This is to let everyone know exactly which way the Prez leans.....I received this email this afternoon from Men's BB player Jonathan Komagum....After reading this, I can see very clearly that there will be no ballsy (actually doesn't take balls but common sense would help) action by Nelsen, Orr or anyone else....Here you go....
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Firstly, I would like to say that this is not against Coach Katz, he is in 100% support of me. Please take 5 minutes to read my Uniform Complaint I filed against President Nelson, Athletic Director Orr, and Vice President of Health Services Joy Stewart-James. This has been submitted to our Title IX office.
My name is Jonathan Komagum. My address is [redacted]. My email address is [redacted] and my phone number is [redacted].
The respondents are President Nelsen, Athletic Director Mark Orr, and Joy Stewart-James who is the Associate Vice President of Health Services.
My protected status is that I am African American.
My statement is the following:
I am filing this uniform complaint against President Robert Nelsen, Athletic Director Mark Orr, and Associate Vice President of Health Services Joy Stewart-James because I have been bullied by these three individuals into getting the Covid-19 Vaccination. In addition, I am being discriminated against because I will not vaccinate yet I do have a religious exemption. I am the only student athlete in Division 1 college basketball who has a religious exemption, is willing to follow the necessary protocols, and is not allowed to fully participate which includes traveling to road games.
I arrived here on June 1st, 2021, as a result of the basketball scholarship I received from Sacramento State. I practiced with my team and was able to participate in all team activities. I applied for and received a religious exemption which would allow me to attend school and participate in all phases of intercollegiate athletics, despite not having the Covid-19 Vaccination. The actual date I applied for the religious exemption was August 4th 2021. On the 28th of September 2021 I reached out to Dr Skip Bishop to confirm that my exemption was approved.
Having practiced and participated all summer with my team, you might imagine the shock I had when being notified by Coach Katz on the first day of school, August 30th 2021, that the Athletic Director Orr had instructed Coach Katz not to let me participate, and that I would not be able to participate unless I got vaccinated. This is the first instance where I was feeling bullied and pressured to get the Covid-19 Vaccination. I felt betrayed by the athletic director when I did not receive this news directly from him. Simply stated Athletic Director Orr was aware that I had received a religious exemption and it felt disrespectful and unprofessional on his part not to deliver this shocking news face to face and to be available to answer questions. I insisted at this point that I wanted to have meetings with Mark Orr, Joy Stewart-James and President Nelsen. During the meeting with Mark Orr he continually said it was not his decision but rather Joy-Stewart James’ decision and President Nelsen’s. After meeting with the Athletic Director Orr, I met with Joy Stewart-James’ the Associate Vice President of Health Services on August 31ST.
In the meeting with Stewart-James, it became clear to me that there were inconsistences in terms of information. Stewart-James stated, “The Big Sky Conference, will not allow you to travel to away games unless vaccinated.” This is the first untruth I discovered. I responded by saying, “those protocols set forth by the Big Sky Conference are recommendations, not mandates.” Her response was, “according to the athletic director those Big Sky protocols are mandates.” Clearly this was untrue, and an attempt by Mark Orr to bully me into getting the vaccination. I have attached the “Big Sky Covid-19 Vaccination Protocol Recommendations” memorandum of June 22nd, 2021 (attachment 1).
Next, I had a meeting with President Nelsen on September 7th, 2021. The most significant thing that is prevalent to this complaint is when Dr. Nelson stated, “I am the big dog, and the decision lies with me. I will get back to you in 24 hours.” To this day, Oct 10th, 2021, I have not received a response from the president. This has created an incredible amount of stress for me. It feels like this stalling tactic is aimed at getting me to breakdown and vaccinate. This whole process has made me feel powerless and helpless against the system. The stress of not only going through this process, but also waiting for a response for over a month has effected everything in my life. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, and I have lost 16 pounds which can be verified by my strength trainer, Austin Sparks. As a result, I have entered counseling for my mental health with Diana Costa, our team Mental Health Specialist. Let it be known that I sent an additional email on September 9th to President Nelsen that said, “Thank you for meeting with me I look forward to your response within 24 hours” (see attachment 2).As you can see, this specific act by the president has pushed me over the edge, and is clearly a form of pressuring and bullying aimed at forcing me to break down and vaccinate.
On September 20th I sent an email to the following: Mark Orr, President Nelsen, Joy Stewart-James, and Skip Bishop. In this email (see attachment 3), I summarized the recent 8 hour meeting between the FDA and their advisory committee. After spending 8 hours viewing this meeting and another 2 hours composing my email, I received no response.
On September 30th I sent an email to the following: Mark Orr, President Nelson, Joy Stewart-James, and Skip Bishop. In this email, I have asked for the above mentioned people to please get back to me and I pleaded, “I would appreciate you doing the right thing immediately and eliminate all of the unnecessary mental mind games I am being subjected to, so I may resume a life of peace and comfort when it comes to my mental and physical health” (See attachment 4). I still have not received a response from anyone that has been included in this email. This procedure of avoidance, denial, and untruths is all designed to bully me and break me down so that I will vaccinate. To say that this whole process has taken its toll on me mentally and physically is a gross understatement.
As far as discrimination goes, after much research, it has come to my attention that every single school in the Big Sky Conference (There are 11 members in eight different states) is not only allowing their unvaccinated athletes to participate, they are also allowed to travel to all games as long as they follow the necessary protocols. This is completely the opposite of what Mr. Orr and Ms. Stewart-James conveyed to me. In addition, I have also learned that I am in fact the only student/athlete in the CSU system who is unvaccinated and has an exemption that is not allowed to travel to road games and as a result miss at least half of the season.
To be specific in regard to discrimination, I lay that claim at the feet of Dr. Nelsen. He specifically told me, “The decision lies with me.” I can only conclude that if I am the only student/athlete in the Big Sky and the CSU system who has an exemption, yet is not allowed to fully participate, that this is a form of blatant discrimination. To put this scenario into its proper context, I am from London, England. I came to America for one reason- to play college basketball. My grades are good and I will graduate from college, but education is a side issue in this discussion. If I only wanted to get an education, I would have stayed in London. Quite the contrary, I am here in America to play college basketball, improve as a player, and hopefully become a receive a professional contract of some sort either here in America or abroad. If I had been told by the athletic department when I signed my scholarship papers on April 11, 2021, that I would have to vaccinate, I would not have come to Sacramento State. Instead, I would have signed with any of the other schools who were recruiting me. Let it be known that there is not a single school in the entire NCAA Division 1 category (344 schools) that does not honor a religious or medical exemption for unvaccinated players to fully participate so long as they follow the necessary protocols. With this being the case, I can only conclude that I am being singled-out and discriminated against by Mark Orr, Joy Stewart-James and President Nelsen.
The above information provided is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge.
N/A I am a full time student
N/A
This has severely affected my mental health and I have lost 16 pounds in the process. This whole ordeal is creating feelings of sadness, loneliness and depression and it is becoming overwhelming.
The specific remedy I am seeking is to be able to fully participate in all aspects of Sacramento State Basketball so long as I follow the protocols for unvaccinated Student/Athletes with an exemption. This includes all games both home and away. This also includes not having to quarantine upon return from a road game.
JONATHAN KOMAGUM
10/10/2021
Please voice your opinion on my situation anyway you feel comfortable and are able. Please reach out to media outlets, social media, or reach out to the CSU Regents in Long Beach. I am planning to get on the next CSU Board of Regents meeting which has an open session on November 9th. This is done virtually and I would like you to join in and support me.
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