Former Illinois football player Oladipo violated 5 student codes, no longer enrolled at university

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found former Illinois football player Olalere “Lere” Oladipo in violation of five student codes in October, including causing bodily harm and stalking, yet allowed him to remain a student at the university.

An appeal upheld those violations on Nov. 14, and Oladipo was dismissed from the Illini football team Nov. 19. Yet he remained a student.

Now, two months later, a university spokesperson said Wednesday that there is not currently anyone named Olalere Oladipo registered for the spring semester, which began Tuesday. Oladipo had announced his intent to transfer in December.

Documents obtained by the Northwest Herald show the university allowed Oladipo to remain a student in November "although dismissal would be an appropriate sanction."

The university's Subcommitee on Sexual Misconduct found Oladipo, a Huntley native, in violation of – per the student code – "dating violence," "stalking," "engaging in behavior which is so persistent, pervasive, or severe as to deny a person's ability to participate in the University community," "causing bodily harm to an individual," and "making physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with an individual."

The Subcommittee is a body made up of faculty, staff and students that hears cases involving allegations of sexual misconduct. Oladipo appealed the case with the Senate Committee on Student Discipline, which upheld the Subcommittee's ruling.

The results of the hearing were released by the university to the Northwest Herald on Tuesday.

Typically student disciplinary documents are protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. However, FERPA provides an exception in cases involving a “crime of violence or non-forcible sex offense.” In such cases, an institution can release the final results of a disciplinary proceeding without consent of the alleged perpetrator if the institution found the alleged perpetrator in violation of the institution’s rules or policies.

The University of Illinois originally denied the Northwest Herald’s Freedom of Information Act request for such disciplinary documents, but released them Tuesday after the Northwest Herald filed an appeal with the Attorney General’s office.

The university released seven pages outlining its findings of violations committed by Oladipo. The university declined to release any further documentation pertaining to the case – including evidence and testimony used in the Subcommittee hearing.

When reached by the Northwest Herald on Wednesday, Oladipo declined to comment for this story.

Oladipo was a star defensive lineman at Huntley High School, helping the Red Raiders reach the IHSA Class 8A state quarterfinals in 2016. He redshirted his freshman year at Illinois and played in four games in 2018 and two games in 2019.

He was dismissed from coach Lovie Smith’s team Nov. 19 for a "violation of team rules." He had been suspended for most of the 2019 season.

Prior reporting by the Northwest Herald showed that police were called twice because of Oladipo's alleged abuse of his ex-girlfriend while he was an Illini football player. The first incident in October 2018 led to Oladipo's arrest for domestic battery. Those charges were later dropped.

The second instance was first reported by the Northwest Herald in December. Police records show that in August 2019, his ex-girlfriend's mother called Champaign police alleging abuse. The ex-girlfriend declined to pursue charges.

Oladipo’s ex-girlfriend, Hana Inman, instead hoped the university hearing would hand down harsher punishment. Inman, a University of Illinois student from Bourbonnais, detailed her relationship with Oladipo to the Northwest Herald in a November interview.

The Northwest Herald doesn’t typically print the names of abuse victims. Inman, however, granted an interview and has been open about her experience on social media.

The Subcommittee corroborated some of Inman’s allegations, but in other cases “did not clearly find one party substantially more credible than the other.”

The Subcommittee found that Oladipo struck Inman in the head in August 2018. It found that Oladipo pulled Inman toward a car the night he was arrested in October 2018 but did not have “sufficient corroborating evidence” to support other allegations from that night. The Subcommittee did not conclude that any violence occurred during the August 2019 incident “as we have concerns about the credibility of both parties’ narratives of this incident.”

To remain a student at Illinois, Oladipo was directed to attend a 12-session program at Cognition Works Inc. in Champaign, a counseling service provider, and write a reflective essay about what he learned in the program. He also was directed to have no further contact with Inman.

Oladipo has not been found guilty of a crime and is not currently facing charges.