Editor’s note: This column has been updated with corrected information
It’s been said that the “THE” part of THE Ohio State University stands for “Truth, Honor and Excellence.”
If that is true, perhaps an asterisk next to the “THE” is in order, given how some university officials were slow to take action regarding Dr. Richard Strauss.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that on June 3, the university’s board of trustees approved a $100 million settlement to finally put to rest complaints from 279 former athletes who were sexually abused by the late team doctor.
The university reached settlement agreements with 185 survivors in 2020 and additional survivors in February 2026, July 2022 and April 2022. These agreements are with a total of 317 survivors.
But there’s no amount of money that will assuage the feelings of betrayal toward people who were put in place to assure their safety and protection.
The victims have long been aware that their truth, honor and excellence were sacrificed, even as they tried to warn anyone who would listen.
It must be a difficult thing for a young man at the peak of his physical prowess to accept that he was abused, and in the worst way possible. It’s an irony made exponentially more painful by the steadfast refusal of a venerated institution to do anything about it.
In our culture, the very definition of masculinity hinges on a man’s ability to defend himself and protect his loved ones. Because of this, none of us should be surprised if the actual number of victims is much higher.
Some will take their trauma to their graves, if they haven’t already.
It may be the one thing in which women unfortunately are more adept at navigating. By the time a girl is 13, she has been honked at, leered at, and is well aware of how quickly a public space can devolve into a stalking ground.
In contrast, boys tend to be more naive about the possibility, and therefore, more vulnerable. Because doctors are figures of trust, Strauss’ victims could not have fathomed that their team doctor, of all people, would abuse it.
The roster of Strauss’ victims reads like a who’s who. In May, 30 former Ohio State football players, including some NFL veterans, spoke publicly for the first time and lodged legal complaints involving Strauss, who clearly preyed with impunity. The Dispatch previously reported that retired Columbus Fire Chief Jeffrey Happ said Strauss sexually assaulted him when he was a 15-year-old boy at Bishop Ready High School. Tim Becker, director of public safety in Gahanna and a former deputy chief with the Columbus Police Department, has come forward as a former victim, too.
These men somehow navigated through life as Ohio State circled the wagons, which allowed Strauss to continue unabated in his unspeakable behavior.
It has been since discovered that after Strauss was hired by Ohio State in 1978, complaints about his behavior began almost immediately. University spokesman Ben Johnson, said Ohio State received a report in March 2018 from a former student-athlete about sexual abuse by Strauss decades earlier, and that less than one week later, the university announced an independent investigation.
To the school’s credit, the settlement does not prohibit individuals from talking about Strauss’ abuse publicly.
“Ohio State has apologized, reach hundreds of settlement agreements, and continues to cover the cost of professionally certified counseling services and other medical treatment for survivors and their families for as long as needed, including reimbursing survivors for counseling and treatment received in the past,” Johnson said.
One can’t help but wonder how the coaches and school administrators who knew the victims were telling the truth but refused to act for years, can live with themselves.
We go to school to learn things. The victims of Richard Strauss have learned a hard and bitter lesson in that one of the persons they should have been able to trust the most, did them the most harm.
Charita M. Goshay is a Canton Repository staff writer and member of the editorial board. Reach her at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Ohio State finally acknowledges athletes’ trauma | Goshay
Reporting by Charita M. Goshay, Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Charita M. Goshay, Canton Repository | USA TODAY Network
