NAMED NATIONAL FOUR-YEAR DAILY NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR FOR 2020-21 IN THE COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION’S PINNACLE AWARDS
Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021
Volume 157 No. 35
‘He was probably one of the happiest people you’d ever meet’ Community joins for San Jose State student Saul Schrader’s vigil at Delta Sigma Phi house By Christina Casillas NEWS EDITOR
After Saul Schrader, San Jose State business junior, was found dead in his Sunnyvale family home Friday morning, more than 100 university community members gathered hours later to commemorate his life. Upon hearing Schrader died in his sleep, his friends and family members shared stories and memories of him outside the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity house at 189 S. 11th Street during a somber vigil from 10-11 p.m. Several attendees brought candles and flowers in honor of Schrader, who was a Delta Sigma Phi fraternity member. Zachary Birrer, Delta Sigma Phi chapter president, began a GoFundMe for Schrader’s family, which has amassed more than $10,000, according to the fundraising webpage. “It’s good for the community to come together,” Birrer said. “But I’m also very proud of the community for coming out and supporting Saul even if they didn’t know him directly.” He said the community support reminded him of the 2014 death of Sigma Delta Phi member Chi Lam. Lam was killed by a suspected drunk driver, according to an Oct. 27, 2014 ABC 7 news article. Jacob Schauerman, mechanical engineering senior and Delta Sigma Phi fraternity member, said he was in class when he heard of Schrader’s sudden death. “It’s been very, very hard. He was definitely one of my closest friends, and you know, I saw him every single day for multiple hours of the day, ” Schauerman said. “I knew his hopes, his fears, his ups and downs and, you know, it
EVAN REINHARDT | SPARTAN DAILY
A memorial for Saul Schrader, Delta Sigma Phi fraternity member, is open to the public at 189 S. 11th St. in Downtown San Jose.
was just, it’s indescribable to have that kind of connection snatched away from you.” He said he’ll miss the positive effect Schrader had on those who knew him. “He always wore [a] smile,” Schauerman said. “He always knew how to cheer people up and as an individual, he was probably one of the happiest people you’d ever meet and would never know the struggles that he’s been through.” Birrer said Schrader didn’t let his physical issues, which included arthritis, affect his relationships with others. “Just being around him was an uplifting feeling,” He said. “He experienced pain on a daily basis because of his arthritis and you would never know, like, ever. I mean, the dude was just constantly [smiling], constantly laughing, making jokes, trying
to talk to you and get you talking.” At the end of the vigil, the Delta Sigma Phi members invited Saul’s close friends and family inside the fraternity house for a final toast. Kenneth Mashinchi, SJSU senior director of strategic communications and media, said the university has reached out to those who were close to Schrader. “San Jose State University is saddened by the passing of Saul Schrader,” Mashinchi said in an email. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Schrader family, and SJSU is reaching out to those who knew Saul to offer condolences and services. Any students who would like to speak with a counselor during this time can reach out to Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).” Students can schedule a CAPS
appointment through a phone call at (408) 924-5910 or in-person on the third floor of the Student Wellness Center during business hours, according to the CAPS website. CAPS is physically open Monday-Thursday from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and online Fridays from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., according to the same website. “I love you Saul, as more than just a brother but as a friend,” Schauerman said. “And I hope you rest easy and [you’re] having a kickass time wherever you are.”
Don Le contributed to this article. Follow the Spartan Daily on Twitter @SpartanDaily
SEX ABUSE INVESTIGATION
Fresh Title IX documents reveal flaws, failings, omissions By Bryanna Bartlett & Madilynne Medina EXECUTIVE EDITOR & NEWS EDITOR
A two-page summary of the San Jose State 2009-10 investigation into then-head athletic trainer Scott Shaw that was “kept secret” until Friday shows a “deeply flawed” review of the sexual misconduct allegations. The U.S. Department of Justice stated in its Sept. 21 findings that the university “failed for more than a decade” to adequately respond, as Shaw’s initial clearance of wrongdoing enabled him to treat more than 1,000 female student-athletes before retiring in August 2020. “SJSU’s actions gave [Shaw] unfettered access to student-athletes,” the department said in its summary. The new 2010 report details come after the Bay Area News Group filed a Public Records Act request to the university six months ago. Two interviewees in the first investigation, who were first-year athletic trainers on new-hire probation when they were interviewed in 2010, told the Mercury News Monday they were only recently made aware of the investigation’s scope. “We both thought that what he had done was wrong,” trainer Shawna Hernandez said of Shaw in the Monday article, adding their concerns weren’t in the recently-surfaced report details. “We thought for sure we were going to have a new boss. We thought for sure he was going to be fired over this. We were confused when he wasn’t.” Hernandez and her former colleague Hisashi Imura told the news outlet that in their interviews, they said no physical therapist or trainer should ever touch athletes with their bare hands in private areas.
They said it’s one of the first teachings in physical therapy coursework. “What was left out of the report is, I remember being asked specifically if there was any reason to pressure-point a female athlete in the private or genital region or breast region and I flatly stated, ‘No,’ ” said Imura, who now works in a San Jose private practice, in the Mercury News article. He said other muscle injury treatment options include using a lacrosse ball or foam roller but nonetheless, his and Hernandez’s skepticism wasn’t included in SJSU’s report. “Athletes used to joke that if I get Shawna, I get treatment,” Hernandez said in the article. “If I go to Scott [Shaw], he’ll just cup my boobs.” University officials told the Mercury News in the same article that other material gathered or produced by Arthur Dunklin, SJSU’s equal opportunity manager at the time, during his review was destroyed as part of a “routine records purge.” Dunklin, who conducted the 2009-10 investigation, died several months after completing the report, in which he stated Shaw’s pressure-point therapy of the breast and groin area was a “bona fide” means to treat muscle injury. The university didn’t respond in time for publication regarding the new 2010 report details or the Mercury News’ Monday article on the investigation. Kenneth Mashinchi, SJSU director of media relations, said in a Monday email to the Spartan Daily that the university launched an external Title IX Procedural Response Investigation to “examine the adequacy of the 2009-10 investigation, how the university responded to the findings, and subsequent concerns about the original investigation.” Mashinchi said SJSU is “committed to learning from the past.”
The Justice Department said in its Sept. 21 findings the 2020-21 reinvestigation was “only” initiated after Sage Hopkins, swimming and diving head coach, circulated a 300-page dossier through the FBI and NCAA in December 2019. Hopkins sent out the dossier, which detailed more than 17 swim and dive student-athletes’ sexual misconduct accounts against Shaw, after it “disappeared” from the university’s Title IX office in 2019, according to a Sept. 25 Mercury News article. Mashinchi said in a Sept. 28 email to the Spartan Daily that while the university disputes some aspects of the Justice Department’s findings regarding the recent external reinvestigation, it agrees the 2009-10 investigation “did not satisfy today’s best practices and standards for a Title IX investigation.” As of Monday, Mashinchi said SJSU has made “significant progress” in improving its Title IX processes including: restructuring and expanding the Title IX office; increasing the offices’ funding; launching a chaperone program for sports medicine treatments; and enhancing education and programs regarding Title IX resources. The FBI continues to investigate Shaw but he hasn’t been charged with a crime. Many victims of Shaw are in the process of suing the university.
Editor’s note: the story will be updated as new information becomes available. Follow the Spartan Daily on Twitter @SpartanDaily