Vincent Harris, a 2009 Baylor graduate who started a petition that attracted almost 2,000 signatures of support for Mr. Starr, called him “a huge asset to our university and someone who can and will continue to bring a huge benefit to our community during this time of transition”.
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After years of ignoring sexual assault complaints, Baylor University is finally taking action to support survivors. Baylor University’s board of regents says it will fire Briles and re-assign university President Kenneth Starr in response to questions about its handling of sexual assault complaints against players.
The report, according to the summary, also found Baylor administrators actively discouraged some complainants from reporting or participating in student conduct processes and in one case constituted retaliation against a complainant for reporting sexual assault.
The 23-page report highlighted university-wide problems, but also honed in on specific misdeeds inside the football program. The review found administrators mishandled cases and in one instance retaliated against a victim reporting an assault. As a result, the report said, nobody did anything to “fairly and impartially” investigate. Briles has been Baylor’s football coach since 2008 and McCaw became athletic director in 2003. Board members were briefed on the report earlier this month.
“We were shocked. It made us angry, sad, and very humbled”, Harper said. “We were sad and angry”.
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 a year ago after former football player Sam Ukwuachu was convicted of raping a female soccer player.
The external investigation to which Starr refers came about following the media firestorm that was kicked off upon Ukwuachu’s conviction.
The 13-page “findings of fact” released by Baylor didn’t name Starr, Briles or McCaw individually, but the investigation covered from 2011-2015. Hernandez said she was raped by a Baylor football player in 2012. And why didn’t internal investigations lead to the expulsions of those students?
University officials time and again had knowledge of assaults committed by football players and others but took no action, Hernandez said, adding she won’t drop her lawsuit. A statistically likely side effect is that more coeds on your campus get raped, but boosters can pay the young ladies off. I didn’t want to be right. Mundhenk has since organized prayer vigils on campus and publicly called for the university to reform.
In a statement, the U.S. Department of Education, which enforces anti-gender discrimination regulations at universities, said Baylor had taken steps to satisfy federal requirements. “We just feel like Baylor deserves more”, said Willis.
Until Thursday, Baylor’s public response had been limited.
Spokeswoman Dorie Nolt said Thursday that all students should be protected from sexual violence or sexual harassment on campus. “But I retain full confidence in our Student Life professionals”. They don’t have subpoena power, nor do they have access to forensic evidence, he wrote.
“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”. By handling misconduct of this magnitude internally, the report suggests football players and other athletes were above university rules.
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Pepper Hamilton also notes that the Baylor University Police Department “contributed to, and in some instances, accommodated or created a hostile environment”, but the measures taken to put an end to that are now a mystery.
