In an update on allegations that men’s basketball Head Coach Danny Kaspar made racist comments toward former players, Texas State President Denise Trauth said she has “no input” in the outcome of the investigation, and Kaspar is currently on “leave with pay.”

During the Sept. 2 Faculty Senate meeting, where faculty members shared thoughts with Trauth on the process of the investigation into former player Jaylen Shead’s allegations against Kaspar, Trauth said she could only report the process.
Following Shead’s allegations, Trauth says the situation was “immediately” handed to Title IX Coordinator and Assistant Director of Equity and Inclusion Alexandria Hatcher. A formal complaint was filed June 12, at which point the investigation officially began.
“It is up to [Hatcher] to release the [investigation] report; it is up to her to design the investigation process,” Trauth said. “When the report is completed, a copy of it will go to the complainant (Shead) and to the respondent (Kaspar), and in this case to the Athletic Director [Larry Teis].”
Title IX-related incident reports to the Office of Equity and Inclusion are forwarded to Hatcher. Hatcher evaluates reports and decides whether or not an investigation is necessary. The Office of Equity and Inclusion reaches out to the complainant, which in this situation is Shead, to “offer resources” and gather information.
The office then notifies the respondent of the investigation. The investigation, which includes interviews, witnesses and a “written report of all documented evidence,” takes place. Teis then has 15 days to make a decision. Following the results, the respondent can appeal the sanction, if any, but not the outcome.
When questioned by Dr. Michael Supancic, an assistant professor in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminology, about the lack of consistent updates by the university on the matter, Trauth said: “there is nothing to be said by the university.”
“Literally the next day [the complaint] went to [Hatcher], and she started her work,” Trauth said. “At that point, there is nothing for the university to say except to publicly say we turned it over to her. We did say that publicly, we did make a statement that it was going to her, and she was doing the investigation per the university and system policies.”
Supancic expressed concern that the Texas State and San Marcos community was left in the dark by the university. Vice President of University Administration Lisa Lloyd said she disagreed with Supancic’s assertion.
“We came out immediately and said [Kaspar] was suspended, and he could not contact players,” Lloyd said. “That has always been the case, and we were very explicit at the very beginning about that, and that has never changed. We can’t comment on the case. You know, there is just nothing to add, and we have responded to the media [and] said it is still ongoing.”
However, the initial statement released by Teis following the allegations says that Teis found the claims “deeply troubling” and that the university was launching an investigation. The statement did not include information about any leave or suspension.
In response to a question from Supancic regarding Kaspar’s current involvement with the team, Trauth said “he has no contact with the student-athletes.”
Supancic expressed concern “that this has been shoved under the rug” by the university.
“I would disagree with [Supancic’s] characterization of shoving it under the rug,” Trauth said. “It is my understanding, but again I have literally had no interaction with [Hatcher] nor has [Teis], she is doing her work per our policy. Our policy has a lot of iterations in the report; there is time built in for various parts of the process… There has been no attempt on the part of the university to slow this process down, to do anything other than give [Hatcher] space and the environment she needs to do her investigation.”
Members of the senate said they were concerned about the length of the investigation, but Lloyd attributed the time of the investigation to Hatcher’s diligence.
“I wish [the investigation] could have gone faster,” Lloyd said. “I am one of the ones leading all of our diversity, equity inclusion initiatives. I wish it could have gone faster, but it just it didn’t, and that’s because [Hatcher] is extremely thorough.”