More broadly, the report noted that there are “significant concerns about the tone and culture within Baylor’s football program as it relates to accountability for all forms of athlete misconduct” and that Briles’s leadership “created a cultural perception that football was above the rules”, because “in certain instances, including reports of a sexual assault by multiple football players, athletics and football personnel affirmatively chose not to report sexual violence and dating violence to an appropriate administrator outside of athletics”. Starr will leave the position of president on May 31, but the school says he will serve as chancellor. This led to the university beginning the process of cleaning house and getting rid of Briles, School President Ken Starr and placing Athletic Director Ian McCaw on probation.
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The university’s statement said the review revealed “a fundamental failure”.
In addition, she contacted the Baylor Student Health Center to seek counseling and was told there was no one who could help her. Baylor University’s board of regents says it will f…
“I found myself almost shaking with awe while reading this article”, she wrote in an email after reviewing a summary of findings from an investigation by the outside law firm Pepper Hamilton LLC, which Baylor’s board hired last fall. He also will remain a professor in the Baylor Law School. In one instance, those actions constituted retaliation against a complainant for reporting sexual assault.
Specific shortcomings were found within the school’s football program.
The report also found that Baylor was too slow to enact federally-required student conduct processes, and that administrators failed to identify and eliminate a “potential hostile environment” for victims. Board members were briefed on the report earlier this month.
Starr issued a statement to the Waco Tribune-Herald after the university announced Thursday that it was demoting him and firing football coach Art Briles.
“We were shocked”, said Regent David Harper. “We were sad and angry”. At Baylor, he was known for running out with the football team before games. Testimony during the trial revealed that Ukwuachu had been investigated by the university but not punished.
Art Briles has been fired by Baylor amid a growing controversy over how he handled rape accusations involving his former players.
The school had been accused of dealing improperly with rape allegations against its football players in the past, and Starr – a former prosecutor who made his name investigating Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky and other scandals – had a law firm conduct an inquiry into the matter previous year after former football player Sam Ukwuachu was convicted of raping a female soccer player.
Sexual assault allegations on college campuses are reading their ugly heads once again and another dominant coach has been terminated from his coaching duties.
Briles and the university are also still defendants in a federal civil lawsuit filed by a woman who says the school was casually indifferent to her pleas when she was assaulted in 2012.
“To current and former players, hurtful to report that there’s a release coming out at 11 am and it’s to declare that I’m no longer the head football coach at Baylor University”. The university does not make the document public.
Others were openly critical of the university’s actions.
Ron Murff, Board of Regents chair-elect, issued an apology on behalf of the board. The job, they said, focuses on “development and religious liberty”. As pressure mounted, the university released a series of statements and letters.
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“Despite these dark days, I remain resolved to join hands with the Baylor family to continue to build the University as we carry out its distinct mission in Christian higher education”.
