Major shake-up at Baylor University

WACO—In a week of fast-moving events and sweeping change, Baylor University lost a president and chancellor, a head football coach and an athletic director, gained an interim president and an acting football coach, and found itself in an unwanted national spotlight.

Starr, Briles and McCaw out

Citing a “fundamental failure” to handle sexual violence complaints appropriately, Baylor’s board of regents announced plans May 26 to remove Ken Starr from his role as president effective May 31 and fire Head Football Coach Art Briles. They also sanctioned Athletic Director Ian McCaw, who resigned a few days later.

Ken StarrRegents initially reported Starr agreed in principle to continue as the university’s chancellor, but he told ESPN he stepped down from that role June 1 “as a matter of conscience.” Starr will remain as the Louise L. Morrison Chair of Constitutional Law at Baylor Law School. 

David GarlandDavid Garland, former dean of Truett Theological Seminary, assumed responsibility as the university’s interim president June 1. He served earlier an interim president from August 2008 to May 2010, and the university also tapped him as interim provost in 2014-15.

Briles was “suspended indefinitely with intent to terminate according to contractual procedures,” and McCaw was sanctioned and placed on probation. Other members of the administration and athletics department, whom Baylor did not identify, also were dismissed. On Memorial Day, Baylor announced McCaw resigned as vice president and director of athletics.

Before he left Baylor, McCaw helped enlist Jim Grobe—former coach at Wake Forest University, a private school in Winston-Salem, N.C., with Baptist roots—as acting head football coach. Grobe, the 2006 Associated Press National Coach of the Year, served from 2006 to 2013 as chair of the ethics committee for the American Football Coaches Association, headquartered in Waco.

Regents briefed on investigation by Pepper Hamilton law firm

Regents announced the major personnel changes two weeks after they received a “comprehensive briefing” from Pepper Hamilton, the Philadelphia law firm regents retained last September to investigate Baylor’s response to reports of sexual violence. 

The university’s governing board announced the investigation revealed a fundamental failure by Baylor to implement Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013.

“We were horrified by the extent of these acts of sexual violence on our campus,” said Richard Willis, chair of Baylor’s board of regents. “This investigation revealed the university’s mishandling of reports in what should have been a supportive, responsive and caring environment for students.

“The depth to which these acts occurred shocked and outraged us. Our students and their families deserve more, and we have committed our full attention to improving our processes, establishing accountability and ensuring appropriate actions are taken to support former, current and future students.”

Key findings include:

• Baylor’s student conduct processes were “wholly inadequate to consistently provide a prompt and equitable response” under Title IX, the university “failed to consistently support complainants through the provision of interim measures,” and, in some cases, “failed to take action to identify and eliminate a potential hostile environment, prevent its recurrence or address its effects.”
• Actions by university administrators “directly discouraged some complainants from reporting or participating in student conduct processes and, in one instance, constituted retaliation against a complainant for reporting sexual assault.”
• Within the football program and athletics department leadership, the investigation pointed to “a failure to identify and respond to a pattern of sexual violence by a football player and to a report of dating violence.” The report also cited concerns about “the tone and culture within Baylor’s football program as it relates to accountability for all forms of student athlete misconduct.” 
• Investigating Baylor’s response to reports of a sexual assault involving multiple football players, Pepper Hamilton found the football program and athletics department leaders failed to take appropriate action.

Apologies from regents

Baylor agreed to self-report to the NCAA, and regents created the full-time position of chief compliance officer, who will report directly to the president’s office.

“We, as the governing board of this university, offer our apologies to the many who sought help from the university. We are deeply sorry for the harm that survivors have endured,” said Ron Murff, chair-elect of the Baylor board of regents.

“Baylor’s mission to educate men and women for worldwide leadership and service by integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment within a caring community remains our primary imperative. The board has taken decisive action to ensure the university’s priorities are aligned with our unyielding commitment to that mission.”

Mixed response from media

The regents’ response drew mixed reviews.

David Randolph, writing for Forbes, noted he was pleasantly surprised Baylor “held itself accountable, admitted fault and took strong action by firing the person who most allowed this culture (of ignoring sexual violence) to fester—and that falls squarely on the thankfully now-former head football coach.”

The Waco Tribune-Herald commended the regents who “stepped up and assumed their responsibilities in a gravely decisive way.” 

However, the newspaper called on the board to greater transparency by releasing the entire Pepper Hamilton report, with the names of students redacted. 

John Kelso, columnist for the Austin-American Statesman, rhetorically asked, “Has anybody seen Baylor University’s moral compass?” 

Susan Shaw, professor at Oregon State University, wrote a blog for the Huffington Post asking, “Why wouldn’t a Christian university take sexual assault seriously?”

Incidents of reported sexual assaults

The regents hired the Pepper Hamilton law firm to conduct an independent external investigation soon after Sam Ukwuachu, a former Baylor Bears football player, was convicted and received a 180-day jail sentence and 10 years’ probation for sexual assault. 

The assault, reported by a then-18-year-old soccer player, occurred in October 2013—about five months after Ukwuachu transferred to Baylor from Boise State, where he was dropped from the football team after an earlier act of violence involving a female student.

Two years ago, defensive end Tevin Elliot was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to the maximum of 20 years in prison. In February, ESPN televised an “Outside the Lines” report in which five women asserted Elliott sexually assaulted them between October 2009 and April 2012. The “Outside the Lines” report asserted Baylor officials failed to investigate adequately the allegations of sexual violence. 

In March, a former Baylor student who reported Elliott raped her filed a lawsuit asserting multiple Title IX violations and negligence.  The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, names Baylor’s board of regents, Briles and McCaw as defendants. 

Reports of sexual violence at Baylor extended beyond the athletic department. In February, a former student who grew up in New Guinea as the child of missionary parents, posted a blog, “I Was Raped at Baylor and This is My Story.” She asserted Baylor violated her trust because the university seemed to care more about its image than protecting its students. 

In March, the president of Phi Delta Theta fraternity at Baylor was arrested on a sexual assault charge for an incident that allegedly occurred outside a fraternity party. 

Read the Baptist Standard’s extended recent coverage:

Baylor AD resigns; acting football coach hired

Editorial: Baylor places values ahead of victories

Baylor University demotes president and fires football coach

Editorial: Baylor’s ideals must top gridiron glory

Starr still Baylor president—for now

BGCT executive director urges prayer for Baylor in wake of sexual violence

Baylor regents receive briefing from Pepper Hamilton on sexual violence report