RICHMOND CASE

RICHMOND CASE

Key dates

A partial timeline of events in the Ma’lik Richmond case, according to his lawsuit brought against Youngstown State University in U.S. District Court in Youngstown:

August 2016: Richmond and his guardians met with Coach Bo Pelini in his office. He (Pelini) told them that he would stand by Ma’lik “no matter what,” and felt that Ma’lik had served his time.

January 2017: Richmond sought a place on the YSU football team as a walk-on.

Aug. 2, 2017: Richmond earned a spot on the 105-man roster as a walk-on. He was not receiving an athletic scholarship and is in good standing on the YSU campus.

Aug. 4, 2017: The Vindicator ran a story disclosing Richmond’s background and reporting that he had made the team. The newspaper interviewed Coach Pelini, who explained that it was his own carefully considered decision to add Richmond to the team.

Aug. 5, 2017: Immediately after publication of the Vindicator story, a female YSU student, Katelyn Davis, started an online petition demanding removal of Richmond from the team because, according to the petition, Richmond was convicted of the rape of an unconscious young girl ... and does not deserve the privilege of playing on a football team and representing a university.

Aug. 10, 2017: Richmond became despondent when he learned of the YSU statement saying he could remain on the team but not compete in games this season. Richmond did not want to return to football practice and wanted to quit school. But his coaches met with him and offered him encouragement, and a number of his teammates also reached out to support him.

YSU, in a statement, said: YSU does not restrict any student’s ability to take part in extracurricular activities as long as they are in good standing with the institution, which Richmond is.

Source: Court filing