. As he was leaving the room, Doe reported that Chadima seemed to want to gloss over the incident as "just joking around."

Doe informed his immediate supervisor of the incident after leaving the room but asked that nothing be done until they were back in Madison so as not to be a distraction to the football team. After returning to Madison, Chadima resigned shortly after the start of the investigation, issuing the following press release on Jan. 19:

I deeply regret leaving under these circumstances and disappointed those people with, and for whom, I have worked and dedicated my career for the past 22 years. I make no excuses and accept full responsibility for my actions.

I would like to express my heartfelt apologies to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, its athletic department, and all full-time, part-time and student employees who have been affected by my recent lapse of judgment. I ask for their forgiveness.

In the wake of so many college scandals as of late, it is good to see a school act so quickly and professionally regarding this situation.

For all news and information regarding Wisconsin Badgers athletics, please visit Bucky's Fifth Quarter.