“It’s just Pete,” was a statement made in the recent reports of the investigation of former Head Coach Peter Thomas of the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country and Track programs here at Keene State College.
This statement reinforces that the culture of a team was so accepting of a coach’s behavior that athletes and employees began “looking the other way,” now with evidence to prove it.
As part of the conclusions to the investigation of Thomas, conclusion letter “G” states that, “The training protocols and reporting structure at the college were insufficient to overcome the culture of ‘looking the other way’ where Coach Thomas’s behavior was concerned.”
Scott McPhillips / Equinox Staff
In an interview with President Anne Huot on March 27, 2014, she was asked what she was going to do to change this culture among student-athletes and sports teams.
Given the example of Jane Doe 5’s account in the report where she mentioned that the upperclassmen didn’t “warn” her of Thomas’s behavior President Huot responded, “So, I think what happened there was that the behaviors were more broadly known than is apparent. I think student athletes tried to compensate for that behavior by providing counseling to new young athletes about how to engage in the environment that they were entering. That’s totally unacceptable. Totally unacceptable. It should never be the case that students feel they need to explain to other students on how to protect themselves from an employee.”
Other conclusions of the investigation found that “Coach Thomas has engaged in behavior which rises to the level of sexual harassment in that he made unwelcome sexual comments and engaged in unpermitted touching of at least some student-athletes.”
This conclusion was established based on the reports of several female athletes and alumni, who all reported being touched by Coach Thomas in what they felt was an inappropriate way.
Along with those claims, both male and female athletes reported a variety of inappropriate sexually-charged commentary from Thomas that was not appropriate in an educational setting.
Some of these sexually-charged comments were made about certain parts of women’s bodies and being “overly familiar” with students’ personal lives, dating and sexual relationships. In one claim in particular Thomas was said to have advised a student not to take birth control pills. Another conclusion was a widely known behavior of giving leg massages to female athletes. According to the reports, “Nearly all of the current students, alumni and staff interviewed states that they had seen Thomas give leg massages to athletes.
”Thomas did not deny that he gave leg massages. Thomas stated that the massages were always related to an injury and after referring athletes to the training center some would come back and ask him to massage their leg as well. However, those claims are disputed from several people who were massaged and felt uncomfortable.
In February 2014, Director of Athletics John Ratliff sent out a campus-wide email saying that coaches were to stop giving massages.
Thomas replied, “OK.”
The next conclusion explains the imbalance of power between Thomas and his students, furthering a culture that divides a team.
“His power extends over those who revere him and those who despise him,” stated the report.
Evidence in the report explains that Thomas had the ability to manipulate athletes by favoritism. In the report Jane Doe 9 gives the example that Thomas had bought shoes for the faster runners and even bought shoes for an athlete who was going to quit as a way to entice her to stay.
John Doe 1 also confirmed that “favorites” were treated differently and that Thomas held grudges if an athlete had a bad race or workout. The next conclusion comes back to the culture of the cross-country and track teams. The investigation found that students would not report behavior that made them uncomfortable for fear of retribution by the coach, other athletes and alumni. Several reports claimed that early in their careers as cross country and track athletes they were told to disregard certain behaviors. For example, John Doe 4 stated that, “It’s just Pete” was passed down from upperclassmen to lowerclassmen.
He gave the example of receiving a hug from Thomas and feeling awkward about it until an upperclassmen told you, “It’s just Pete,” and he would get used to the behavior. This culture resulted in student-athletes becoming desensitized to behavior they otherwise may have thought was inappropriate if the upperclassmen did not reassure them.
The last conclusion explained that the coach’s behavior went unchecked for many years, which lead to creating a culture in which the behavior became natural and accepted. According to the report many witnesses reported that alumni, upperclassmen, members of the coaching staff and athletic department were aware of Thomas’s behavior and that in their eyes this behavior was acceptable in education.
Some even say they did not report anything because they thought that nothing would be done if they complained.
Huot later explained that new leadership models in athletics and better orientation for student athletes and the student population at large – including significant mandatory training for anyone that works at the college – will be a part of making students aware of their resources. The desired result is to eliminate these “responsibilities” on students and student-athletes and to eliminate cultures and behaviors evident in the Thomas investigation.
All reports on Peter Thomas, Charlie Beach and Eugene “ Gino” Vallente are available at keene.edu/president.
Kendall Pope can be contacted kpope@kscequinox.com
