It was only yesterday we were disabused of the notion that the Yale quarterback passed up on his final Rhodes Scholarship interview in order to play in the big Harvard game. Instead, the Times reported that sexual assault claims from a fellow student caused the Rhodes Trust to ask Yale for a re-endorsement, and Witt pulled out of the program the next day. 
 
 Day two of the story bears new fruit. First, a claim that the Yale Daily News was aware of the allegations against Witt as early as November, but chose not to pursue it. 
 
 As current Science and Technology editor Eli Markham told me, the News' editor-in-chief, Max de la Bruyere, decided to sit on the story in mid-November. "It's more complicated than that," he told a leader on last year's editorial board, who asked to remain anonymous. Multiple current and past members of the newspaper's managing board, all deeply involved in the day-to-day work of the paper, have confirmed that the News has had the story for over two months. In fact, the Times story that broke last night featured reporting from last year's editor-in-chief, Vivian Yee. She too approached the paper with a tip-off, but its editors chose not to follow the story. The paper even knew that the sexual assault claim had lost Pat an offer to join the Boston Consulting Group after graduation. Even then, they wrote nothing. For reasons personal, social, or political - who can ever tell on a college campus? - the News' management chose to ignore the bombshell, protecting Pat's reputation. 
 
 And just minutes ago, we received a statement from Mark Magazu, president of image consulting firm Atlas Strategies, who Witt has apparently retained to represent him. The statement maintains that Witt had already decided to withdraw from the Rhodes program solely because of the interview's conflict with the Harvard-Yale game, and that the sexual assault claims came from a student "with whom he had engaged in an on-again, off-again relationship beginning in the Spring of 2011 and ending about two months before the informal complaint was filed." 
 
 The full statement: 
 
 Statement on behalf of Patrick Witt in response to New York Times article 
 
 On January 27, 2012, The New York Times published a story regarding Patrick Witt, senior quarterback for Yale University, referencing Patrick's decision to forego his pursuit of the Rhodes Scholarship in order to compete against Harvard in his final college football game. 
 
 This was a difficult decision for Patrick, as his candidacy for the Rhodes Scholarship represented a high honor and an opportunity to explore his personal academic interests in international affairs at Oxford. Patrick respects the academic traditions of both Yale and the Rhodes Trust, and he remains grateful for the opportunities each has afforded him. 
 
 The New York Times story incorrectly connects Patrick's decision to forego the Rhodes Scholarship with an informal complaint process that had concluded on campus weeks prior to his withdrawal – a process that yielded no disciplinary measures, formal reports, or referrals to higher authorities. 
 
 To be clear, Patrick's Rhodes candidacy was never "suspended", as the article suggests, and his official record at Yale contains no disciplinary issues. 
 
 Patrick formally withdrew his candidacy for the Rhodes Scholarship on Sunday, November 13, in an email to both the Regional Secretary and the American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust. He withdrew after being informed in an email from the Regional Secretary on November 8 that the Rhodes Committee would not reschedule Patrick's final interview, which would overlap Yale's football game versus Harvard on November 19. Though disappointed, Patrick understood the fairness of this decision and accepted it as conclusive. 
 
 As this decision process unfolded, Patrick became aware that an anonymous source had contacted the Rhodes Trust with false information purporting to reference an informal – and confidential – complaint within the University. In light of this, and given the short period of time between this occurrence and the potential final interview, the Rhodes Trust asked for an additional letter of reference for Patrick from Yale. By that time, however, Patrick had already informed Athletic Department officials that he intended to withdraw his candidacy due to the inability to reschedule his final interview, and that he would issue a statement to this effect following the Princeton game on November 12. 
 
 Patrick's inclination to forego the Rhodes Scholarship in the event of an irreparable scheduling conflict is a longstanding matter of public record. For example, The New Haven Register article entitled "Patrick Witt Places ‘The Game' Over Rhodes Interview" was published before Patrick was notified of the initiation of any informal complaint process. That article quotes Patrick as follows: "The commitment I made to this team I believe would come first and I would want to honor that. It wouldn't feel right letting them down for not being there for the Harvard/Yale game." 
 
