Missouri
Missouri State president responds to federal lawsuit over ‘vulgar’ incident at Utah Tech
The new president of Missouri State University was accused in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday of arranging vegetables in the shape of a penis and testicles on the front porch of a cabinet-level coworker during his time as president of Utah Tech University.
As part of the apparent practical joke, Williams left a note referring to the display of two eggplant and one zucchini − referred to as a “zuweenie” − but signed with the name of three of university colleagues, rather than his own.
Th falsely named colleagues — Rebecca Broadbent, Jared Rasband and Hazel Sainsbury — filed the lawsuit Thursday against former president Richard “Biff” Williams along with Utah Tech, members of Williams’ former leadership team, as well as higher education officials and institutions in Utah.
At the time of the November 2023 incident, Broadbent was general counsel, Rasband was senior associate general counsel, and Sainsbury was director of equity compliance and Title IX coordinator. Broadbent, who reportedly directly to Williams, and Rasband were also involved in enforcing nondiscrimination and harassment laws at Utah Tech.
They alleged in the suit that the incident was part of a toxic, hostile and “poison well” work environment.
Williams was president of Utah Tech from mid-2014 through January 2024. He resigned less than two months after the vegetable incident, saying he wanted to pursue career advancement elsewhere.
In an email Saturday, Williams provided a response to the lawsuit and media coverage of the incident toward the end of his presidency at Utah Tech.
“While I was there, I initiated what I intended to be a humorous gesture toward a member of our staff,” he wrote.
“I have since come to realize that the prank was not appropriate. This was a mistake. I regret my lapse in judgment and I accept this as a learning moment.”
He added: “This incident is now included in a lawsuit that was shared with the media. I apologize for the undue attention this has brought to the university.”
Williams said his statement was prompted by recent media coverage. A lengthy story was published Friday by the Salt Lake Tribune.
“This experience continues to remind me how important it is to always strive to foster a campus environment that is safe and welcoming to all students, faculty and staff,” he wrote.
The MSU Board of Governors issued a statement Saturday that they were aware of the lawsuit. The board said it “continues to have confidence in President Williams’ ability to lead Missouri State University. We are committed to working alongside him to ensure that the university is a safe and welcoming environment to all students, faculty and staff.
The News-Leader asked the university if the board was aware of the incident and subsequent investigation as part of the hiring process.
Williams was one of three publicly named finalists for the job and emerged as the unanimous choice to serve as the 12th president and succeed the institution’s longtime leader, Clif Smart.
Missouri State has not provided an answer and said Williams will not be available for an interview.
They allege the following in a 42-page lawsuit:
- Utah Tech openly flouted the protections of Title IX and plaintiffs faced resistance, intimidation, harassment and retaliation from the university’s top leaders as they worked to establish an environment free or harassment and discrimination;
- Then-president Williams was involved in the practical joke, which they described as sexual and obscene, at the home of a university vice president;
- A “sham” investigation was completed, as part of a cover-up, by the university’s governing bodies, the Utah System of Higher Education, the Utah Board of Higher Education; and the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education;
- The incident and subsequent investigation undermined the plaintiffs and the work they were doing in Title IX and equity compliance.
The lawsuit alleged that on Nov. 8., 2023, Williams left a display of vegetables shaped as male genitalia — including a long zucchini referred to as a “zuweenie — on the front porch of a university vice president who was recovering from a vasectomy that day.
In a printed note left with the display, was attributed to Broadbent, Rasband and Sainsbury — two of the names were misspelled — without their knowledge or consent.
Williams, who did not broadly acknowledge that he left the display in the days following the surgery, reportedly told his chief of staff about the gift before he dropped it off, adding he thought it would trigger a laugh.
The university vice president did not immediately know who left the display and messaged colleagues at Utah Tech with a photo of the display along with RING doorbell footage showing a man − later identified as Williams − with a hoodie cinched up to disguise his face making the delivery.
According to the suit, the image and the note falsely signed by the three university officials was widely shared among top officials and others.
The day after the display was left, Williams allegedly showed the images of the display and note to his chief of staff and admitted he left the vegetables. However, the chief of staff did not report the incident to the expected channels on campus.
The suit argued Williams and others should have recognized the gravity of falsely signing the names of other university officials, including two female administrators with responsibilities for ensuring Title IX compliance.
