Baylor avoids major NCAA penalties for sexual abuse

A five-year investigation “could not conclude” Baylor University violated NCAA rules when some employees failed to report sexual abuse.

Essentially, the NCAA ruled “the culture of non-reporting” during a previous administration at Baylor was so widespread, the athletic department could not be singled out as giving special treatment to student athletes.

“Baylor admitted to moral and ethical failings in its handling of sexual and interpersonal violence on campus but argued those failings, however egregious, did not constitute violations of NCAA rules. Ultimately, and with tremendous reluctance, this panel agrees,” the NCAA Committee on Infractions Hearing Panel stated.

In a joint statement, Baylor President Linda Livingstone and Athletic Director Mack Rhodes said: “As part of the NCAA process, the university acknowledged its significant and moral failings related to sexual and interpersonal violence, and we sincerely regret the actions of a few individuals caused harm to so many. We must remember that the prospect of NCAA penalties pales in comparison to the suffering of the survivors of such horrific assaults.”

NCAA points to ‘campus-wide culture of non-reporting’

The NCAA looked specifically at three specific instances of “alleged actual or threatened” violence by student athletes that were not reported by football staff. The panel examined allegations that Baylor shielded student athletes from disciplinary action.

“The panel found that those instances of non-reporting did not constitute impermissible benefits to football student-athletes because of a campus-wide culture of non-reporting. That culture was driven by the school’s broader failure to prioritize Title IX implementation, creating an environment in which faculty and staff did not know and/or understand their obligations to report allegations of sexual or interpersonal violence,” the NCAA committee stated.

“Because the culture of non-reporting was not limited to cases involving student-athletes, the panel could not find that these instances resulted in impermissible benefits.”

However, the NCAA placed the university on four years of probation, levied a $5,000 fine and placed some recruiting restrictions on Baylor for violating some other rules.

Probation and minor penalties for other offenses

At the same time, the NCAA Committee on Infractions found Baylor guilty of violating some rules related to impermissible benefits to a student athlete and using a predominantly female student-host group as impermissible recruiters of student athletes.

The committee also cited a former assistant director of football operations for failing to participate in the investigation process.

In addition to a four-year probation and a $5,000 fine, the panel imposed the following penalties:

• A reduction to 30 football official visits, a three-week ban on unofficial visits in football during, and a two-week ban on football recruiting communication during the 2021-22 academic year.
• A reduction of football evaluation days by three during fall 2021 and by 10 during spring 2022.
• A five-year “show-cause” order for the former assistant director of football operations. During that period, any NCAA member school employing him must restrict him from any athletically related duties unless it shows cause why the restrictions should not apply.
• Vacating all records in which student-athletes competed while ineligible in the 2011 season.

“The university agrees with the enforcement staff and the Committee on Infractions that violations did occur, and we take full responsibility,” Livingstone and Rhodes stated. “Our internal and external legal teams will review the full report, and the university will decide on its next steps, if any.”

In a Zoom news conference, Livingstone emphasized the “dramatic changes” in personnel, policies and processes related to Title IX compliance at Baylor in recent years.

“Baylor is a much different university today than it was three, five and certainly 10 years ago,” she said.

In 2017, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges verified Baylor had implemented all 105 recommendations from the attorneys formerly with Pepper Hamilton, the Philadelphia law firm Baylor regents enlisted to investigate the university’s response to sexual assault reports and Title IX compliance.

As a result of the Pepper Hamilton investigation, the Baylor board of regents removed Ken Starr as president, fired Head Football Coach Art Briles and sanctioned Athletic Director Ian McCaw. Starr later stepped down as chancellor and law professor, and McCaw resigned as athletic director.