 Regarding the informal complaint referenced in the New York Times article, Yale offers students both informal and formal avenues to address certain issues. An "informal" complaint is heard by a committee of university community members, but no fact-finding process occurs and there is no burden of proof required for filing a complaint. In Patrick's case, no formal complaint was filed, no written statement was taken from anyone involved, and his request to the Chairman of the committee for a formal inquiry was denied because, he was told, there was nothing to defend against since no formal complaint was ever filed. Further, while the committee can refer an informal complaint into a formal process if more substantial disciplinary action may be warranted, it did not do so in Patrick's case. At that time, all parties, including the University and Patrick, considered the matter ended. 
 
 Regarding the information contained in the informal complaint, neither Patrick nor the other parties are permitted by confidentiality rules to discuss details of the matter, though it is important to note that the committee took no further action after hearing the informal complaint. Patrick is aware that the informal complaint was filed by a person he had known for many months prior and with whom he had engaged in an on-again, off-again relationship beginning in the Spring of 2011 and ending about two months before the informal complaint was filed. 
 
 Finally, as to Patrick's academic standing at Yale, he has completed all necessary coursework and will graduate upon submission of his senior essay this spring, as is standard for all students in his major. ||||| This morning we read how Yale Daily News, "Gutsiest Campus Newspaper of 2011," sat on the story of perfect Yale quarterback Patrick Witt's sex assault scandal for two months. Now, a humorous coda to their silence: We hear that YDN actually considered calling on wealthy alumni to charter a jet for the campus hero, so he wouldn't have to choose between the Yale-Harvard game and his Rhodes Scholarship interview. 
 
 A member of YDN's Managing Board who is involved in the editorial-writing process tells us that editor-in-chief Max de la Bruyere "pitched" the private jet editorial around the same time they reportedly heard about Witt's sexual assault accusation. The private jet editorial didn't make it into print, either. De la Bruyere declined to comment on it . [See update] 
 
 Witt's sexual assault accusation was a remarkably open secret: After the New York Times reported last night that Witt may have dropped out of the Rhodes due to the sex scandal, not loyalty to Yale football, staffers on the Yale Daily News listserv admitted to knowing about the story for months. You'd think someone would have spilled the beans sooner? 
 
 What other open secrets do Yale, Patrick Witt, and The Yale Daily News have? Email maureen@gawker.com if you know. 
 
 Update: Max de la Bruyere writes in: 
 
 Dear Maureen, First off, the claims about the editorial are absurd. However, that narrative sounds like the story of Florida State's Myron Rolle — a story I repeated to many people when I heard about Witt's situation. Second: I did know by late November that there had been an informal complaint filed against Patrick Witt. The student who filed it chose to keep it informal, though she had the option of making a formal complaint. I decided to respect the discretion that she opted for when she made that choice. As a student paper dealing with unproven allegations and an informal complaint, we chose to honor the woman's wishes and Yale's process for such a complaint. Third: I never declined to comment for your original blog post. I'm sorry it took me a few hours to get to your email. All best, 
 
 Max de La Bruyère 
 
 I asked whether "absurd" meant the pitch didn't happen, or some other part of the story was whack. I'll update if Max responds. 
 
 [Image of Witt via AP] ||||| Whether they were covering the Alabama tornadoes in depth, pissing off James Franco, or exposing undercover drug busts, these campus newspapers boldly broke the news. 
 
 Watch This Space: In April, La Salle University in Philadelphia demanded that an embarrassing story about a business prof who'd hired exotic dancers for a class not run above the fold in the Collegian. The paper's solution? It left the top of its front page blank and ran the story below the fold, gaining national attention. Well played, friends, well played. 
 
 Eye on the Storm: The University of Alabama's Crimson White provided real-time coverage of last spring's tornadoes, offering eyewitness accounts and a photo slideshow to highlight the destruction. 
 
 First Responder: After Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and 18 others were shot in January, the University of Arizona's Daily Wildcat snagged one of the earliest interviews with UA student Daniel Hernandez Jr., the first person on the scene to aid the wounded congresswoman. 
 
 Higher Ed: After a TV news outlet exposed an undercover drug bust that snagged frat brothers for dealing on Columbia University's campus last December, the Blue and White got the full story behind "Operation Ivy League." 
 