In the suit, plaintiffs alleged the “zuweenie” incident was part of a pattern.
They allege that for at least four years, there were posts to a quote board in a public break room on campus that containing obscene and vulgar sexual comments with names attributed.
The plaintiffs said concerns raised about this quote wall was minimized by Williams and others, creating a hostile work environment.
Sainsbury, who is Black, said the university sought to leverage her race to enhance its image in marketing videos and in meetings with athletes, freshmen and their families. She served as a central figure in a rebranding effort for the university in 2022, when it changed its name from Dixie State University.
She alleged in the suit that despite using her voice and image in the videos distributed nationally, she faced a pattern of marginalization and her input was either not sought or wanted in key matters pertaining to her role.
The plaintiffs said they experienced verbal threats, physical intimidation and harassment from university officials, which made it harder to ensure Utah Tech employees and students complied with nondiscrimination and harassment laws and policies.
Sainsbury said her work was undermined in other ways. For example, deans were involved in a “Title IX mocking party,” where she was given gag gifts including the “Title IX for Dummies” book.
In the suit, Sainsbury said the university failed to protect or support her when a high-ranking official was upset with the outcome of his case.
(This story was updated to include new information).
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football is coming off its open week with no new injuries.
The Bulldogs’ injury report for Week 13 did not show any additions from their most recent SEC injury report, in Week 11 against Tennessee. MSU (2-8, 0-6 SEC) hosts Missouri (7-3, 3-3) at Davis Wade Stadium on Saturday (3:15 p.m. CT, SEC Network) in the final home game of the season.
The Tigers listed starting quarterback Brady Cook as probable after he returned from an injury last week.
The SEC newly mandated this season that each team provides injury reports for conference games. The first reports are revealed on Wednesdays and updated daily until the final report 90 minutes before kickoff. The full report is below.
Mississippi State football injury report vs Missouri
This will be updated daily as the injury reports change.
Mississippi State
- QB Blake Shapen: Out
- CB Traveon Wright: Out
- WR Creed Whittemore: Out
- WR Trent Hudson: Out
- RB Keyvone Lee: Out
- DL Kalvin Dinkins: Out
- DL Kedrick Bingley-Jones: Out
- OL Canon Boone: Out
Missouri
- WR Mookie Cooper: Out
- DE Darris Smith: Out
- QB Sam Horn: Out
- LB Khalil Jacobs: Out
- DE Joe Moore: Out
- OL Connor Tollison: Out
- S Tre’Vez Johnson: Probable
- QB Brady Cook: Probable
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@gannett.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
NORMAN — The bye week was Oklahoma’s final chance to reset before ending the year with the gauntlet of Alabama and LSU in consecutive weeks.
To have a chance to pull off an upset either in Norman on Saturday night or in Baton Rouge after Thanksgiving, the Sooners will need much better play from their quarterback.
Jackson Arnold fumbled three times in OU’s loss to Missouri, losing two of them including the game-ending scoop-and-score, which was just the latest hiccup in the quarterback’s year-long turnover issues.
And while the offense has plenty of problems across the board, from the lack of explosive plays to protection issues by the offensive line, Oklahoma (5-5, 1-5 SEC) coach Brent Venables said the process to keep Arnold confident after another batch of back-breaking turnovers is still ongoing on the practice field.
“I think it’s gonna be the same type of experience it’s gonna be for the rest of his career and he’s no different than any other player other than he’s the face,” Venables said on Tuesday. “That goes along with that position at a place like the University of Oklahoma. That’s a position that’s a little bit … it’s a bit like the head coach position. There’s a different type of microscope and there’s a different type of focus and that’s okay he’s got broad shoulders to handle that.
“… Improving and developing, making mistakes, learning from the good and the bad… that’s just a daily task. He’s got a huge part in that experience and the development and the improving and taking ownership. You can’t deflect it. You have to have great awareness, you have to have great self-awareness and you’ve got to have great humility and then you have to have respect for what I need to do, his part, in order to improve. And that’s not just him, that’s everybody around him.”
Reviewing the loss, Arnold took full accountability for his mistakes and got to work throughout the bye week to ensure it won’t happen again.
