Gov. Mary Fallin, an Oklahoma State alum, was asked Tuesday about Sports Illustrated’s investigative report into the OSU football program.
She used the words “disturbing” and “disappointing” in regard to allegations being levied against the Cowboy program.
“I did talk to President (Burns Hargis) early in the weekend when he was notified and gave me an early heads up that there would be a story coming out, a series of stories coming out,” Fallin said.
“He wasn’t sure of all the details and reassured me that they were going to take quick action to personally look into every allegation, to do everything they could to remedy any potential problems that might be ongoing, but once again they need the time to be able to look into the allegations to read those to investigate within themselves.”
SI’s five-part series began Tuesday and OSU is expected to stage a press conference at some point to respond to the project.
“I will tell you that as a graduate of Oklahoma State University, it certainly is a black mark against the university,” Fallin said.
“But it is still a great university with great academics (and) great leadership with President Hargis... I still have tremendous confidence in him and his leadership and certainly (OSU) has made great strides in the past in their athletic programs throughout the university itself.
“But, we should take these allegations seriously. We need to face them head on. We need to look into them. If there are any ongoing problems now we certainly need to address those immediately, but it will take some time for them to look into these very serious reports that have been made about Oklahoma State University.”
Fallin reiterated that she has the highest regard for OSU, calling it a fine institution with great students.
“Certainly, parents can have, I think, confidence in the programs that they have there now. As we saw, the majority of these allegations were in the past, but we still need to read through the total report to see if there are any inadequacies or any problems that are ongoing right now.”
OSU
The final two games are May 16 and 17 at ONEOK Field in Tulsa. Each of the Tulsa starts are at 7 p.m.
