This update actually has nothing to do with Title IX--at least that we know of right now--but since I wrote recently about the second paid administrative leave of a female coach at FGCU I wanted to report on the "resolution" of this situation. Though there seems to be no word on the investigation of volleyball head coach Jaye Flood's shirt-grabbing incident, the investigation into the student welfare issues surrounding assistant softball coach Gina Ramacci is complete. Ramacci has been fired for an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student-athlete.
The article says that Ramacci has a "partner" and that she denies having a sexual relationship with a player on her team. She and her lawyer are planning on looking at the report this weekend. But right now she will remain on paid leave until December when her current contract expires. But apparently whether or not Ramacci had a sexual relationship with the unknown player, she will stayed fired because of an overall inappropriate relationship with said student-athlete. Additionally there seems to be issues about whether Ramacci knew about illegal drug use by players, her own disparaging remarks about head coach, David Deiros, and relaying confidential information about one student-athlete to another.
It is difficult to say much about this situation. Ramacci is young and likely naive about "appropriate" behavior for a coach having so recently been a player herself. Also, her situation as an apparently out coach is something I suspect we will be hearing about more and more. Many more teenagers are out when they get to college--if not earlier. They don't really know what it is to be closeted. But they are encountering an older generation that has not been so open and welcoming. Of course, if Ramacci did have a sexual relationship with one of her players there is no question that this was wrong. But given that neither coach nor player admitted to a sexual relationship, it may just be that coach and player did not know how to establish boundaries. And this is not surprising given that the atmosphere at FGCU for women, let alone gay women, does not seem all that good. Why wouldn't two gay women who share a love of a sport and are close in age develop a relationship that may read to others as inappropriate? Given FGCU's recent history I am reluctant to embrace uncritically the findings of this particular investigation.
The article says that Ramacci has a "partner" and that she denies having a sexual relationship with a player on her team. She and her lawyer are planning on looking at the report this weekend. But right now she will remain on paid leave until December when her current contract expires. But apparently whether or not Ramacci had a sexual relationship with the unknown player, she will stayed fired because of an overall inappropriate relationship with said student-athlete. Additionally there seems to be issues about whether Ramacci knew about illegal drug use by players, her own disparaging remarks about head coach, David Deiros, and relaying confidential information about one student-athlete to another.
It is difficult to say much about this situation. Ramacci is young and likely naive about "appropriate" behavior for a coach having so recently been a player herself. Also, her situation as an apparently out coach is something I suspect we will be hearing about more and more. Many more teenagers are out when they get to college--if not earlier. They don't really know what it is to be closeted. But they are encountering an older generation that has not been so open and welcoming. Of course, if Ramacci did have a sexual relationship with one of her players there is no question that this was wrong. But given that neither coach nor player admitted to a sexual relationship, it may just be that coach and player did not know how to establish boundaries. And this is not surprising given that the atmosphere at FGCU for women, let alone gay women, does not seem all that good. Why wouldn't two gay women who share a love of a sport and are close in age develop a relationship that may read to others as inappropriate? Given FGCU's recent history I am reluctant to embrace uncritically the findings of this particular investigation.
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