Based on the results of a recent investigation of the school’s mishandling of rape accusations, university president Kenneth Starr has been demoted to chancellor, and head football coach Art Briles has been fired.
Advertisement
Mr. Starr was stripped of his title as university president but will remain Baylor’s chancellor and a professor at the law school.
Athletics Director Ian McCaw will remain in his position but has been sanctioned and placed on probation.
In one case, administrators retaliated against a complainant for reporting sexual assault. And they are apologizing now to the Baylor Nation and the women who needed their help.
Willis also said Baylor has contacted the NCAA and Big 12 to discuss potential infractions and to cooperate with further proceedings. “We’re honestly just horrified”. In this photo taken Wednesday, May, 25, 2016, Baylor President Ken Starr leaves a terminal at Waco airport in Waco, Texas. “With these new actions, I already have less anxiety about starting school again in the fall, knowing that FINALLY our voice was heard, and sexual assault was not something to be taken lightly”.
The school is also facing a federal lawsuit from a former student claiming the school was “deliberately indifferent” to rape allegations levied at a former football player Tevin Elliott, who was convicted in 2014 of sexually assaulting the woman.
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”. “I pray that the leadership follows through on the recommendations given in the report and that Baylor Nation can stand in solidarity with the many courageous survivors who have shared their stories, regardless of the cost”, she wrote. “May God grant us grace, mercy, and peace”, Starr said.
Briles was 65-37 in eight seasons while taking the program to unprecedented heights. Starr, who arrived at the school in 2010, went along for the ride and often ran onto the field with students during pregame ceremonies. That success brought a financial windfall, and in 2014 Baylor opened a new, $250-million on-campus football stadium.
The harshest critique was reserved for the leadership of the athletic department, and most notably its football team, which “hindered enforcement of rules and policies, and created a cultural perception that football was above the rules”.
After the trial, multiple additional reports of sexual attacks by members of Briles’ teams surfaced, going back to 2011. The actions led to decisions to suspend football coach Art Briles with intent to terminate him and to reassign school president Ken Starr.
Briles did not respond to requests for comment.
“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.
While The Associated Press generally doesn’t identify sexual assault victims, Hernandez has spoken publicly to draw attention to the case.
The university’s statement said the review revealed “a fundamental failure”. One victim has sued the university, saying it was deliberately indifferent to her allegations against a former player who was eventually convicted of sexually assaulting her. The firm’s report shows that football coaches and athletics administrators had conducted their own investigations into these complaints despite having no training in this regard and had failed to report some cases to administrators outside the athletics department.
The report found officials in the football program and athletics department chose not to share allegations of sexual assault against athletes with administrators outside of the athletics program.
Advertisement
It did take ’em longer than it should have, but they’ve done the right thing now. The report is expected to be released to the public soon.