“Obviously it was a heartbreaker, you never want a game to end like that,” he said on Monday. “For me in the quarterbacks room, I’ve got to look back at the film and watch it. I can’t fumble like that, can’t turn the ball over but at the same time, we’ve got two more games. We’ve got two more great teams we’ve got to play so we’ve got to put it behind us and move forward.”
Arnold also said him and the entire team were happy to be able to get an extra week to prepare for the No. 7-ranked Crimson Tide (8-2, 4-2), as Kalen DeBoer’s team continues to get better and better throughout the season.
But Arnold also got another boost on Monday.
He was named a captain by Venables and the coaching staff for the home finale, something that the OU coach said has been earned throughout Arnold’s attitude in practice all throughout the season.
“We love Jackson, and we believe in him,” Venables said. “But it’s a sign of he’s one of our best leaders that we have on the team. And there’s plenty of guys going through, rough spots that still have the ability to lead and fight and compete. So that goes along with that position as well. But representing the offensive side of the ball, those are two of our best leaders, Troy Everett and Jackson Arnold.”
That faith in the coaching staff wasn’t lost on Arnold.
“Yeah, no, it’s awesome,” he said. “Just knowing that the team and the coaches have my back and support me, it’s a good feeling for sure and I’m super appreciative of those guys.”
The Sooners are fully focused on knocking off Alabama and extending the program’s 25-year bowl streak, but there will be plenty of decisions that need to be made in the coming weeks.
Arnold committed to play for then-offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, but he stayed to take over as OU’s central piece on offense.
The season hasn’t gone to plan, as evidenced by Seth Littrell’s dismissal, and without an offensive coordinator in place for the 2025 season, Arnold declined to shed light on what the next step is for him either way.
“I stay in my lane, I stay focused,” Arnold said about blocking out the outside noise surrounding a potential transfer. “I have Snapchat, so I talk to my friends, talk to my family, call them and talk to my girlfriend, but other than that I don’t go on any social media.
“And regarding my future, like I just — I mean, we’ve got two great teams left that we gotta go against, I’m just taking it week by week.”
So regardless of what the next month brings for Arnold and Oklahoma, the Sooners are focused in getting the best out of their young quarterback over the next eight quarters.
“It’s not him alone. It’s Coach (Kevin) Johns, it’s Coach (Joe Jon) Finley, it’s Coach (Bill) Bedenbaugh and Coach (DeMarco) Murray,” Venables said. “Making sure that their guys are prepared and detailed so that it helps him have success and stay into a rhythm — have a clean pocket and make good decisions. Everybody has a role in that and confidence as a young player is always something.
“The confidence usually comes from the work. And then, I’m not gonna lie, the confidence takes a shot when you’re not successful. And so we gotta do, all of us together, gotta do a good job of hitting it head on.”
The Missouri Tigers (7-3, 3-3 SEC) dropped a thrilling game against South Carolina to essentially end their College Football Playoff hopes. But there’s still two regular seasons and a bowl game left.
First up, the Tigers will finish the true-road game schedule in Starkville, Miss., where they will face Mississippi State (2-8, 0-6 SEC).
The Bulldogs ended a seven-game losing streak with a 45-20 win against UMass two weeks ago, but dropped a 33-14 game against Tennessee last weekend to stay winless in conference play.
Missouri opened as an 8-point favorite according to Circa Sports.
Here’s a glance at Mississippi State and what Missouri will face at 3:15 p.m. Saturday in Mississippi.
When: 3:15 p.m. CT, Saturday
Where: Davis Wade Stadium, Starkville, Mississippi.
TV: SEC Network
RADIO: Tiger Radio Network
The Tigers and Bulldogs have played only four times with Mississippi State winning the two matchups since Missouri joined the SEC.
The most recent matchup was a 51-32 Bulldog win in Starkville in 2020 and Mississippi State won 31-13 in 2015 in Columbia.
Missouri won 47-30 in a non-conference matchup in Columbia in 1984 and a 14-3 non-conference road matchup in 1981.
Scoring offense: 27.6 (No. 72)
Scoring defense: 34.4 (No. 117)
Rushing offense: 146.9 (No. 82)
Rushing defense: 214.5 (No. 126)
Passing offense: 238.9 (No. 53)
Passing defense: 246.3 (No. 103)
OFFENSE
Michael Van Buren Jr., QB
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound freshman took over the quarterback spot in Week 4 against Florida after transfer senior Blake Shapen hurt his shoulder and was knocked out for the season.
