Hunter
9/24/19
University of Iowa president Bruce Harreld addressed the controversy over treatment of the UI band in Ames and says he wants to use the football game as an opportunity to improve safety measures going forward.
In an interview with the Daily Iowan, Harreld said it’s an issue he hopes can be fixed.
Harreld: I’m expecting we can work through this…clearly expecting we can work through it. But, if for some reason, one or the other party doesn’t come to the table? Then no, why would we? I think we need to document, we should hold ourselves accountable as a team. A team of Iowa State, Northern Iowa, and the University of Iowa.
Harreld says he’s reached out to Iowa State President Winterseen and UNI President Mark Nook about having conversations on preventing unacceptable behavior.
Harreld: I think it’s time for sure for our institution, and the other regential institutions in the state that we have a dialogue about the safety, and how we’re gonna guarantee it. And I don’t think we have any right, just like when something happens nasty on campus to any of our students…we have to protect them…you expect us to.
Still, president Harreld is questioning whether the Hawkeyes and Cyclones should meet again on the gridiron.
Harreld: I’m not convinced at all that we should play this game again, here or there, or anywhere, unless we can protect our fans, our band, and of course our athletes. And so I’ve reached out to President Wintersteen, as well as President Nook at UNI, because we don’t ever, I believe, ever play at their venue, but they play at our venues. And I think all three of us need to sit down and have a series of conversations with our athletic directors, with our band directors, with our campus security and safety people, and say ‘how to we protect, how do we ensure that something like what happened…8 days ago doesn’t happen again.
Allegations of pushing, shoving and groping of band members came to light after the game, with one member getting hit in the arm with a full bottle of beer, and another suffering broken ribs. The UI dropped the investigation a few days after the game, which prompted severe backlash from band members, students and parents. The UI announced late last week that they were reopening the investigation, and Harreld says that now the UI is being partially blamed for the incident.
Harreld: All of a sudden now, the University of Iowa is part of the issue because we start or stop the investigation. Please. We’re gonna get to the bottom of this, gonna get through it all, and we’re gonna learn from it and move forward. And if it means we’re not gonna play again, then we’re not gonna play again.
Back in June, the UI and ISU jointly announced that they extended their contract to play each other in the CyHawk Series football game through the 2025 season. The agreement says that refusing to play the game for reasons other than acts of God or other unusual occurrence could cost the cancelling school one million dollars, although there is a provision for both sides to waive that penalty.
Harreld’s interview was published by the Daily Iowan online Monday afternoon.