Watch Archive
The Big 12 Conference has announced the lineup for its fifth "State of College Athletics" Forum to continue examining issues facing college athletics. The Forum, "Campus Violence – Finding Solutions," will be held on Wednesday, September 28, at 4:00 p.m. CT, at the Belo Mansion & Pavilion in Dallas, and will center on domestic violence and sexual assault.
"There is nothing more important to campus life than providing a safe environment for all college students," said Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby. "This opportunity for an open and honest dialogue on the issues of domestic violence and sexual assault will help to provide an understanding in addressing and finding solutions to its causes."
Veteran sports reporter and current CBS 60 Minutes Sports correspondent Armen Keteyian will moderate the Forum. He will lead the panel in discussing ways administrators and students can affect positive change in eradicating domestic violence and sexual assault from our college campuses.
FOX Sports Southwest will produce the live webcast of the event, which will be available live exclusively on Big12Sports.com. It will also air on FOX Sports Southwest throughout the fall.
Featured Panelists Include:
- Bob Bowlsby – Commissioner, Big 12 Conference
- Sergeant Byron Fassett – Dallas Police Department
- Paula Lavigne – Reporter, ESPN
- Dr. Steven Leath – President, Iowa State University
- Ray Rice – All-Pro NFL Running Back
- Brenda Tracy – Registered Nurse, Survivor, Advocate
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Bob Bowlsby is the Commissioner of the Big 12 Conference, and host of this Forum. Bowlsby has chaired several NCAA committees and served on the United States Olympic Committee Board of Directors. He is the former Athletics Director at Stanford, Iowa and Northern Iowa, and was a college wrestler.
Sergeant Byron Fassett is a 30-plus year veteran of the Dallas Police Department. He Supervises the Child Exploitation Unit, Internet Crimes Against Children Unit, and the High Risk Victims and Sex Trafficking Unit. Prior to this assignment he started and ran the Domestic Violence Unit within the Dallas Police Department.
Paula Lavigne is an investigative reporter for ESPN and works on the show "Outside the Lines." She also writes for ESPN.com and does in-house investigative training. She was a recipient of a 2014 duPont award for investigative reporting. Lavigne previously worked at The Dallas Morning News, The Des Moines Register and The News-Tribune in Tacoma, Wash.
Dr. Steven Leath became the 15th president of Iowa State University in January 2012. He leads a university that educates more than 36,000 students, employs 6,300 faculty and staff, and belongs to the Association of American Universities (AAU). President Leath's dynamic agenda is raising Iowa State's status as one of the top land-grant institutions in the country by enhancing efforts associated with the university's mission of education, research, and service.
Ray Rice, a three-time all-pro running back who helped lead the Baltimore Ravens to victory in Super Bowl XLVII, is a motivational speaker who focuses on educating students, athletes, and student-athletes about the lessons that he has learned regarding the root causes of domestic violence.
Brenda Tracy is a registered nurse from Portland, Ore., and a brave and outspoken survivor of sexual assault. In 1998 she brought charges against two collegiate football players for raping her, however the district attorney refused to prosecute her case. Based on her ordeal, Tracy has become a vocal activist against sexual assault and domestic violence.