Ohio State president seeks info about alleged misconduct

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) The president of Ohio State University has asked alumni for help with an investigation into reports of alleged sexual misconduct by a former university doctor.

At issue are allegations against Richard Strauss, who died in 2005. To date, the university has received confidential reports alleging sexual misconduct from male athletes in eight sports.

President Michael Drake sent an email Monday to 112,613 alumni who attended the university from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, when the alleged misconduct occurred.

Drake asked alumni with information about allegations to contact Seattle-based law firm Perkins Coie, which Ohio State hired earlier this month to conduct an independent investigation.

''These serious allegations are incompatible with the core values of who we are as a university community,'' Drake said in the email.

The president sent the email at the request of Perkins Coie as part of its investigation, Chris Davey, a university spokesman, said Tuesday.

''Everybody's making every effort to make sure we have a thorough investigation that gets to the bottom of this,'' Davey said.

Strauss was an associate professor of medicine at Ohio State. In addition to his athletic team duties, Strauss worked at the university medical center and student health center.

To date, reports of alleged misconduct have come from athletes affiliated with cheerleading, fencing, football, gymnastics, ice hockey, swimming, volleyball and wrestling.

The matter has been referred to Columbus police and the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office for a potential criminal investigation.

An article in the campus newspaper from 1984 said Strauss was selected to test Olympic athletes for illegal drug use during the Summer Games in Los Angeles.

Other articles published during the 1980s said Strauss studied injury rates among wrestlers and other athletes, as well as the effects of steroid use.

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Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus.