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Report: Air Force superintendent orders investigation into athletic department

Air Force

Air Force Academy superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson has called for an investigation into the academy’s athletic department, after the Colorado Springs Gazette inquired about misconduct from student-athletes on several different teams.

On Sunday morning, Tim Roeder of the Gazette published a detailed report following the publication’s investigation into the athletic department. The investigation found cases of sexual assault, drug use and academic fraud.

Roeder documented a wild, off-campus party where “cadet athletes used spice, a synthetic marijuana, and allegedly engaged in gang rape,” following the football team’s 45-21 win over Colorado State on Dec. 2, 2011. An investigation shortly after that night resulted in 32 cadets being questioned, three of whom were basketball players.

While the report focuses mainly on the football program, The Gazette also uncovered academic issues regarding the basketball program. Roeder reported that two star basketball players took special course by an economics professor, who taught the class around the team’s practice and game schedules.

[Dave] Mullin said he gave in to the request by his boss in 2005 and taught the course to the smallest class he’d seen - center Nick Welch and guard Antoine Hood, who had led the team to the 2004 NCAA Tournament, where they were knocked out in the first round.

Johnson called for a Inspector General’s investigation into Air Force’s athletics department late this week.

“These efforts will help in eliminating subcultures whose climates do not align with our institutional core values,” she told the Gazette through a statement. “Despite all of our efforts, I expect we’ll still have issues with a few young people who will make poor choices.”

The full investigative report can be read here.

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