Sexual assault complaints and ‘open secrets’ at Swarthmore; Sixers eliminated in Toronto | Morning Newsletter

Outrage followed after internal documents from a Swarthmore fraternity pointed to members making offensive comments about women and minorities, and jokes about sexual assault. But for years, that behavior was known as an ‘open secret’ at the college — one that has finally come to light and brought about permanent change. After a long, hard fought series against the Toronto Raptors, the Philadelphia 76ers are headed toward an offseason of uncertainty that will likely be filled with change. Their heartbreaking Game 7 loss will stick in fans’ minds for a long time. And hopefully it stays with the players for awhile as well.

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— Ray Boyd (@RayBoydDigital, morningnewsletter@philly.com)

On Friday, Swarthmore announced that fraternities and sororities will no longer exist at the college. The sweeping change followed years of complaints about sexual misconduct at the school that had come to be known as an “open secret.”

Despite the disbanding of two fraternities, school administrators are still facing criticism from those who wonder what took so long.

The two fraternities disbanded amid outrage over leaked internal documents from one of the groups that suggested that members made offensive comments about women and minorities, and joked about sexual assault. The school has since hired an attorney and former prosecutor to review the documents, but it’s unclear how long that will last.

The Sixers and Raptors went toe-to-toe in a win-or-go-home Game 7 last night — a game that ended on an improbable shot by Kawhi Leonard. After watching that shot go in, we were all Joel Embiid.

The Leonard dagger bounced on the rim for what felt like forever as the 4th-quarter clock expired, falling through the net to lift the Raptors to a 92-90 win over the Sixers. The shot ended the Sixers’ season, sending them toward an offseason of uncertainty as three members of the starting five (Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris and J.J. Redick) enter free agency.

Now, General Manager Elton Brand and the Sixers’ brass will have to figure out what moves will be necessary to take another step toward title contention and whether or not they have the best coach to do so.

Developer Jack Azran is admitting that he probably made a mistake. Two years of silence and mystery surrounded the fate of Philly’s Germantown High School and Arzan now says he might have messed up by leaving the community in the dark.

For years, speculation and anger have cropped up as residents wondered how the hulking, shuttered school building could sit vacant for so long.

Arzan finally delivered some aspects of his plan to the community last week — a plan that he said is still too early on for specific details, but one that he expects to include housing.

Despite the Sixers’ loss last night, Philly is still a basketball town and proud of it. Thanks for the reminder, @thephillychecklist.

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“Philadelphia has a poverty problem — 26 percent of its population lives in poverty. This already-challenging issue becomes even more problematic when candidates for office talk about poverty, because the ensuing conversations never quite unpack what exactly poverty means — and what is realistic for a mayor or an elected city official to do about it.” — The Inquirer Editorial Board on Philadelphia’s struggles with poverty.

At Philly’s top-notch hotels, the room service menus have gone to the dogs — literally. At one popular hotel, dogs can dine on made-to-order filet mignon, Scottish salmon, and more.