The report commissioned by the law firm Pepper Hamilton stated school leadership, including Briles and his staff, inappropriately handled allegations of sexual violence made by students, some against football players.
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Former Baylor president and chancellor Ken Starr said in his ESPN interview on Wednesday that the “captain goes down with the ship”.
The statement goes on to say that a factual report is a way of assuring Baylor Nation that the right people were fired. He said the report, which he noted was prepared by non-independent law firm Pepper Hamilton, “has not been shared with me directly, despite my full cooperation with the investigation”. Starr had agreed “in principle” to remain in the figurehead position of chancellor. “We need to be honest”.
“We recognize this is a tumultuous time for Baylor, most importantly for our current and former students and victims of sexual assault”.
In a statement yesterday the board said: “We were horrified by what we learned from the investigation and again express our public acknowledgment and deepest apologies”. “The Baylor board of regents should immediately release whatever information can legally be shared”. The family bought season tickets for basketball and football games in the aftermath of the 2003 Baylor basketball scandal, when Carlton Dotson murdered teammate Patrick Dennehy, and coach Dave Bliss tried to paint Dennehy as a drug dealer while covering up other major NCAA violations.
Starr was not the only school official to be affected by the controversy. When the board released a report on its investigation last week, it announced Starr’s demotion, the firing of football coach Art Briles and the suspension of Athletic Director Ian McCaw.
When the board moved to fire Briles on May 26, it also forced Starr to relinquish the presidency. “I am here to say coach Briles and this program are good”.
Starr spoke about Briles with News 10 Wednesday, calling him “a coach of second chance”. It doesn’t have any operating responsibilities, and Starr would mostly focus on fundraising and “religious freedom” issues, they said. In one case, the actions included retaliating against a complainant for reporting a sexual assault. In August 2015, former Baylor football player Sam Ukwuachu was sentenced to 180 days in jail after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a women’s soccer player.
Two Baylor players accused of sexual assault were recruited by Briles after they were dismissed from their previous schools for off-field problems.
“We need to put this frightful experience behind us”, Starr told ESPN. “Those are venues where those bad things have happened”.
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A spokesman for the education department said there is now no case involving Baylor under investigation.
