In the wake of sexual assault charges against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, a University of Wisconsin-Madison official e-mailed the entire campus with instructions for what to do if they see, suspect or are the victim of sexual abuse.

“To put it more plainly: If you see something, say something,” wrote Dean of Students Lori M. Berquam on Dec. 12. “[B]y allowing improper conduct to go unreported, you may put the safety of the victim and the stature of our institution at risk.”

At colleges across the country, administrators have been examining their sexual assault reporting policies and reminding officials what to do when they receive a report. The Wisconsin legal office also gave two presentations to Athletic Department coaches and employees in December titled “If you see something, should you say something?”

Just a few weeks later, a Wisconsin student reported to officials that an associate athletic director had groped him while in Los Angeles for the Rose Bowl and then threatened to fire him. Although it took several days for the report to reach top officials, the university chancellor quickly put the accused official on administrative leave and assembled a four-person committee to investigate the charge.

Senior Associate Athletic Director John Chadima, 46, resigned earlier this month. His attorney, Charles W. Giesen said Wednesday afternoon that Chadima does not dispute the accusations and “makes no excuses for what he did.” Giesen added that his client is not currently facing criminal charges and is seeking help for alcohol-related issues.

“There were absolutely no prior incidents,” Giesen said. “This was just a single, isolated lapse in judgment, and he has paid an enormous price for that.”

On Tuesday night, the university released a 34-page report titled, “2012 Rose Bowl Incident Review.” The university had previously kept quiet on why Chadima had resigned, despite questions raised in several articles in the Wisconsin State Journal this month. In addition to detailing the events of that night, the review examined how the university’s sexual assault reporting process worked.

“There always will be opportunities for improvement in the training of university staff in responding to and reporting misconduct allegations. But we cannot imagine a better process outcome than the response that happened in this case,” the report reads. “We view this response process as nearly a model of how we might hope all such cases would be handled.”

So what exactly happened on the night of Dec. 30 and early morning of Dec. 31 in a hotel in Los Angeles? Here’s the series of events, according to the report:

In late December, the Badgers football team and support staff traveled to Southern California for the bowl game. The night before the game, Chadima hosted a party in his hotel suite to recognize athletic employees and student staffers who support the team but aren’t invited to formal receptions and events.

Chadima has hosted such “B team parties” during the past four bowl games. At the party on Dec. 30, he served alcohol, beer and mixers, which were paid for by the athletic department using donor funds. Several student staff members who attended and drank at the party were under 21, according to the report.

The university’s athletic director and assistant athletic director were aware of the party, but did not attend. Several “Athletic Department academic and classified staff”did attend.

The party alarmed university investigators, who wrote in their report: “While we certainly understand the wish to find ways to recognize the hard work of those who are “behind the scenes” of the Bowl productions, we question the wisdom of this use of alcohol in these circumstances.”

(For more on this topic, see the Wisconsin State Journal article, “UW’s lack of off-campus alcohol policy may be revisited.”)

As a group of students were leaving the party between 1:30 and 2 a.m., Chadima told one student to stay and have a drink with him. While the two were alone in the room, the student says Chadima asked the student if he was gay, removed the student’s belt and put his hand down the student’s pants. The student told university investigators that he slapped Chadima’s hand away and swore at him. Chadima told the student he could have him fired and later said he was joking around, according to the report.

The university is protecting the identity of the student, who is identified in the report as “John Doe.” Chadima’s attorney said the student is over the age of 21 and “this was no pedophilia.”

At about 3:15 a.m., the student knocked on the hotel room door of Chadima’s supervisor and reported what had happened. He also told three of his student co-workers.

The next morning, two athletic officials met to discuss the incident. According to the report, the student did not want to take action until after the team returned to Madison on Jan. 3.

Upon returning, two officials contacted the university police lieutenant who had traveled with the team to Los Angeles. At a meeting the afternoon of Jan. 4, the lieutenant showed them a copy of a memo sent to deans and directors in December that says employees are required by state law to report sexual assault.

The lieutenant “emphasized the importance of acting promptly,” according to the report, but the two athletic officials “were uneasy about reporting without first alerting the appropriate officials” in their department.

The next day, the two officials met with the department’s human resources director, who immediately contacted the university’s legal counsel.

On Jan. 6, Chadima was placed on administrative leave and the university chancellor appointed a committee to investigate the incident. That committee interviewed 23 people and examined Chadima’s office computer and school-issued cell phone.

University officials were concerned by text messages Chadima had sent to another student employee the night before the party, demanding that the student come to his room and threatening to fire him if he did not comply. That student was not willing to talk with investigators.

Chadima’s attorney said those text messages were sent in jest, and that university officials could not find evidence of any prior improper behavior. He said Chadima, who worked at the university for more than 20 years, has never acted like this before.

As for media coverage of the incident, Giesen said: “If Penn State or Syracuse hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

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