Article content continued

“A dark shadow of suspicion was thrown over all the players” by the university’s internal investigation and suspension of the team, “even though the university already knew at that point the identities of the two players alleged to have been involved in the assault,” Greenspon told reporters.

The university “punished Andrew and the rest of the students on the team before any due process was carried out,” he said. “It’s unconscionable for the university to tarnish the reputation of its student athletes in the manner that they did, when they knew that these students were not involved.

“There is a right way and a wrong way to go about investigating sexual assault. This was the wrong way.”

Creppin said his membership on the team has changed from something he showed off with pride to something he mentions only to close friends.

At the time of the alleged assault he was at a Thunder Bay hospital where he and others had taken a sick teammate.

He said the university “talked down” to the team members, kept them in the dark, and then “they basically accused us all and threw us under the bus.”

And he said the team suspension has caused him and other team members extreme anxiety and stress. Some people on campus assume that since he was on the team, he must have been part of a “rape culture.”

There was “a dark shadow that was cast all over us, especially in public,” he said. “I was anxious going out in public … People ask you all the time about it … It’s very difficult when people ask you the same questions over and over again, like ‘What happened? What’s going on?’