Until last week, Starr held the job of president and chancellor.
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Former Baylor coach Art Briles tells a Waco, Texas, television station that the report on the handling of sexual assault allegations commissioned by the school has not been shared with him and that it he assumes it supports a conclusion already drawn by the board of regents. “The captain goes down with the ship”, said Starr, 69, who was hired as president of the nation’s largest Baptist university in 2010 after gaining renown as the special prosecutor who investigated Clinton’s affair with Lewinsky, a White House intern. A Baylor graduate student told Waco, Texas, police that Oakman “forcibly removed” her clothes, forced her onto his bed and then sexually assaulted her on April 3, according to an arrest warrant obtained by ESPN. “We need to be honest”.
The report was highly critical of Baylor, saying some victims of sexual assault were intimidated or retaliated against for reporting the crimes.
Starr and Baylor officials did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
Calling the move a “matter of conscience”, Starr said his resignation was effective immediately, but will continue to teach at the law school.
Starr asked a law firm a year ago to review Baylor’s handling of sexual assault cases following allegations that the school mishandled several cases in which football players were accused of attacking women.
In addition to the removal of Briles, both school president Ken Starr and athletic director Ian McCaw have stepped down. Starr had agreed “in principle” to remain in the figurehead position of chancellor. The findings stem from Pepper Hamilton’s independent investigation of the school and athletic department. Baylor, with about 16,000 students, ranks 72nd on the U.S. News and World Report list of national universities, tied with Rutgers and American University. The student said she emailed Starr about her claims but received a response nearly one week later from “someone in the university’s Title IX office”.
The report didnt identify specific cases, but two football players have been convicted of sexual assault since 2014.
We recognize this is a tumultuous time for Baylor, most importantly for our current and former students and victims of sexual assault. And in some cases, coaches or staff members of the football team met with victims, but didn’t report the allegations to anyone else at the school.
“This investigation revealed the University’s mishandling of reports in what should have been a supportive, responsive and caring environment for students”, Willis said in the statement.
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“The board of regents made a public statement that we will decide what steps to take”, he said.
