Tumbling Down: SU Cheer Coach Resigns amid sexual misconduct allegations

Southern University cheer coach, James Smith, resigned earlier this month after sexual assault claims were brought up against him by two students who attend the university.
Smith, an alumni of Grambling State University, also serves as the principal of Brookstown Middle Magnet Academy. Serving as a cheerleading coach for the Jags for more than 20 years, James was a seasoned member of the Jaguar Nation.
After reports surfaced of his alleged sexual assault claims, however, Smith immediately resigned from the university. An ongoing investigation is being conducted by Southern University officials, as well as the EBR Parish school board.
Speaking with some of his cheerleaders, many are giving Smith the benefit of the doubt that the claims against him are unfounded.
Kaiyah Stepter, a business management major from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and a current member of the Jags cheer squad shares about her former coach and the claims against him stating,“This is such a heartbreaking situation because Coach James Smith is such an amazing man and totally not the person the media is portraying him to be.” Stepter continued to say that “He [Smith] had taken every team he’s had from the past 25 years and loved his babies like we were his own.”
Many close to Smith have given similar testimonies to his character, detailing his work for the school, students, and the cheer program in general.
When asking some students on campus outside the cheer team, however, similar testaments to Smith’s character were given along with possible motives to slander Smith.
“I think whoever said that was either mad or about to get put off [the] team or something,” Shazly Jones, a Speech Pathology major from Baton Rouge, Louisiana commented on the debacle. “Basically they did that to make him look bad. Like they didn’t get their way so they tried to bring him down and being that they are students people will believe them,” Jones continued.
Coming from students without affiliations to Smith, it speaks volumes on the impression Smith has left on people and the Southern University Community as a whole.
Regardless of these testimonies however, the reality is that there have been numerous sexual assault cases against numerous high-standing individuals in the Southern University System for an extended period of time. These cases have negatively affected the university and its name with unwanted attention and disdain since this string of cases began.
As the university’s and school system’s investigations continue, there will be ongoing coverage as to whether the allegations against Smith are accurate and what his future in the school system will be.