Breaking: Whitman Crew Letter: July 2018 - "parent informed the Board of a rumor of a sexual relationship between Shipley and a former crew member that began following her graduation" "MCPS was aware of the allegation"

To the Whitman Crew Community: 

We are heartbroken and disgusted by the information which came to light last week regarding Kirk Shipley’s alleged sexual abuse and sexual misconduct. When we were informed, we immediately severed all ties with him and instructed him not to have any contact with current or former athletes, parents, or other members of our community. We are incredibly sorry for the pain and anguish that all of our athletes and parents are experiencing. We regret offering Shipley a position for this fall season and, in retrospect with what we now know, that was clearly the wrong decision. We, as Board members, are also parents of athletes and we would never knowingly put our children at risk. We know many parents, current athletes, and former athletes are disturbed and angry. You have every right to be. We are as well.
 
We want to be transparent with you regarding what the Board knew, when the Board knew it, and why the Board took the actions that it did.
 
In July 2018, a parent informed the Board of a rumor of a sexual relationship between Shipley and a former crew member that began following her graduation. This rumor came to light one month after the Board had initiated an investigation in response to an unrelated individual boating complaint regarding Coach Shipley. When the Board learned of the rumor, it was told the parent had already reported it to Montgomery County Public Schools and child protective services. The Board confirmed that MCPS was aware of the allegation and the Board immediately reported the allegation to SafeSport. As a member of U.S. Rowing, Walt Whitman Crew must follow the policies of SafeSport, which gives SafeSport exclusive jurisdiction over allegations of sexual abuse and the process by which those allegations are investigated. To be clear, SafeSport policy does not allow an organization to investigate such matters itself. The Board relied on the respective expertise and experience of MCPS, SafeSport, and Montgomery County child protective services to investigate and report any findings of sexual abuse or misconduct by Shipley. Neither MCPS, SafeSport, nor Montgomery County child protective services reported any findings of sexual or physical misconduct to us..

In June 2021, the Board received disconcerting feedback regarding Shipley during our annual survey. None of the issues raised allegations of sexual or physical misconduct. However, given the nature of the concerns, we immediately suspended Shipley, and we hired an independent investigator to perform a review of the program. Our decision to hire an independent investigator was based on several factors. We wanted to:

• have a neutral third party lead the process;
• engage someone with expertise in conducting investigations; 
• encourage community members to come forward; and 
• protect the privacy of the athletes and parents who were willing to share information confidentially.

We relied on the investigator’s findings, including the categorical statement, "There have been no allegations (or findings) of any physical or sexual misconduct on the part of Coach Shipley or anyone else involved with the program." Had this fact not been reported to us, our decision for the fall would have been different. For the concerns about Shipley that were noted in the report, we believed that we could establish protocols to address them effectively. Again, it was made clear that there were no allegations or findings of sexual misconduct contained in the report that was provided to us. We want you to know that we made what we believed to be the best decision for our children and our club, based on the information we had at the time.

On August 18, 2021, we were notified by US Rowing that SafeSport had an open investigation of Kirk Shipley that we did not know about when we made the decision to continue his employment. We immediately contacted SafeSport and they told us the following: 

1. They received a complaint in October 2020, which they closed in early July 2021 because there was "not enough to report"; 
2. On July 19, 2021, they received new information, which they did not disclose to us, so they reopened the investigation and they assigned an investigator at the end of July; 
3. Kirk Shipley was still eligible to coach; and 
4. We were prohibited from taking action as a result of learning about their investigation.

We had no knowledge of the SafeSport investigations when we made the decision to employ Shipley this fall.

When, on August 24, 2021, we learned that a criminal complaint had been filed against Shipley, we immediately severed all ties with him.

We want to apologize to those who bravely came forward to raise concerns and who feel like those concerns were not heard. The health and safety of our kids is and always has been our primary concern. As fellow parents, we acknowledge the anguish, turmoil, and pain that this brings to our student athletes.

Our focus now is on providing resources to our athletes, healing our community, and cooperating with the investigation. With that in mind, we have made the difficult decision to suspend the fall program, including Learn-to-Row. We are working on identifying alternative fall rowing programs and will have more information to share in the coming days. 

To assist with the healing, we have also lined up several therapists who deal specifically with trauma to work with any parent and/or athlete who wants counseling. They are: 

Gavin W. Behrens & Associates - Bethesda
https://www.gbehrensandassociates.com/

Rathbone & Associates - Bethesda/Rockville 
https://rathboneandassociates.com/
Britt Rathbone or John Dunn, specifically

Julie Baron & Associates - Rockville
https://www.juliebaronandassociates.com/

Also, Georgette Saad from the Sibley Group in DC (https://thesibleygroupdc.com/) is available for psychoeducational group sessions for parents, followed by separate group sessions for female and male rowers. Tentative days/times are Friday, September 3 at 7pm, Saturday, September 4 at 1pm, and Wednesday, September 8 at 5:30, 6, or 7. If you or your child is interested in attending a group session, either in person or virtually, please contact Marianne Sullivan, mariannesullivanmd@icloud.com, who is coordinating the schedule. We are paying for these group sessions out of dedicated funds – and welcome anyone who wants to contribute to this fund to support the athletes.

 Please let us know if you have questions. You can email Dave Charlton (crewdad@davecharlton.net).


Sincerely, 
Whitman Crew Boosters Board of Directors