 Tweets and Geeks: Actor/writer James Franco usually keeps his cool, but the Yale Daily News succeeded in riling him up. After a columnist mocked his Twitter feed, Franco tweeted a photo of his face covered in red scrawl reading: "Fuck the Yale Daily News." ||||| Advertisement Continue reading the main story 
 
 It may have been the sharpest day of extremes in the young life of Patrick J. Witt, star student and athlete at Yale University. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 On Oct. 31, 2011, Witt learned he had been selected as a finalist for a Rhodes scholarship, a prestigious award given for achievements in academics, athletics and personal character. That same day, Witt, the quarterback on the school’s football team, received an e-mail message from the Yale professor in charge of the university committee that handles allegations of sexual misconduct. 
 
 “This meeting should have priority over other commitments you may have at that time,” read the e-mail from the professor, Michael Della Rocca. 
 
 Witt, by his own account, met the next day with Della Rocca and W. Marichal Gentry, Yale’s dean of student affairs. A female student on campus had accused him of sexual assault. At the meeting’s end, Witt was told to stay away from his accuser. No other action was taken. 
 
 The complaint and its outcome remained secret, with no word sent to officials with the Rhodes scholarship trust. And Witt went on to be the often glowing subject of news media coverage, held up as an exemplar of brains, brawn and character, a young man torn between attending a required final Rhodes interview on Nov. 19 and taking part in the football team’s season highlight, the game against Harvard the same day. 
 
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 But in early November, the Rhodes Trust informed Yale administrators that it had learned of the allegation against Witt, according to people with knowledge of the episode who were granted anonymity to discuss confidential matters. Rhodes officials informed Yale that Witt’s candidacy had been suspended, and Yale would have to decide whether to re-endorse Witt if it wanted his candidacy to remain viable, the people said. 
 
 On Nov. 13, Yale and Witt announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy and that he would play against Harvard. There was no mention that any concerns had been raised by the Rhodes officials. 
 
 Witt, who provided his version of events through his agent Friday, denied that he ever had been told his candidacy had been suspended. And he insisted he made his decision to play the annual game against Harvard, rather than pursue the scholarship, before the Rhodes Trust ever knew of the allegation. 
 
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 A statement released by the sports management firm representing Witt, while acknowledging a sexual assault allegation had been made against the quarterback, noted that the university’s inquiry “yielded no disciplinary measures, formal reports or referrals to higher authorities.” 
 
 Mark F. Magazu, II, Witt’s agent, said Friday that Witt and the female student had a casual relationship, and that any contact between them was purely consensual. 
 
 The fact that no formal investigation of the allegation was done and no finding of guilt or innocence rendered was dictated by the fact that Witt’s accuser had chosen to pursue what Yale calls an informal complaint process. Under that process, no independent investigators are appointed and both parties understand that the resolution of the allegation will not be part of the accused’s formal record. 
 
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 Magazu, in an interview Friday, insisted that Witt’s Rhodes candidacy “was never suspended.” 
 
 “The only thing out of the ordinary is Rhodes saying, ‘Let’s have Yale re-refer him,’ ” said Magazu, president of Atlas Strategies, a communications and management firm. There was no indication, he said, that without a second endorsement, Witt could not proceed to the final interview. 
 
 Those with knowledge of the action taken by the Rhodes Trust said otherwise. They said Witt’s candidacy was set aside pending a re-endorsement by Yale — otherwise, they say, there was no point in asking for it — and that Witt was told that explicitly. 
 
 Yale officials have declined to discuss the matter, leaving it unclear whether the administrators involved in handling the Rhodes candidacy knew of the allegation before it was reported to the Rhodes Trust. What is clear is that no one at Yale formally notified Rhodes, nor did Witt. 
 
 Witt, a fifth-year senior last fall, went through graduation ceremonies with his class last May, though he did not receive a degree — a common practice — and he described himself earlier this month to The Yale Daily News, as having graduated. He completed his coursework in December, is working on a senior essay, and said through Magazu he expected to graduate in May this year. 
 
 The revelation about Witt’s candidacy set off considerable debate on Yale’s campus, including criticism of The New York Times, which first reported the secret sexual assault accusation and the action taken by Rhodes officials; criticism of Yale and Witt; and criticism of The Yale Daily News. A former Yale Daily News editor, Alex Klein, revealed Friday that the school paper knew of the allegation against Witt in November, but did not pursue it or report it. 
 
