Boston University announced plans for an “external” investigation into its athletics department after alum Alex Cooper’s bombshell allegations.
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts-based college confirmed in a Thursday, June 26, statement that they will “seek a new outside review to make recommendations about ways to enhance the athletics department’s current policies, processes and best practices to further strengthen support for student well-being.”
BU staffers acknowledged that “concerns” were recently raised after former student athletes came forward with claims about interactions with their coaches.
“Concerns were raised in the fall of 2024 about the head women’s soccer coach Casey Brown,” a statement from the university read. “Within days of receiving those initial complaints, BU launched an external investigation and hired Phil Catanzano of Education & Sports Law Group to conduct a comprehensive examination of the situation. The investigation found no evidence of sexual harassment and no BU policy violations. Nevertheless, BU and Brown parted ways, and Brown is no longer the head coach. The current coach was appointed in 2025.”
The Boston Globe published an exposé on Wednesday, June 25, about Brown, who left the position in fall 2024. Cooper, 30, also reflected on her experience on the team from 2013 to 2015 in her recent Call Her Alex docuseries. The “Call Her Daddy” podcaster, who graduated from BU in 2017, claimed that she was sexually harassed by then-coach Nancy Feldman, who retired in 2022. (Us Weekly reached out to BU and its athletic department, as well as Feldman, for comment.)
“When I really knew that I needed to speak about this because it’s so much bigger than me was during the filming of this documentary,” Cooper said during the June 8 premiere of her Hulu series. “I found out that the harassment and abuse of power is still happening on the campus of Boston University.”
BU, meanwhile, stressed in a statement that they have a “zero-tolerance policy” for harassment on campus.
“We have a premier athletics program that strives for excellence in the scholar-athlete experience, which includes exemplary practices and policies,” the statement from Thursday continued. “We have a robust system of resources, support and staff dedicated to student well-being and a thorough reporting process through our Equal Opportunity Office. In recent weeks, the BU Equal Opportunity Office has reached out to every BU athlete to review resources, support, and reporting processes.”
The message added, “BU is committed to continually evaluating and seeking new best practices to enhance our program in supporting the health, wellness, and excellence of our athletes. As part of that commitment, we invite a new external review to look at our policies, processes and other practices. This is designed to evaluate our prevention, resources for support and care and processes for follow-up should athletes bring complaints.”
The statement continued to emphasize that BU takes harassment claims “seriously.”
“We look forward to an external review’s recommendations that can provide suggestions for continued improvements as we strive for excellence in our athletic program,” the school concluded.
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