Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good questions from PP. Whitman rowing parent, it appears that you did not read the Post article from today? It makes very clear that the board parents knew perfectly well that there were several years worth of allegations from multiple girls discussing the toxic team environment, favoritism, and verbal abuse from Shipley. Even the lam-o investigator confirmed this in both of her investigations. It sounds like the board and investigator also knew there were allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior as well, if not the horrifying facts that have now come to light. The article made clear that there were 4 board members who had been there for years; they absolutely knew what was going on and absolutely bear blame for allowing Shipley to continue to have access to all these kids.

You say it wasn’t about the parents’ college admissions dreams for their girls, but I find that very hard to believe. Why else did parents allow him to turn a one-season club sport into an almost year round one with a schedule more grueling than most college programs? I’m not blaming you or any parent other than the ones on the board who willfully turned a blind eye to Shipley’s many abuses for what happened to the sexual assault victims. But I don’t understand how parents (or school officials) allowed the girls to participate in this clearly bizarre cult-of-Shipley situation year after year.

I read the article, but I see it through a different lens than you do.

I recognize that you find it hard to believe what I'm saying about scholarships and winning.

But it's the truth.

I am completely willing to believe that you or any other random Whitman rowing parent not in the inner circle had no idea that Shipley was an emotional abuser or predator. But you are really out of line with your comments about the Board. The article makes clear that several of them knew perfectly well that this guy was creating a very toxic environment at the very minimum, and they clearly had zero interest in protecting the girls who got together to write the letter.

I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that he turned this club into an extraordinarily grueling year-long exercise of the sort most D1 coaches would find over the top, and no parents apparently said a peep about it other than the couple brave dissenters mentioned in the article.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please read the board letter to the crew team when they renewed his contract. Talk about willful blindness between the school admin, the board, the parents and the joke of an HR investigator these girls has no chance. They left them to fend for themselves with a child predator.

Yes. I'm a parent at a different Bethesda HS; this case is just horrifying. And the responsibility isn't just with the abuser himself - it's with the Whitman administration and the parents who turned a blind eye to what they explicitly understood was deeply problematic behavior by an adult entrusted with the supervision of young women. I'm totally disgusted.

It was because normal people cannot imagine the kind of behavior described

Anonymous wrote:Please read the board letter to the crew team when they renewed his contract. Talk about willful blindness between the school admin, the board, the parents and the joke of an HR investigator these girls has no chance. They left them to fend for themselves with a child predator.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good questions from PP. Whitman rowing parent, it appears that you did not read the Post article from today? It makes very clear that the board parents knew perfectly well that there were several years worth of allegations from multiple girls discussing the toxic team environment, favoritism, and verbal abuse from Shipley. Even the lam-o investigator confirmed this in both of her investigations. It sounds like the board and investigator also knew there were allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior as well, if not the horrifying facts that have now come to light. The article made clear that there were 4 board members who had been there for years; they absolutely knew what was going on and absolutely bear blame for allowing Shipley to continue to have access to all these kids.

You say it wasn’t about the parents’ college admissions dreams for their girls, but I find that very hard to believe. Why else did parents allow him to turn a one-season club sport into an almost year round one with a schedule more grueling than most college programs? I’m not blaming you or any parent other than the ones on the board who willfully turned a blind eye to Shipley’s many abuses for what happened to the sexual assault victims. But I don’t understand how parents (or school officials) allowed the girls to participate in this clearly bizarre cult-of-Shipley situation year after year.

I read the article, but I see it through a different lens than you do.

I recognize that you find it hard to believe what I'm saying about scholarships and winning.

But it's the truth.

I am completely willing to believe that you or any other random Whitman rowing parent not in the inner circle had no idea that Shipley was an emotional abuser or predator. But you are really out of line with your comments about the Board. The article makes clear that several of them knew perfectly well that this guy was creating a very toxic environment at the very minimum, and they clearly had zero interest in protecting the girls who got together to write the letter.

I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that he turned this club into an extraordinarily grueling year-long exercise of the sort most D1 coaches would find over the top, and no parents apparently said a peep about it other than the couple brave dissenters mentioned in the article.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I am a Whitman rowing parent.

No one was circling any wagons.

The board parents are not toxic.

To the contrary, the board's leaders are hardworking, genuinely kind people who have dedicated themselves to the team because their children love rowing.

They've known some of the crew kids since elementary school.

None of the parents knew about Shipley's alleged abuse.

It's fair to argue that we were all blind. But it was not because of college ambitions for our kids.

It was because normal people cannot imagine the kind of behavior described in the charging documents unless there's evidence or a clear report of it.

That came to the team on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, the day Shipley was arrested.

The former rowers who reported him to the police have shown extraordinary courage and resolve.

Everyone wants justice done.

Whitman rowing parent,

1. Were you not bothered by the persistent rumors of favoritism, boundary-crossing and negative atmosphere the coach fostered on the teams?
2. Had you heard that the coach was pursuing underage or barely-aged team members? If you did, was there a reason you decided not to believe them until the arrest?

Seriously pathetic that you are defending the parents. They chose winning and scholarships over a healthy environment.

I'm not defending anything.
I feel guilty every day about this.

But it's false to say that the team kept on an alleged predator--putting all our kids in danger-- because we wanted to win races and get into good colleges.

Anonymous wrote:Good questions from PP. Whitman rowing parent, it appears that you did not read the Post article from today? It makes very clear that the board parents knew perfectly well that there were several years worth of allegations from multiple girls discussing the toxic team environment, favoritism, and verbal abuse from Shipley. Even the lam-o investigator confirmed this in both of her investigations. It sounds like the board and investigator also knew there were allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior as well, if not the horrifying facts that have now come to light. The article made clear that there were 4 board members who had been there for years; they absolutely knew what was going on and absolutely bear blame for allowing Shipley to continue to have access to all these kids.

