University of Minnesota football coach Tracy Claeys said he wasn’t involved in suspending 10 of his players from the upcoming Holiday Bowl.

Maybe now he should suspend himself from social media for a while. This is what Claeys posted on Twitter when his team basically went on strike last week and threatened to sit out the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 27.

“Have never been more proud of our kids. I respect their rights &support their effort to make a better world!”

I’m a fan of student activism. That includes student-athletes realizing they have considerable leverage and power, and using it when and where appropriate. But hopefully the Golden Gophers have learned a lesson about choosing their battles wisely.

Their boycott lasted less than two days, and the players gave in when enough of them realized the grown-ups weren’t going to budge on the suspensions.

The university administration is on solid ground with the suspensions. You know this if you read even just some of the 82-page report from an investigation of a sexual assault complaint by a female student in September.

The players were claiming unfair treatment, and that the sex was consensual. There were no criminal charges filed.

The players complained about a lack of communication from the university. The university claimed it could not release more information due to privacy issues.

But the publishing of the report by a Minneapolis TV station (KSTP) changed much of that.

The thorough report, generated by UM’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EOAA) outlined a hellish experience for the victim.

Through interviews with her, the 12 accused football players and more than 20 other witnesses, as well as text messages among the players, the investigation concluded “it was more likely than not” that sexual assaults did occur, as did sexual harassment and other violations of the school’s student conduct code.

It doesn’t matter what you call it. As outlined in the report, what happened during the early morning hours of Sept. 2 in one of the player’s apartment bedroom definitely did not “make a better world,” especially for the victim.

Football teammates consider themselves “brothers,” and that’s the word the Minnesota players used in statements last week as they stood by those accused. Loyalty for teammates is understandable, and normally an admirable trait. But what the players failed to understand at first is that in this case it was misplaced.

Not playing in the bowl game would have been a much larger betrayal — in reverse order of importance — of their football program, their university’s reputation and the Minnesota students, especially the women.

One of the functions of departments like Minnesota’s EOAA is to address Title IX issues. Those of us immersed in sports think of Title IX mostly in terms of sports gender equity. But its domain also includes situations of sexual violence on campus, and this is regardless of whether anyone involved is an athlete.

As this story developed last week, much of the focus was on how the boycott was messing up preparations for the bowl game. That’s as sad an indicator of warped priorities as Claeys’ misplaced pride in his team’s decision to stand together which was based, at best, on ignorance.

Are we now so desensitized that we shrug off sexual assault at colleges? Games are more important than campus safety? Standing by your “brothers” supersedes all?

The Golden Gophers said they would use their high profile “to bring more exposure to the issue of sexual harassment and violence against women,” in a statement Saturday after ending the boycott.

At least in their words they’re on the right side now. Plenty of eyes will be on them, especially on Dec. 27, and now they really do have a chance to help make it a better world.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.