Hello Supporters,
We want to thank you all for standing with us during this time. Our petition has gained a lot of momentum and has unveiled scars from the past through testimonies shared in our comments and on twitter. It is apparent that the mental abuse of Margaritis extends beyond just his players. We believe that our petition has alerted the very people that would want to keep these issues under wraps and pushed under the rug.
Earlier this week a statement was made on the behalf of UCR Athletics through The Press Enterprise (the article will be attached below). It informs the public that John Margaritis will receive a suspension without pay for 20 days. There are no dates present in the article that serve as a start of his consequence, when the investigation was conducted or concluded, but it definitely wants the reader to know how much of a winner Margaritis is. It doesn't even state which of the universities policies Margaritis violated. After gaining information from a credible inside source we have confirmed that Margaritis initial reprimand was a mere two game suspension of his choosing! Then sometime after our petition was published his consequence had been extended to a 20 day suspension-we are unsure if this is will be added to the initial 2 game suspension, but know that most likely its not since they're so worried about winning, right? Furthermore they fail to give any insight to why Coach Giuliana's contract was not renewed.
Also, we find it odd that they mention UCR's Volleyball Team being under investigation when they're already in season, not to mention its supposed to be an article about the suspension of Margaritis. I assume there are more scandals going on in their Athletics department than we actually know about.
Eventually the information regarding the situations will be public knowledge whether the university likes it or not. Our supporters, former players, donors, and the public deserve to know if our concerns have been answered or just merely glossed over in efforts to shut us up just like the way they treated their former Assistant Coach Mendiola.
Press Enterprise Article