It’s been one hell of a week for the University of Iowa.

On Tuesday, President Sally Mason addressed the controversy surrounding the university’s bungling of a sexual assault case involving two football players by taking the ax to two top university officials accused of mishandling the situation.

The next day, former vice president for student services Phillip Jones threatened to sue the university for wrongful termination.

Thursday, Mason faced the music in front of the Board of Regents, which predictably let Mason off with little more than a slap on the wrist and a promise to do better in the future. The athletic department, even more predictably, suffered no repercussions for the incident. What the regents did do was deny Mason a raise — both ISU President Gregory Geoffroy and UNI President Benjamin Allen received pay raises for next year. But with her present salary of $450,000, we don’t think she is going to be pressed for cash, even in these times of economic crisis.

There was another ruling from Thursday’s meeting that slipped under most people’s radar. The Associated Press reported that the regents voted to require its institutions to strictly follow the rules for flying the American flag that are laid out in the U.S. flag code.

This was in response to U of I’s decision two weeks ago to fly its flags on campus at half-staff in memorandum of the late Professor Arthur Miller, who committed suicide in August. Miller, you might remember, was facing charges for allegedly offering higher grades to his female students in exchange for sexual favors.

The University of Iowa was following its own policy for flag-lowering, which is done to recognize the death of a U of I student, faculty member or staff member.

This is in conflict with the U.S. flag code, which states that only the president or a state governor can institute a flag-lowering.

Miller has, no doubt, done a lot of admirable work while teaching, but to honor him by flying flags at half-staff is absolutely disrespectful to the victims and, like it or not, insinuates that the university tolerates his type of actions. Regent President David Miles said himself in the other sexual abuse case that the victim’s rights had to come first — and that is precisely where the university failed in both cases.

The Regents did the right thing in this case. It ensures nothing like it will happen again. But when it comes to sexual assault, reacting after the fact isn’t enough. We need to see the Regents be firm with their institutions about taking preventative measures. Only then can the ugly scars on the face of the University of Iowa begin to heal.