Baylor investigation sheds light on Election Day on-campus incidents

WACO—Baylor University’s continuing investigations into three Election Day incidents on campus revealed two apparently were not racially motivated as originally suspected, university officials have reported.

In a Nov. 13 letter to students, faculty and staff, Interim President David Garland offered updates on investigations into the hanging of a rope on campus originally believed to be a noose and a disturbance outside a men’s dormitory, as well as the alleged burning of Obama/Biden campaign signs.

Garland announced a student came forward Nov. 12 to claim responsibility for hanging the rope and to explain its origin.

“The student explained that he had been spending time with a group of friends on Fountain Mall the evening before the election and had discovered a rope he believed to have been from one of the tents during the university’s homecoming activities. The students thought they could use the rope to create a rope swing,” Garland said.

Rope swing, not a noose 

“The students tied one end of the rope to a limb of the tree and tied the other end in a loop from which they attempted to swing. Later, they abandoned the swing. The students strongly denied that the rope was intended to mimic a noose or to convey a message of any sort.”

Garland reported “a diverse group of male and female students” who had been involved in creating the rope swing met Nov. 12 with student leaders who were planning a Nov. 14 unity march on campus.

“They conveyed their story, and I’m told that student leaders expressed appreciation for their courage in coming forward and understood the incident as an unfortunate misunderstanding,” he said.

Garland also reported Baylor police had identified and spoken with a number of students who participated in a post-election disturbance outside Penland Hall. Officials were expected to make referrals to Baylor’s judicial affairs department.

He also reported students met with Baylor police regarding the fire outside Brooks Flats. They described the source of the fire in the barbecue pits as computer boxes they found outside a parking garage—not political campaign signs, Garland said.

“While we are all eager to move beyond the events of … (recent) days and the negative light they have cast over our campus, this experience also calls our attention to the challenges that remain before us,” Garland said.

Pursuit of campus unity

“Relentless pursuit of campus unity is a work to which we must continue to commit ourselves if we are to truly embody our unique calling as a Christian university in the Baptist tradition.”

He noted several positive initiatives—launching the university’s bias-motivated incident support team, prayer meetings for unity on campus, event-planning by leaders of student government and multicultural organizations, and ongoing dialogue involving diverse groups of students, faculty and staff.

“Faculty, staff and students have spoken out, decrying racism of any form on campus. All this good work must continue,” Garland said.

“As I have stated previously, we have been and will remain intentional in our progress toward enriching the racial and ethnic fabric of our university, and we remain committed to providing an environment in which diversity is encouraged, welcomed and engaged constructively. Baylor University was founded on a commitment to high Christian ideals.

“The Lord himself reminds us that chief among those ideals is a commandment that we love one another. In so doing, we honor Christ, and we demonstrate to the world that to which we hold most dearly as members of the university we love and have been called to serve.”