 That was confirmed by the editor in chief, Max de La Bruyère, who noted that the complaint process is confidential, and said the accuser apparently wanted to remain anonymous. “We decided that we should honor that process,” he said, and also “honor this girl’s decision.” 
 
 He said he did not know in November that the complaint had become entangled in Witt’s Rhodes candidacy, but that knowledge would not have changed the paper’s decision. He said he had heard from both critics and supporters of the paper’s decision not to report the allegation against Witt. 
 
 “A lot of people think we actually knew a lot,” he said. “But how much we knew I think is irrelevant.” 
 
 Some students on campus took a cautious view of the latest twist in Witt’s Rhodes scholarship drama, one that local and national news media had treated as a feel-good college sports story during another year of sex scandals and cheating scandals. 
 
 “I don’t know if this happened, I don’t know if all the facts are right,” Wes Moyer, a senior and football player, said of the claims against Witt. He said other football players were aware of the allegation, but they had opted to keep the information “in house.” 
 
 “I read the story last night because a lot of people were posting about it on Facebook,” said Arvind Mohan, a sophomore. “I think there’s really no way of knowing what he did.” 
 
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 The Times also reported Thursday that Witt had twice been arrested, once when he was a student at the University of Nebraska and again in New Haven in 2010. Witt’s agent said he was not sure whether Witt had disclosed to Rhodes officials his two arrests, neither of which led to a criminal record. Yale’s own Rhodes application does not ask about any disciplinary history outside the university. 
 
 Magazu said Witt disclosed his Nebraska arrest to Yale at the time he transferred in 2009. 
 
 Through Magazu, Witt stressed repeatedly that he made the decision not to pursue the scholarship before any red flags were raised by the Rhodes Trust. Witt, in interviews he gave in early November, indicated that he probably would ultimately choose to play against Harvard. 
 
 The Rhodes Trust divides the country into 16 districts and awards two scholarships annually in each district. Witt applied in his home district, in Georgia, and the final interview was to be conducted in Atlanta. 
 
 Magazu supplied copies of a few of Witt’s e-mails, including the one from Della Rocca, and a Nov. 8 note from Daniel Promislow, a University of Georgia professor who is the regional secretary of the Rhodes Trust. Promislow reiterated the message that the interview could not be rescheduled, adding, “You will need to decide between one of your two opportunities,” making clear, Magazu said, that Witt’s candidacy was not suspended at that point. 
 
 In a Nov. 10 e-mail, a Yale administrator expressed support for what she indicated was Witt’s decision to play against Harvard and forgo the chance at the scholarship. By that point, Magazu said, the athletic department also knew of Witt’s decision, but it was not public. 
 
 However, Witt never notified the Rhodes officials, in writing or by phone, of his decision until he publicly announced it Nov. 13. 
 
 Indeed, in a Wall Street Journal article published Nov. 12 — days after Witt now says he had told Yale of his decision to play against Harvard — both Witt and Yale’s athletic director were quoted talking about what they said remained a very difficult choice. 
 
 “I just need to make a choice and live with it,” Witt told the newspaper. ||||| Yale Daily News editors sat on explosive Patrick Witt story for months 
 
 “I have learned in the past few hours that the editors of the Yale Daily News knew about the sexual assault charge as early as November.” 
 
 By ALEX KLEIN 
 
 Alex Klein is a Yale senior majoring in “Ethics, Politics, and Economics.” He was Opinion Editor of the Yale Daily News last year. 
 
 Late last year, national news outlets breathlessly reported that Yale’s quarterback, Patrick Witt, had chosen to skip a Rhodes Scholarship finalist interview in order to lead our team against Harvard in the annual Game. I was thrilled and proud. The decision struck me, as it did my friends in and out of the media, as smart and heroic. A few months earlier, Pat had helped move a hammock, volunteering as a stagehand in a play I directed. Remembering our connection, I fired off a paragraph-long “thank you” email. But his terse response surprised me: “Thanks for the note, I’ll see you around.” 
 
