I was thinking kind of along those lines. Maybe not covering things up, but handling it “internally,” making people attend classes, revoking access, that kind of thing. You have the Penn State situation - revoke access, Rutgers - attend sensitivity training, and here - revoke access.
This circling the wagons around people put into positions of authority happens all over, even in private industry. We promote someone to management; if they aren’t suited for that role, we will do everything in our power to discredit their accusers, otherwise we have to accept responsibility for a bad decision.
Funny you mention that. I was almost fired twice for doing exactly that. I needed my job so I kept my mouth shut. Took a while to prove me correct. And no, there was no pat on the back....not that I expected one. Instead they just bad mouthed her.