Gophers beat writer details her own allegations vs. ex-AD
On Friday, Minnesota Gophers basketball beat writer Amelia Rayno covered the resignation of the school's athletic director, Norwood Teague. On Sunday, she became part of the story.
Teague resigned last week after complaints of sexual harassment were filed against him, including allegations of groping women and sending lewd and lascivious text messages.
Teague elected to resign, admitting to the offenses after having “entirely too much to drink.” Teague said in his statement, via the Minneapolis Star Tribune: “This behavior neither reflects my true character nor the values of the University.”
Rayno’s story posted by the Star Tribune details the reporter's own allegations about Teague, including disturbing claims about her encounters and interactions with the AD while covering his department. (The newspaper says it attempted to get reaction about Rayno's claims from Teague but that he "did not respond.")
Rayno wrote about an exchange she claims she had with Teague after attending a going-away party for a member of the communications staff in December 2013. Rayno wrote that as she was leaving the party, Teague texted her to see whether she wanted to get a drink. She agreed, but she claims things went bad fast.
Rayno says she agreed to the drink with Teague initially because "cultivating sources is a critical part of a reporter’s job. Sometimes that crosses into social gatherings. Having a drink with a source is not at all unusual."
What Rayno claims happened, however, is unacceptable. And, according to her, Teague's behavior continued that evening.
According to Rayno, Teague texted her a message later that evening reading, "Night strictly bitness."
Even after this alleged incident, Rayno still had to go back to the athletic department and cover Teague’s teams for the next several months. And she writes that things deteriorated still.
In the column, Rayno also claims that Teague had previously called her “cute,” and that he had asked her on another occasion when she rebuffed an offer to get a drink whether she was “wearing pajamas” while they were texting.
Despite telling her human resources department about the allegations in April 2014, Rayno says she decided not to tell her own story, until now. In her column, Rayno offers reasons why she hadn’t gone public earlier, calling it “self-preservation” for someone who “didn’t want my career interrupted because of a powerful man’s misdeeds.”
At the bottom of Rayno’s article is a statement from University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler, who expressed his disappointment in further allegations coming forward against Teague.
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