You say it wasn’t about the parents’ college admissions dreams for their girls, but I find that very hard to believe. Why else did parents allow him to turn a one-season club sport into an almost year round one with a schedule more grueling than most college programs? I’m not blaming you or any parent other than the ones on the board who willfully turned a blind eye to Shipley’s many abuses for what happened to the sexual assault victims. But I don’t understand how parents (or school officials) allowed the girls to participate in this clearly bizarre cult-of-Shipley situation year after year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I am a Whitman rowing parent.

No one was circling any wagons.

The board parents are not toxic.

To the contrary, the board's leaders are hardworking, genuinely kind people who have dedicated themselves to the team because their children love rowing.

They've known some of the crew kids since elementary school.

None of the parents knew about Shipley's alleged abuse.

It's fair to argue that we were all blind. But it was not because of college ambitions for our kids.

It was because normal people cannot imagine the kind of behavior described in the charging documents unless there's evidence or a clear report of it.

That came to the team on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, the day Shipley was arrested.

The former rowers who reported him to the police have shown extraordinary courage and resolve.

Everyone wants justice done.

Whitman rowing parent,

1. Were you not bothered by the persistent rumors of favoritism, boundary-crossing and negative atmosphere the coach fostered on the teams?
2. Had you heard that the coach was pursuing underage or barely-aged team members? If you did, was there a reason you decided not to believe them until the arrest?

Seriously pathetic that you are defending the parents. They chose winning and scholarships over a healthy environment.

I'm not defending anything.
I feel guilty every day about this.

But it's false to say that the team kept on an alleged predator--putting all our kids in danger-- because we wanted to win races and get into good colleges.

I'm sorry, but what is fair to say? "we were all duped by a master manipulator?" "we're ALL victims here" "we did nothing wrong" "of course we care about kids"

I mean trot out any platitude you like. I get this is hard, but the facts are very damning here. Winning = a free pass.

You have mischaracterized what I've said.

No one has asked for a free pass.

It is fair to say that I feel terrible about failing my own child, the other rowers and especially the victims. I will live with it for the rest of my life.


To Whitman rower parent - can you explain why the parents were so loyal to Shipley if it wasn’t about college recruiting? I’m genuinely trying to understand your viewpoint. The article makes it sound like the team had a toxic culture. Maybe the article is exaggerating but it couldn’t have been all puppies and rainbows. We’re there no red flags?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good questions from PP. Whitman rowing parent, it appears that you did not read the Post article from today? It makes very clear that the board parents knew perfectly well that there were several years worth of allegations from multiple girls discussing the toxic team environment, favoritism, and verbal abuse from Shipley. Even the lam-o investigator confirmed this in both of her investigations. It sounds like the board and investigator also knew there were allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior as well, if not the horrifying facts that have now come to light. The article made clear that there were 4 board members who had been there for years; they absolutely knew what was going on and absolutely bear blame for allowing Shipley to continue to have access to all these kids.

You say it wasn’t about the parents’ college admissions dreams for their girls, but I find that very hard to believe. Why else did parents allow him to turn a one-season club sport into an almost year round one with a schedule more grueling than most college programs? I’m not blaming you or any parent other than the ones on the board who willfully turned a blind eye to Shipley’s many abuses for what happened to the sexual assault victims. But I don’t understand how parents (or school officials) allowed the girls to participate in this clearly bizarre cult-of-Shipley situation year after year.

I read the article, but I see it through a different lens than you do.

I recognize that you find it hard to believe what I'm saying about scholarships and winning.

But it's the truth.

I am completely willing to believe that you or any other random Whitman rowing parent not in the inner circle had no idea that Shipley was an emotional abuser or predator. But you are really out of line with your comments about the Board. The article makes clear that several of them knew perfectly well that this guy was creating a very toxic environment at the very minimum, and they clearly had zero interest in protecting the girls who got together to write the letter.

I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that he turned this club into an extraordinarily grueling year-long exercise of the sort most D1 coaches would find over the top, and no parents apparently said a peep about it other than the couple brave dissenters mentioned in the article.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I am a Whitman rowing parent.

No one was circling any wagons.

The board parents are not toxic.

To the contrary, the board's leaders are hardworking, genuinely kind people who have dedicated themselves to the team because their children love rowing.

They've known some of the crew kids since elementary school.

None of the parents knew about Shipley's alleged abuse.

It's fair to argue that we were all blind. But it was not because of college ambitions for our kids.

It was because normal people cannot imagine the kind of behavior described in the charging documents unless there's evidence or a clear report of it.

That came to the team on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2021, the day Shipley was arrested.

The former rowers who reported him to the police have shown extraordinary courage and resolve.

Everyone wants justice done.

Whitman rowing parent,

1. Were you not bothered by the persistent rumors of favoritism, boundary-crossing and negative atmosphere the coach fostered on the teams?
2. Had you heard that the coach was pursuing underage or barely-aged team members? If you did, was there a reason you decided not to believe them until the arrest?




The answer to your first question is that I didn't know about those issues until Shipley was suspended.

To your second question, I never heard those rumors.

Shipley was suspended in June, but you were fine with him being hired back for the next year even after knowing what the accusations were.

Rowing parent - what’s your take on this point? That’s one of the many things that blows my mind in this case. How does the board / parents justify rehiring this guy given the poor feedback he receive from the players? (Besides the allegations,etc)