Yale quarterback Patrick Witt accused of sexual assault before he withdrew Rhodes candidacy

Former Yale quarterback Patrick J. Witt, who chose to play against Harvard instead of attending a required interview for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship in November, was accused of sexual assault before the game and was no longer a candidate for the Rhodes at the time, according to The New York Times. Days before the scheduled interview and The Game, the Rhodes Trust had discovered through "unofficial channels" that a Yale student had accused Witt of sexual assault. The Trust told Yale and Witt that his candidacy for the award was suspended unless Yale chose to re-endorse it.

Witt officially withdrew his candidacy for the scholarship while announcing that he would play in the upcoming game against Harvard. Journalists reported that he had withdrawn his application in order to play, and the quarterback and his university allowed that "misimpression" to carry on.

In September, a female student alerted Yale's Sexual Assault Harassment and Response and Education Center that Witt had assaulted her in her dorm room. The woman didn't go to the police, but filed an informal complaint with the school, meaning one or a few of the members of the University's Committee on Sexual Misconduct resolved the issue without a complete investigation or a decision of guilt or innocence.

Yale has already been dealing with an investigation by the U. S. Department of Education in response to its handling of sexual harassment and assault. Witt's fraternity, Delta Kappa Epsilon, was hit with a five-year ban on campus activities last year after engaging in heavily reported cases of sexual harassment.

The article also includes some interesting background information on Witt. He attended four schools in three years, as his parents moved him and his older brother Jeff, a former Harvard quarterback, to different schools so they could play for the most pass-friendly offense.

Witt has also been arrested twice. The first time, while he was attending the University of Nebraska, was for "obstructing government operations" when he ran away from a police officer after entering a dorm intoxicated in the middle of the night. Those charges were late dropped. The second arrest came in New Haven, Conn., in 2010 for third-degree criminal trespass after a disagreement arose when he was denied entry into Toad's Place, a club near campus.

The article paints a much different picture of Witt than the "excellence in qualities of mind and qualities of person" that Rhodes scholars are supposed to embody. Not only is Witt's reputation tarnished, but there could be serious implications for the University. For example, it is unknown whether Yale president Richard C. Levin, who signed Witt's endorsement letter for the Rhodes, knew about the informal complaint before endorsing the star quarterback. University officials offered few comments, but it will be interesting to see how this situation progresses as more information emerges.