‘Enough Is Enough’

David Vick — June 6, 2024

After a 14-10 loss against Fairleigh Dickinson University on March 16, the Delaware State Women’s Lacrosse coaches were upset with players, according to multiple parents.

To punish players, the coaches forced them to roll up and down the field during a subsequent practice, video shows.

Three parents with daughters who played on the team this past season agreed to speak anonymously on the matter. They will be referred to as Parent One, Parent Two, and Parent Three throughout this story.

While the entire DSU coaching staff, including Head Coach Pamella Jenkins, was present at practice when the incident occurred, parents say Assistant Coach Jovan Estrada led the punishment.

“Coach Estrada, under the eye of Pam Jenkins, allowed a random ‘friend’ of his to come to practice and ‘punish’ the girls. These were the words used by the unknown party and the coaches themselves. What resulted was physical and verbal abuse over the course of the next 90+ minutes,” Parent One said.

The parent also mentioned that numerous players collided during the “chaotic activities” that occurred at the practice, leaving several with concussions. Along with rolling up and down the field, players had to planks, sprints, and burpees.

In addition to the punishment inflicted on players, the parents all said that coaches taunted the religious beliefs of Muslim players who were fasting during Ramadan.

“In Ramadan, Muslims commemorate the revelation of the Qur’an, and fast from food and drink during the sunlit hours as a means of drawing closer to God and cultivating self-control, gratitude, and compassion for those less fortunate.” (Islamic Networks Group)

All three parents were equally shocked when they heard what happened.

“I was definitely devastated and had to reach out to make sure things were accurate before speaking on this matter,” Parent Two said.

“As a father, mother, parent, or any level of responsible adult, you feel helpless initially. Then you feel anger,” Parent One shared.

As players revealed more details to their parents, many of them began contacting the school, looking for answers. The parents spoke with Deputy Director of Athletics Kyle Adams and Assistant Athletics Director of Compliance & Student-Athlete Services Christina Epps-Chiazor.

“When the school was notified about this (and the fact that a video was made), they tried to first over-talk it, saying such things are allowed,” Parent One said. “When pressed further and told the individual present had no attachment, clearance, or allowance to the program, they flinched. When told that Pam [Jenkins] was present, they immediately went into damage-control mode.”

Part of the damage control was firing Assistant Coach Jovan Estrada and placing Head Coach Pamella Jenkins on leave, which she remained on for the remainder of the season.

This was not enough in the eyes of Parent Two.

“Coach Jenkins should’ve been fired on the spot when the incident happened, and the girls on the team all would agree.”

And despite being unable to get in contact initially with Athletic Director Alecia Shields-Gadson, Parent Two believed she would protect the players.

“I thought she would handle this situation for both parties, but that wasn’t the case.”

Eventually, a parent on the team did hear from Shields-Gadson. Although, it took a threat of legal action for this to happen.

“At least one parent was able to get to the President of the School, Tony Allen, and threatened that if Gadson didn’t return his call immediately, lawyers would be involved. She called him soon after – which shows how the school continues to protect and cocoon their staff unless no other viable options exist,” according to Parent One.

Another common viewpoint among the three parents is that the friendship between Pamella Jenkins and Alecia Shields-Gadson, including their history as sorority sisters, got in the way of the situation being handled properly.

Parent Three described the two individuals as “very close.”

“Pam operates with complete impunity. Because she knows the AD is her Soror, and she’s basically untouchable, she feels as though there is/will be zero repercussion to anything she says, does, or decides. With that, a high majority of the girls on the team over the past several years have been reduced to having to resort to actual prescribed medication to deal with mental health issues,” Parent One said.

In the months following the March incident, the situation has not gotten any better for players.

A team meeting took place on May 25, 2024. What was shared left players and parents shocked yet again.

“The school was actually intending to bring Pam back – but she knew that would result in many issues. She proceeded to change scholarship allotments for many of the players – unannounced to them, and part ways,” Parent One said.

Parent Two and Parent Three confirmed this to be the case.

“The AD is trying to clean house with all the current players and start over from scratch and take away current players’ scholarships, which is absurd,” Parent Two said before going on to say that Shields-Gadson is “trying to blame the girls for what happened this season.”

Based on the university’s actions, Parent Three believes they are treating the players as the “victimizer” in the situation.

While all this has gone on, Delaware State players have yet to receive any guidance on a summer regimen. No direction has been given to them on conditioning or workouts to complete.

Despite Pamella Jenkins no longer being the Head Coach at Delaware State, the parents who took part in this story wanted it to be published for a reason: the players and the program deserve better.

“The support for the girls is mediocre… No other sport on campus goes through what the lacrosse team has to go through,” Parent Two said.

Parent One described the university’s support for the program as “non-existent.”

The parents also want those at the school to be held accountable for their actions, or lack thereof.

“Accountability, first and foremost… Outside eyes need to be made privy to what is happening, an independent outside investigation so that this does not happen again – at DSU or elsewhere,” Parent One stated.

“Things have to change immediately” Parent Two said.

“The AD couldn’t care less about the players – or the program. She is inept and should not have any level of responsibility afforded to her by DSU. Through the entirety of dealing with this issue, she has lied to the president of the school, the board of trustees, the players, and any other parties. She only cares about the status and title she holds in her current position,” according to Parent One.

Lacrosse Extras reached out to Delaware State with questions.

“Delaware State University does not publicly comment on personnel issues such as those raised in your inquiry below. Therefore, the university has no comments regarding your questions below,” DSU Director of News Services Carlos Holmes responded.