Photo: The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange
Father Walter E. Jenkins, president of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, will not return to the role as allegations of hazing in the school’s football program are investigated.
Jenkins' departure comes after the family of a former Mater Dei football player filed a lawsuit against the school and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange in November 2021 after the student allegedly suffered brain damage and other injuries during a hazing ritual, according totheO.C. Register.
Representatives for the high school told PEOPLE the resignation has no relation to the hazing allegations.
“Father Jenkins will be returning to his Order,” a spokesperson said. “We will be announcing his replacement shortly, in the interim Mater Dei leadership will work closely with the Diocese of Orange until the (to be named) incoming president joins. There is no connection between the litigation and his departure from the school.”
John W. McDonough/Sports Illustrated via Getty
The Mater Dei Monarchs are a storied football program in Southern California thatwon the CIF open division state championshipwith a 44-7 victory over Junípero Serra High School last month.
They are ranked No. 1 in the country in MaxPreps’high school football rankings, ahead of Texas' Westlake and New Jersey’s Bergen Catholic. Mater Dei alum Bryce Young, now quarterback for the University of Alabama, won the2021 Heisman Trophyin December.
According to theOC Register, the alleged hazing ritual that injured the unnamed student occurred last February.
In astatementon Nov. 30, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said his office could not prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that a crime was committed during the incident.
“There is not a single shred of evidence to show that this was anything other than a mutual combat situation with two willing participants who traded blow for blow, including repeated punches to each other’s heads,” he added. “That does not make it acceptable. But it is not a crime.”
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The school hired an independent firm to review safety protocols at the school and on the football team, they told PEOPLE.
“We hired Van Dermyden Makus, an investigations law firm, who is conducting an independent assessment of the school’s and in particular our athletic program’s safety protocols,” a spokesperson said. “Their review will include employee, student, and parent interviews, surveys, and intake from an anonymous reporting line they will establish and monitor. The culmination of their review will be a comprehensive written report and presentation that will include: recommended safety initiatives, such as any modification of policies, training, mission alignment, and involvement of additional external resources if needed.”
“In addition to the outside review, we are creating a task force of professionals within high school athletics to assist in an overall review of how athletics is engaged at Mater Dei,” they added. “The results of the task force’s findings and recommendations will also be made public. Both the independent review and the task force are continuing as planned.”
Bruce Rollinson is still listed as the team’s head coach on Mater Dei’swebsite.
source: people.com