 Last night’s bombshell, broken by Times, may explain the awkward reply. At the time of my email, there was no heroic choice to be made: Pat was no longer a candidate for the Rhodes Scholarship. Days before, the Rhodes committee had suspended his candidacy after discovering that an anonymous woman had accused him of sexual assault. Yale officials knew about the complaint as early as September. It’s unclear if those directly responsible for endorsing Pat’s Rhodes application knew about the assault claim — or if the Yale administration decided to re-endorse Pat after being contacted by the Rhodes committee. Regardless, Pat was no longer a candidate on November 13, when he announced he would play in the Game, earning hero-worship at Yale and in the national media. 
 
 The story is sad and still mostly untold. We know few details regarding the sexual assault claim itself. But even in the weeks before the Game, when Yale knew about the charge, the university continued to push the “heroic choice” story on the mainstream media, which gobbled it up all too eagerly. This is disappointing, but not surprising. The Yale administration has persistently stifled the reality of sexual assault on campus: a real and serious problem that prompted last year’s Title IX complaint against the university, alleging a “hostile sexual climate.” But responsibility for the culture of silence does not end at the administration’s door — nor at Patrick Witt’s. I have learned in the past few hours that the editors of the Yale Daily News, the nation’s oldest college daily and a bastion of college journalism, knew about the sexual assault charge as early as November. 
 
 As current Science and Technology editor Eli Markham told me, the News’ editor-in-chief, Max de la Bruyere, decided to sit on the story in mid-November. “It’s more complicated than that,” he told a leader on last year’s editorial board, who asked to remain anonymous. Multiple current and past members of the newspaper’s managing board, all deeply involved in the day-to-day work of the paper, have confirmed that the News has had the story for over two months. In fact, the Times story that broke last night featured reporting from last year’s editor-in-chief, Vivian Yee. She too approached the paper with a tip-off, but its editors chose not to follow the story. The paper even knew that the sexual assault claim had lost Pat an offer to join the Boston Consulting Group after graduation. Even then, they wrote nothing. For reasons personal, social, or political — who can ever tell on a college campus? — the News’ management chose to ignore the bombshell, protecting Pat’s reputation. 
 
 I am deeply disappointed. Last year, I served as opinion editor at the paper, and couldn’t have enjoyed the experience more. We editorialized through a year of horrible headlines for the university: the aforementioned Title IX charge, sexist chanting from the DKE fraternity (of which Pat was a member), and the administration’s move to censor Sex Week, an educational forum on campus. My colleagues rose daily to the challenge. Like the Newsies that came before them, many will graduate to leadership roles at major national publications. And so too may the students who kept a real and disturbing story out of the public eye. 
 
 Each morning, Yale’s dining halls fill with students leafing through their daily copy of the News. I believe they have come to trust it more than your average college paper — as a source unafraid of angering friends, professors, or Presidents when telling unsavory truths. We have all been let down. In choosing to ignore this story, the News not only perpetuated the deceptive, now-shredded narrative of Pat’s “heroic choice.” The paper and its editor are also complicit in Yale’s culture of secrecy surrounding sexual assault: the very object of the Title IX complaint. 
 
 (Editor Max de La Bruyere declined to respond to this piece. — Romenesko) 
 
 * Today’s Yale Daily News print edition story on Patrick Witt 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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– The Patrick Witt sex assault story gets messier: The Yale Daily News, which was just last year named the one of the gutsiest campus newspapers, knew for months that the Yale quarterback and onetime Rhodes candidate had been accused of sexual assault, but sat on the story. On Jim Romenesko's blog, last year's opinion editor reveals that the paper knew about the charges as early as November, as confirmed by multiple people who used to be or are still involved with the paper. And that's not all: During this period of time, the editor-in-chief of the paper actually considered running an editorial urging wealthy alumni to charter a private jet for Witt, so he wouldn't be forced to make his seemingly heroic choice between the Yale-Harvard game and his Rhodes interview. A member of the paper's managing board tells Gawker the editorial never made it into the paper. Meanwhile, Witt has denied that his Rhodes candidacy was suspended over the allegations, and adds that he had made his decision between the game and the interview before the Rhodes Trust was aware of the accusation, the New York Times reports. Deadspin has the full statement from Witt's rep; it claims that after being made aware of the "informal" complaint against Witt, the Rhodes Trust simply asked for an additional letter of reference from Yale on Witt's behalf, but Witt had already decided to withdraw his candidacy at that point. Many questions remain, including whether those who endorsed Witt's application in the first place knew about the allegations.