Ted Agu

An independent investigation of the Cal football program regarding the 2014 death of Cal defensive lineman Ted Agu — initiated by former UC Berkeley chancellor Nicholas Dirks in July 2016 — was halted last year, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

On March 20, 2014 — six weeks after Cal football player Ted Agu dropped dead on a campus hillside in the early morning — Berkeley campus police Chief Margo Bennett emailed John Wilton, then the vice chancellor for administration and finance, with the warning not to share with others “the documents I gave you yesterday. … The case is not available for a PRA request and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Journalist and freelance author Irvin Muchnick filed a lawsuit against the UC Board of Regents on Tuesday, demanding that the regents comply with his request through the California Public Records Act for all documents regarding the death of former Cal football player Ted Agu.

Two new reviewers were chosen to lead an inquiry into the Cal football strength and conditioning program after the San Francisco Chronicle reported in June that the previous review was conducted by people with personal ties to Cal Athletics.

The contract of Cal football’s strength and conditioning coach, Damon Harrington, was renewed on June 28 prior to reporting on faculty concerns over a previous investigation involving the program, according to a statement from campus spokesperson Dan Mogulof.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks called for a new investigation Friday into the strength and conditioning program of Cal football amid criticism over a 2014 inquiry that cleared the program of wrongdoing.

The University of California will pay $4.75 million to settle a lawsuit brought against it by the family of Cal football player Ted Agu after he died when the team took part in a training session.

The University of California admitted Jan. 25 that negligence on its part was a substantial factor in the death of former Cal football player Ted Agu.