Baylor removed “dancing” from the list of “don’ts” in 1996, and only removed “adultery”, “fornication”, and “homosexual acts”, in the previous year, according to Deadspin. To this day, school policy disallows “anyone to possess, use, or be under the influence of an alcoholic beverage on the campus or at a University-related activity off campus”, and it frowns on pre-marital sex.
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“Expectations for our students are outlined in university conduct policies and are a reflection of our faith-based mission”, school spokeswoman Tonya Lewis said, noting that the amnesty provisions for drug and alcohol use should assure sexual assault victims that Baylor will focus on their allegations.
Reports continue to come out accusing Baylor of inappropriately handling sexual assault cases.
Dunn did not allow his clients to be interviewed by AP, but did relay its questions to them. According to two women suing the school, that part of the code conduct was used against them.
In the story, multiple women report being grilled by school administrators about their sexual history when they report their assault to campus officials. Pepper Hamilton urged the school to do the same in cases of students alleging sexual assault, and the school said it is making changes to its policies. She was reported to the school office that investigates conduct code violations and, once there, told school officials she drank as a result of being raped a month earlier.
Baylor’s code of conduct bans alcohol and drugs, and until 2015, it prohibited fornication, adultery, and homosexual acts. She would be given an alcohol code violation and made to do 25 hours of community service, and the rape claim was never pursued.
Investigators with the Pepper Hamilton law firm who dug into Baylor’s response to rape claims found the school’s approach to drugs, alcohol and premarital sex “created barriers” for women who wanted to report sexual assaults.
“Student safety and support for survivors of all types of interpersonal violence are paramount to the mission of Baylor University”, Lewis said.
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Some of the women were told that the school would notify their parents that they had been drinking, and threatened them with expulsion if they admitted to consuming alcohol.
