What those who jeopardized their careers to expose San Jose State’s sex abuse case want you to know

San Jose State Swim Coach Sage Hopkins and the university’s former deputy athletic director, Steve O’Brien, put their careers on the line to expose allegations of sexual abuse by a longtime athletic trainer.

But they don’t want the spotlight.

“This is not and should not be about me,” Hopkins said during a ceremony commending him for being the first to bring forward allegations of the abuse to campus officials in 2009. “Our thoughts, empathy and passion should be with the dozens of survivors from six separate teams at San Jose State and our focus should be on their healing.”

During the course of his 14-year tenure at San Jose State, former athletic trainer Scott Shaw inappropriately touched at least 23 female student-athletes, reaching under their bras and underwear during sports massages, according to a report released last month by federal investigators. Shaw resigned in August 2020 and is under criminal investigation by the FBI.

Although the university cleared Shaw in its initial investigation in 2010, Hopkins for years continued to raise concerns about Shaw and eventually took his complaints outside the university, prompting a second investigation that vindicated the student-athletes and led to an explosive report from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

O’Brien, who joined the university’s athletics department in 2017, refused to discipline Hopkins for blowing the whistle on the sexual abuse case and was fired last year. Despite being ousted from collegiate athletics, O’Brien on Tuesday gave special thanks to his wife for reminding him that “no job or title or even career is worth compromising one’s integrity over.”

Standing at the podium at the front of the city council chambers, O’Brien expressed some dismay that the actions that he and Hopkins took “should be so uncommon as to warrant public recognition” and issued an apology to the student-athletes who were abused and endured a massive uphill battle to put an end to it.

“I applaud your courage and resilience throughout the ordeal,” he said, speaking to the student-athletes. “You’re a source of strength for many and I wish you the same in your own personal journey of healing and recovery moving forward.”

During the commendation ceremony held at the beginning of Tuesday’s city council meeting, Councilmember Maya Esparza thanked Hopkins and O’Brien for their “courage and conviction in standing up for the survivors of sexual abuse.”

“When our institutions fail to protect those they are supposed to serve, when those in positions of power turn a blind eye to abuses, it falls on a brave few who are willing to put their professional livelihoods on the line to serve as whistleblowers and protect those whistleblowers as needed,” Esparza said.

“(Hopkins’ and O’Brien’s) actions in bringing to light serial misconduct of another member of the athletics department allowed the voices of numerous survivors of that abuse to be heard and saved an untold number of athletes from future abuse,” she added.

In 2010, an internal university investigation quickly cleared Shaw of any wrongdoing, deeming his “pressure point therapy” legitimate.

A second investigation launched in 2019, which reversed the original findings and concluded that Shaw had, indeed, sexually abused female student-athletes, came only after Hopkins submitted a nearly 300-page dossier to the National Collegiate Athletic Association and other outside organizations. Even still, the university continued to allow Shaw to treat female student-athletes while the second investigation was underway.

Federal investigators last month chastised San Jose State University over its handling of the sexual abuse allegations made against Shaw.

They also supported claims made by both Hopkins and O’Brien that school administrators retaliated against them for their outspoken efforts. Hopkins was given poor performance evaluations after bringing his complaints about Shaw and the university’s inaction to NCAA officials and O’Brien was fired in March 2020.

As part of a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, the university has agreed to pay $1.6 million to the victims — or $125,000 apiece — and overhaul its process for responding to sexual harassment complaints. San Jose State officials were also instructed to provide a written apology to Hopkins for retaliating against him when he tirelessly tried to protect female athletes. O’Brien has an ongoing lawsuit against the university over the merits of his termination.

Hopkins on Tuesday called this an “ugly chapter in San Jose State,” but asked that people “view it for what it is.”

“This is the actions of a serial predator and a small group of rogue administrators who enabled his abuse over a 10+ year period,” he said. “None of these people represent our university for what it truly is — a vibrant, diverse and transformational campus that is led by a world-class faculty and blessed with an amazing student body.”