Two Brown University football players have been removed from the team pending an investigation into sexual assault allegations against them by the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office.
The move also comes amid an ongoing Federal investigation into possible Title IX violations at Brown for their handling of on campus sexual assault cases.
Marisa Quinn, a Brown spokeswoman, confirmed that the roster listed on the football team's website was accurate. Quinn said that the enrolment status of students for the next academic year will be confirmed at the beginning of the fall semester, Providence Journal reports.
Attorneys representing both the players were annoyed by the decision.
"They haven't been charged with a crime. They haven't been arrested, and yet Brown is kicking them off the football team," said John Grasso, who represents one of the players, NBC 10 reports.
Artin Coloian, who represents the other player, feels that the University has made a premature decision by removing players from the football roster.
"I would hope Brown would not bow to outside political pressures and would allow students their due process," said Coloian.
The two players were asked to leave campus on April 30 pending the outcome of the investigation. But, Quinn said that they remained enrolled at the school and on the 2014 team roster.
Their dismissal was triggered by a complaint filed by a 19-year-old victim to Providence Police on Feb. 3 about being sexually assaulted. The Providence College student said that she was drugged during a night out with friends at a local bar on Nov. 21 and raped inside a Brown dorm room.
The lawsuit filed by one of the players accused the woman of making "false and defamatory statements." Both the football players were freshmen at the time of the incident.
