“We were horrified by the extent of these acts of sexual violence on our campus”, Richard Willis, chairman of the Baylor Board of Regents, said after reading the report from the Pepper Hamilton law firm.
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Briles informed his players of his firing via text message, according to a tweet from ESPN’s Brett McMurphy.
During Ukwuachu’s trial, evidence revealed that the player had been investigated by the university but not sanctioned – he continued to practice with the team throughout the legal process and Baylor coaches even went as far as to say that he would likely play for the team again during the 2015 season. Due to this early release I’m sorry that I can’t talk to y’all in person.
The largest Baptist school in the USA took the first steps Thursday when regents demoted high-profile President Ken Starr, a former prosecutor who investigated the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal, and fired football coach Art Briles, who turned the football program from a laughing stock into a Big 12 powerhouse.
Baylor would not confirm those reports in the day after the news broke. In this photo taken Wednesday, May, 25, 2016, Baylor President Ken Starr leaves a terminal at Waco airport in Waco, Texas.
Starr released a statement of his own on Thursday afternoon “expressing heartfelt contrition for the tragedy and sadness that has unfolded”.
In a statement, Starr apologized to “those victims who were not treated with the care, concern, and support they deserve”.
However, he made clear he was “not privy to any of the allegations regarding interpersonal violence until the Fall of 2015, at which time I immediately launched an internal investigation before recommending to the Board an independent external investigation, which the Board then commissioned with Pepper Hamilton”.
Athletics director Ian McCaw was put on probation, and Ken Starr lost his title as the university’s president.
Still, while personnel changes at Baylor seem to be long overdue, real change can’t happen for sexual assault survivors until the culture changes, and perpetrators are held accountable. “Not at all”, she said. He also will remain a professor in the Baylor Law School. The firm says it examined over one million pieces of information since last fall.
Critics have claimed that Baylor sacrificed moral considerations – and the safety of other students – for the sake of its winning football team.
In a statement Thursday, the university said actions by some administrators “directly discouraged” some potential victims from coming forward, and in one case retaliated against someone who did report a sexual assault.
The findings also detailed specific inadequacies within the athletics department.
“There are significant concerns about the tone and culture within Baylor’s football program as it relates to accountability for all forms of student athlete misconduct”, the university quoted the findings as saying.
Baylor is not now under investigation under Title IX for a sexual violence case. He never played for the Bears after being ruled ineligible in 2013 and suspended in 2014.
Pepper Hamilton also produced a 10-page document containing recommendations for the university’s implementations of Title IX and improved response to sexual violence on campus. Baylor University’s board of regents says it will fire Briles and re-assign Starr in response to questions about its handling of sexual assault complaints against players.
Art Briles became one of football’s most compelling figures by transforming Baylor from a local afterthought into a national powerhouse.
Briles took over the top job in 2008 and posted a record of 65-37.
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CNN contacted Starr for comment, but he has not responded. The Unplugged segment has since been shared across the country.
