BATON ROUGE, La. — Senator Regina Barrow (D-LA) did not mince her words in response to LSU football head coach Ed Orgeron’s written statement issued to the La. Senate Committee’s case against former Tigers running back Derrius Guice.
Guice, who also played for the Washington Football Team, is being accused of sexual harassment toward a 74-year-old Superdome security guard in 2017.
“Today, as Chair of the Select Committee on Women and Children, I received a statement from Coach Orgeron, Head Football Coach of LSU. While I appreciate receiving the statement, the Coach’s decision not to appear before the committee is troubling,” stated the District 15 State Senator of Orgeron’s decision to submit a written statement rather than take the option of appearing before the Senate Select Committee of Women and Children.
Sen. Barrow continued to lambast Orgeron, who adamantly denies talking to Scott directly about the incident, for what she believes is a lack of personal responsibility taken on the matter.
Barrow stated:
“The committee outlined this process to get to the facts, place ownership and fault where it belongs, and to be sure that what took place never happens again. These hearings, along with all the work that our committee does is so important to the young women and men, and to Ms. [Gloria] Scott, who have been sexually assaulted, abused and/or raped, because they allow for a dialogue to take place and for questions to be answered.
“The Coach’s statement does nothing to speak directly to the actions that occurred or to which action he took after he learned of the allegations. In fact, his statement seeks to discredit Ms. Scott’s testimony by drawing unfounded parallels between Ms. Scott and others. Coach Orgeron and all those involved in this matter owe it to those ladies to stop with this dismissive behavior and to own up to what occurred, taking responsibility for the actions that took place and the cover-up that followed. Only then can we begin to heal and work towards creating a more safe environment for our students and those who work alongside them.
“As our work moves forward, the committee will continue to focus on uncovering the truth and finding those responsible for these acts, which is well within this committee’s oversight boundaries and the purpose for which it was formed. Our committee will work in whatever way we can to assist the Office of Civil Rights in their newly announced Title IX federal investigation into LSU’s handling of sexual assault and harassment cases among students and staff.”
