“There are significant concerns about the tone and culture within Baylor’s football program as it relates to accountability for all forms of student athlete misconduct,” a statement from the Baylor Board of Regents said Thursday afternoon, following the news head coach Art Briles had been dismissed amid controversy. No interim head coach for the Baylor football program has been named at this time.
An independent and external review of Baylor’s institutional response to Title IX and other compliance issues conducted by Pepper Hamilton revealed some key findings to support the decision to remove Briles as head coach of the Big 12 program, and puts many other aspects with the football program and athletic culture moving forward into question.
In addition to confirming the dismissal of Briles as head coach of the football program, Baylor has also removed Ken Starr from the role of president of the university effective at the end of May. Former dean and professor at Baylor David Garland will take on the role of interim president of Baylor until a more permanent replacement can be found. Baylor technically classifies Briles’ status as an indefinite suspension with the intent to terminate contract, which is likely a mere legal procedure. A number of other members of the administration and athletics department have been dismissed as well, but those names will not be named publicly.
According to a released statement from the Baylor Board of Regents, the key findings outlined were;
- The University’s student conduct processes were wholly inadequate to consistently provide a prompt and equitable response under Title IX; Baylor failed to consistently support complainants through the provision of interim measures; and in some cases, the University 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.
- In addition to broader University failings, Pepper found specific failings within both the football program and Athletics department leadership, including a failure to identify and respond to a pattern of sexual violence by a football player and to a report of dating violence.
- There are significant concerns about the tone and culture within Baylor’s football program as it relates to accountability for all forms of student athlete misconduct.
- Over the course of their review, Pepper investigated the University’s response to reports of a sexual assault involving multiple football players. The football program and Athletics department leadership failed to take appropriate action in response to these reports.
“We were horrified by the extent of these acts of sexual violence on our campus. This investigation revealed the University’s mishandling of reports in what should have been a supportive, responsive and caring environment for students,” said Richard Willis, chair of the Baylor Board of Regents. “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.”
“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.”
You can read the full report of the findings of fact HERE for a more detailed look at what was discovered at Baylor.