In eight games, Van Buren Jr. has passed for 1,415 yards and completed 107-of-196 (54.6 percent) of his passes. He has nine touchdowns and five interceptions.
His best games came at Georgia and against Arkansas.
At Georgia, he completed 20-of-37 passes for 306 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, and got shoved by Georgia coach Kirby Smart.
Against Arkansas, Van Buren completed 22-of-31 (71 percent) of his passes for 309 yards and two touchdowns, but he did have two interceptions.
He hasn’t had another two-interception game, though he did throw one each against Georgia, Texas A&M and Tennessee.
He has not been a rushing threat this season, never totaling more than 15 yards in a game and racking up -5 yards on 57 attempts this year when including sack yardage.
Davon Booth and Johnnie Daniels, RBs
The pair of running backs have combined for 1,106 yards and eight touchdowns, both averaging between 50-60 yards per game.
Booth, a 5-10, 205-pound senior, leads the way at 597 yards and four touchdowns, while also catching 10 passes for 124 yards and four touchdowns.
Booth has grown into the lead back the past four weeks with games of 79 rushing yards and two catches for 31 yards and a score against Texas A&M, 93 rushing yards and a 54-yard receiving touchdown against Arkansas, 76 rushing yards and a score against UMass and 125 rushing yards and a touchdown against Tennessee.
Booth also often returns kicks, taking 11 back for a combined 281 yards (25.55 per return).
Daniels, a 5-10, 200-pound junior, has 509 yards and four rushing scores to go with seven catches for 72 yards.
His best game was a 92-yard performance against UMass, but he has games of 77 yards and a score against Florida and 75 yards against Texas.
Kevin Coleman, WR
The 5-11, 180-pound junior has totaled about a third of the team’s total receiving yards with 756 on 62 catches with five touchdowns.
He has surpassed 100 yards three times, a four-catch, 103-yard game against Arizona State, an eight-catch, 103-yard performance against Georgia and an eight-catch 100-yard performance against Arkansas.
His touchdowns came one each against Eastern Kentucky, Arizona State, Toledo, Texas A&M and Arkansas.
He has also returned 11 kicks for 134 yards (12.18 per return), but most of that came on five returns against Eastern Kentucky in the first game of the season.
DEFENSE
Isaac Smith, Safety
The 6-0, 205-pound sophomore leads the team with 101 tackles in nine games played. He recorded 20 tackles against Tennessee last week.
He has broken up two passes and forced a fumble against Florida.
Corey Ellington, Safety
A 6-3, 200-pound senior, Ellington leads the Bulldogs with three forced fumbles in just seven games played. He forced one each against Florida, Texas and Arkansas.
He has totaled 39 tackles this year with nine each against Arkansas and UMass, and he has one tackle for loss against Texas to go with three pass breakups.
Brice Pollock, Corner
The 6-1, 190-pound sophomore, leads the Bulldogs with seven pass breakups. He had one each in five of the season’s first six games, then two against UMass.
In 10 games, Pollock has 38 total tackles with his season-high of six coming against both Arkansas State and Texas. He has one tackle for loss coming last week against Tennessee, one forced fumble against Georgia and an interception against Georgia.
Nate Noel vs. Mississippi State’s front 7
The Bulldogs have allowed a lot of rushing yards this year. An SEC team having the No. 126 rushing defense per game out of 133 teams is crazy. The only other power-conference team below No. 120 is Oklahoma State at No. 132 (shoutout my Cowboys, what a year).
Noel, Marcus Carroll, Jamal Roberts and Kewan Lacy all have an opportunity to dominate the game and keep pressure off of Brady Cook as he continues to recover.
If the Mizzou running backs are able to take advantage of a really struggling run defense, that will be big for the Tigers.
Missouri’s offense vs. the red zone
Mississippi State allows a lot of yards and a lot of points. The Tigers cannot continue to struggle in the red zone as they have all year.
Settling for field goals might be enough to win this game, but if the Tigers are regularly sending out Blake Craig, that’s a bad sign. This is not a defense that should be able to stop any of the running backs, Theo Wease or Luther Burden in tight situations.
Mizzou should be reaching the end zone every time it gets to the red zone this week.
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