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CU in the spotlight: A timeline of events

Rocky Mountain News

Published December 6, 2007 at 1:30 a.m.

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1997

December: A high school student reports she was sexually assaulted by two Colorado recruits at a party. No charges were filed because witnesses cannot corroborate the allegations. The recruits in question do not enroll.

1998

February: Mary Keenan and other Boulder County prosecutors meet with university lawyers and the chancellor. Keenan later says she put athletic officials "on notice" about concerns dealing with sex and alcohol involving recruits. Athletic Director Richard Tharp says he does not remember Keenan using that phrase.

2001

Dec. 7: Colorado football players and recruits attend an off-campus party, at which Lisa Simpson and Anne Gilmore say they were raped. A third woman says she was assaulted in a dorm room afterward. The three later file federal gender-discrimination lawsuits against the school.

2002

April: Prosecutors decide against filing rape charges in the case.

May 3: Prosecutors file felony charges against four football players for allegedly providing alcohol to minors at the party. The next day, the school confirms it has revoked the scholarships of four players.

2004

Jan. 28: A deposition by Keenan is released in which she accuses Colorado's athletic department of using sex and alcohol as recruiting tools.

Jan. 29: Barnett, Tharp and others deny Keenan's allegations. Gov. Bill Owens demands a public accounting.

Feb. 2: CU President Elizabeth Hoffman announces that an independent commission appointed by the regents will look into Keenan's allegations.

Feb. 17: Former Colorado place-kicker Katie Hnida tells Sports Illustrated she was raped by a teammate in 2000.

Feb. 18: Police release a report in which a woman says she was sexually assaulted by a football player in September 2001 and that coach Gary Barnett told her he would back his player if charges were pursued. No charges were filed. Barnett is placed on paid leave for comments attributed to him in the police report and for disparaging Hnida's athletic ability.

Feb. 27: Owens appoints Attorney General Ken Salazar as special prosecutor to investigate the scandal.

March 4: CU announces stricter football recruiting rules.

May 11: Salazar decides against filing criminal charges in nine alleged sexual assaults involving football players.

May 18: A regents' panel releases its final report: Finds evidence of drug, alcohol and drug use to entice recruits but no suggestion that university officials condoned the misconduct.

May 21: A grand jury begins taking testimony.

May 27: The university reinstates Barnett and says no one will lose his or her job because of the scandal. Hoffman announces sweeping changes to boost athletic department accountability.

Aug. 13: Tharp testifies before the grand jury.

Aug. 24: The state grand jury indicts former football recruiting assistant Nathan Maxcey on charges of soliciting a prostitute and misusing a university cell phone.

Nov. 17: The Rocky Mountain News reports that a fraud investigator hired by prosecutors questioned some financial transactions involving the university; its private fundraising arm, the CU Foundation; and two summer football camps run by Barnett.

Nov. 22: Tharp resigns effective Nov. 30, but maintains he did nothing wrong.

Dec. 13: One of the three women suing CU drops her lawsuit, attorneys say.

Dec. 14: Boulder campus Chancellor Richard Byyny resigns to accept a new job, but says the controversies didn't affect his decision.

2005

March 3: 9News reports that the still-secret grand jury report says a CU assistant football coach was accused of sexually assaulting two female trainers and that money from Barnett's football camp went into a "slush fund."

March 7: Hoffman announces her resignation, effective by June 30, citing the need to remove the focus from questions about her leadership.

March 31: A federal judge tosses out the lone remaining federal lawsuit filed by two women who say the school failed to prevent their alleged assaults in 2001. U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn writes in the judgment that the facts didn't form "a constellation of relevant events" that provides enough evidence for the case to go to trial.

April: Lisa Simpson's attorney Baine Kerr announces his intention to appeal Blackburn's ruling. Blackburn begins reconsidering his dismissal of the lawsuit.

July: U.S. District Magistrate Judge Craig B. Shaffer orders CU to release documents that Simpson's lawyers accuse the university of withholding.

Former low-ranking recruiting aide Nathan Maxcey pleads guilty to charges relating to the grand jury indictment.

Dec.: Barnett accepts a deal with the university and resigns as head coach while receiving $3 million in restitution.

2006

March: Judge Blackburn again dismisses the lawsuit against CU, saying that the plaintiff's reasons for challenging his summary judgment are invalid.

June: Blackburn dismisses the lawsuit again.

August: Lisa Simpson's lawyers begin to appeal the Title IX lawsuit in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

October: An appeals court panel of judges reaffirms the decision the keep the grand jury report sealed.

2007

May: The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals hears oral arguments in the case.

September: An appeals court revives Simpson's lawsuit claiming she and another coed were gang-raped at a CU football recruiting party.

October: CU appeals a three-judge panel's decision to revive a gender discrimination lawsuit.

December: CU settles case with Simpson for $2.5 million.