BOULDER, Colo. -- One of the two women leading an investigation into the University of Colorado's recruiting scandal said Monday she won't resign after suggesting that women put themselves at risk of rape by attending alcohol-fueled sex parties.

"I was under fire in the Legislature and we didn't crawl up in a little ball," former lawmaker Joyce Lawrence said in a telephone interview from her home in Pueblo.

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On Friday, immediately after her appointment to the investigative panel by the university president, Lawrence told a reporter: "The question I have for the ladies in this is why they are going to parties like this and drinking or taking drugs and putting themselves in a very threatening or serious position."

On Monday, Lawrence said she hadn't meant to suggest alleged victims bore some responsibility.

"It seems to me that there seems to be a nexus between alcohol and sex but that is not to cast any aspersions on women who drink and are sexually assaulted in the sense that any man would ever be exonerated from his responsibilities," she said.

Lawrence and another former lawmaker, Peggy Lamm, have been chosen to investigation allegations that the university used alcohol and sex parties to entice top recruits. Three women have also filed federal lawsuits against the school, saying they were raped at or after a December 2001 off-campus party attended by football players and recruits.

Boulder District Attorney Mary Keenan declined to file rape charges but said in a deposition she believed sex was used to lure recruits and athletic officials had ignored her demands to crack down.

Keenan has appointed investigators to re-examine allegations stemming from the party.

Gov. Bill Owens, speaking on a radio talk show, said Lawrence and Lamm were good choices to lead the commission. He also said Lawrence, a fellow Republican, raised a reasonable question.

"There are lots of questions," Owens said on KOA-AM radio.said.

Cari Davis, executive director of TESSA, a Colorado Springs group that has assisted dozens of women who say they were assaulted at the Air Force Academy, said Lawrence's comment amounted to blaming the victims.

"I would question her ability to be objective," Davis said. "I would ask why we continue to expect women to circumscribe their lives in order to be safe from violence vs. addressing offenders and their continued violence toward women."

Regina Cowles, president of the National Organization for Women, had questioned the selection of Lamb and Lawrence even before Lawrence's comment because neither woman is an attorney or a victims' advocate.

"The comments she made are unacceptable," Cowles said. "They show an unreasonable bias against victims of assault and rape. CU should shake her hand, thank her for her time and send her away."

Cowles noted that a member of a congressionally appointed panel investigating the Air Force Academy scandal quit after victims' advocates criticized her for remarks similar to those made by Lawrence.

Lawrence said she understood the need to have a victims' advocate on the panel and was hoping some would apply. Lamm did not return a call seeking comment.

Peter Steinhauer, chairman of the Board of Regents, did not return a call or e-mail seeking comment. He has said the board will monitor the committee, including appointments of its remaining members. It is expected to total from five to eight members.

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