The HBO documentary Surviving Ohio State aired Tuesday night, criticizing the university's response to Dr. Richard Strauss and the people he sexually abused while he worked at OSU.
The documentary accuses Ohio State officials, like then-assistant wrestling coach and current Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan, of covering up Strauss' actions. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in early June. It was produced by George Clooney and includes interviews with people who were sexually abused by Strauss, who worked at the university from 1978 to 1998.
The film calls out Ohio State for shortchanging the survivors by offering $250,000 per person in a 2020 settlement, compared to other universities like Michigan State and Penn State, which offered more than $1 million to sexual abuse survivors. The film is highly critical of Ohio State, saying university officials were deceitful and fought tooth and nail to dismiss lawsuits brought by abuse victims.
Former Ohio State officials didn't participate in the documentary. Jordan and former wrestling head coach Russ Hellickson did not respond to the documentary crew's interview requests.
Steve Snyder-Hill, one of the first Strauss victims to come forward, told WOSU he hopes the documentary helps people to realize how horrible OSU's response was to the abuse.
"(Ohio State was) so wretched in the way that they handled this that they got a whole documentary created about it, about the way they've handled it. I think that that should be any student that is there now's takeaway," Snyder-Hill said.
Snyder-Hill said he's watched the documentary three times since HBO first showed a private screening to survivors. He said survivors were emotional at that screening.
Strauss died by suicide in 2005 at the age of 67, hanging himself at his California home.
HBO documentary puts spotlight on OSU administration and culpability of wrestling coaches
One key takeaway from the film is that almost all of the survivors who were interviewed insisted the university and its officials knew about Strauss' actions. The film asserts officials at the university lied about Strauss and attempted to cover up his abuse.
The athletes and other victims described Strauss' actions in detail. Strauss' actions ranged from him conducting genital exams without gloves, even for injuries to an athlete's ear or ankle. In one case, a former hockey player described how he sought Strauss' help for an injury when Strauss drugged him, brought the athlete to his home and raped him.
Multiple athletes contend Jordan knew about Strauss' actions as well. The athletes said they told Jordan and Hellickson multiple times and that Strauss' conduct was an "open secret."
One former athlete contended Jordan was told about this and once said "If (Strauss) ever did that to me, I'd snap his neck like a stick of dry balsa wood."
Former wrestling referee Frederick Feeney said he once was showering after a match when Strauss entered the shower right next to him. Feeney said Strauss begin to masturbate and when he turned away, Strauss grabbed his butt.
Feeney said he told Jordan and Hellickson, but the two brushed off the claim saying that's how Strauss behaved.
Jordan's office denied these accusations in a statement to WOSU.
“Chairman Jordan never saw or heard of any abuse, and if he had, he would have dealt with it," Jordan's spokesman Russell Dye said in a statement.
Dye did not answer questions about whether Jordan himself ever suffered abuse at the hands of Strauss. The documentary claimed Strauss had a locker next to Jordan and showed photos that were taken of Jordan as a wrestler by Strauss.
Another wrestler who also had a private photo session with Strauss said the doctor assaulted him during an encounter.
Snyder-Hill's case proved that university officials knew about Strauss's abuse and did nothing. Snyder-Hill reported Strauss molesting him during an exam to Ohio Director of Student Health Services Dr. Ted Grace, who wrote in a letter to Snyder-Hill that Strauss had never abused any other student.
That was not true. In fact, Grace's office had received a complaint days before Snyder-Hill's report. And decades earlier, Charlotte Remenyik, a men's fencing coach, repeatedly tried to report Strauss' abuse of her athletes, but the university never took the claims seriously because no student came forward.
The State Medical Board of Ohio stripped Grace of his license in 2021.
Some interviews suggested Strauss not only sexually abused and raped his victims, but also injected performance enhancing drugs into his athletes. This claim has not previously been reported.
Ohio State declined to comment on these claims.
OSU reiterated a statement it gave WOSU last week, when the trailer for the documentary first aired. The statement expressed deep regret and apologies for Strauss' actions, but the statement stressed that his actions happened decades ago.
Ohio State spokesman Ben Johnson said the university is "fundamentally different today than when Strauss was an employee."
"Over the past 25 years, Ohio State has made robust changes to its culture and policies to protect students, faculty and staff," the statement said.
Strauss survivors gather in court one day after documentary airs.
Snyder-Hill and about a dozen other survivors and their supporters gathered at the U.S. District Courthouse in Columbus on Wednesday as Judge Michael Watson continued to hear their case.
The gathering was one of the largest of the group of men who say Strauss assaulted them decades ago. Even though many met for the first time, it was like a reunion of men who suffered the same shared trauma.
On Tuesday, Watson denied the plaintiffs the ability to seek emotional damages from Ohio State, but on Wednesday, Watson said he was not happy about having to make that decision saying he followed what the law told him to do.
Watson said with the remaining avenues, the plaintiffs have to seek damages. He thinks the plaintiffs can put together a large number for a potential payout should the lawsuit go to trial.
The court hearing Wednesday largely revolved around scheduling future events for the lawsuit and Watson announcing that he is appointing a mediator to help shepherd both parties through the process.
Mike Carpenter, a lawyer for Ohio State, said he thinks the university "bent over backward" to try to work with the plaintiffs. He said 296 people have accepted the other settlement offers, leaving about 231 plaintiffs who haven't.
Carpenter said the large number of damages the remaining plaintiffs are seeking could lead to a "deadstop."
Debra Greenberger, the lawyer for some of the survivors, said after the court proceeding where Watson appointed a mediator that she hopes it could help move the ongoing lawsuits with more than 200 plaintiffs forward.
"This case is about getting justice and accountability. Whether that comes from a settlement or a day in court," Greenberger said.
Greenberger said she hopes Ohio State will treat her clients with the respect they deserve. She also said the HBO documentary was an opportunity to tell their story and talk about how they've been failed by the university.
