LEXINGTON, Ky. — The University of Kentucky responded to a sexual assault lawsuit filed by two former swimmers, saying it had contacted law enforcement and will cooperate fully with them.

“No one should be subject to the kind of abuse described in the civil lawsuit filed Friday,” the university said in a statement. “Our top priority is the health and safety of our students and employees. We have no tolerance for harm, harassment or abuse.”

“We will do everything possible to ensure the safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff,” the school added.

The statement comes days after Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart said he couldn’t comment on the lawsuit against him, the school and former coach Lars Jorgenson. The suit alleges sexual assaults, including rape by Jorgensen and claiming the school “purposefully” disregarded multiple credible reports of inappropriate sexual relationships.

“I always say we always want to have safety for our student-athletes, our coaches and our staff,” the longtime AD said on April 14, after a news conference introducing men’s basketball coach Mark Pope. “But other than that, I can’t say.”

Former Kentucky swimmer and assistant coach Briggs Alexander and a woman identified only as Jane Doe filed the suit Friday, April 12, in U.S. District Court. It said Kentucky empowered Jorgensen to “foster a toxic, sexually hostile environment within the swim program and to prey on, sexually harass, and commit horrific sexual assaults.”

The lawsuit also alleges former Kentucky head coach Gary Conelly, who led the program from 1991 until retiring in 2013, did not follow up on being told of previous alleged misconduct by Jorgensen at Toledo. It also alleges Barnhart did not follow up an email about allegations or investigate them and hired Jorgensen, and it accused him of intentionally concealing the allegations.

The lawsuit, first reported by The Athletic, said Kentucky’s athletic department received credible reports from the University of Toledo assistant coach Mark Howard that Jorgensen “was a sexual predator” who couldn’t be trusted around young women while at the Ohio school.

Rather than investigate the allegations, the suit alleges Kentucky concealed them and hired Jorgensen as an assistant in 2012 and received numerous allegations from various sources during his 10-year tenure as a head coach that either weren’t documented or pursued.