Boston University finally responds to Alex Cooper accusing coach of sexual harassment

Boston University has finally responded to Alex Cooper's claims that she was sexually harassed by her soccer coach at the school, with the university saying it has a 'zero-tolerance policy' for such behavior.

The allegations from the 'Call Her Daddy' podcast' mogul, who played at the school from 2013-15, emerged five days ago as she detailed the claims against longtime coach Nancy Feldman in her newly-released Hulu documentary, 'Call Me Alex.'

And now, BU has issued a long-awaited statement on the matter. 

'Boston University has a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment,' the school began in a statement obtained by People. 'We have a robust system of resources, support and staff dedicated to student wellbeing and a thorough reporting process through our Equal Opportunity Office.

'We encourage members of our community to report any concerns, and we remain committed to fostering a safe and secure campus environment for all.'

In her own telling of her experience, Cooper said in her documentary that her complaints were dismissed by school officials.

'I felt a lot of anger—anger at my coach, anger at my school, and anger at the system that allowed this to happen,' Cooper said in the Hulu documentary, as quoted by Vanity Fair. 'I don't think anyone could've prepared me for the lasting effects that came from this experience. She turned something that I loved so much into something extremely painful.'

Cooper's allegations of unwanted attention and invasive questions are corroborated by her former dormmate and teammate Alex Schlobohm.   

Daily Mail previously reached out to Boston University officials and Nancy Feldman for comment.

'It was this psychotic game of, 'You wanna play? Tell me about your sex life. I have to drive you to your night class, get in the car with me alone,'' Cooper also claimed in the film.

'I started trying to spend as little time as possible with her. Taking different routes to practice where I knew I wouldn't run into her, during meetings, I would try to sit as far away from her as possible. Literally anything to not be alone with this woman.'

She later added on Instagram that longtime coach Feldman, someone 'supposed to help me grow, instead 'made my life a living hell and abused her power over me.'

Sometimes Feldman would pull Cooper in to sit next to her on the couch, the podcaster claimed, adding that the coach would often stare at her or place a hand on her thigh.

Fearful of Feldman's power over her own scholarship, Cooper contacted attorneys who warned her of the potential consequences of taking legal action.

'If I'm gonna be real with you, they will drag this on for years and this will be your life,' Cooper quoted the attorneys in the film.

Eventually Cooper approached university staff about the problem.

'I want to play my senior year,' she said, recalling the conversation. 'I want to finish out what I worked my entire life for, but I can't play for this woman. They said, 'We're not gonna fire her, but you can keep your entire scholarship and that's that.' No investigation. Within five minutes, they had entirely dismissed everything I had been through.'

Cooper had previously spoken to The Athletic in vague terms about a 'traumatic experience' with regards to her college soccer career.

However, she said in the 2022 interview that she planned to talk about the experience after she was 'healed.'

Cooper, 30, is now a media titan after starting her podcasting career at Barstool Sports and moving on to Spotify with a three-year, $60 million deal in 2021.

Feldman coached the BU Terriers since 1995, when the school first adopted women's soccer as a varsity sport, until 2022. Over that time, she guided the Terriers to 14 NCAA Tournament appearances, 13 conference titles and was twice named NSCAA Coach of the Year.