It would seem logical to presume that an institution with Baylor University’s stellar reputation would be among the last places on Earth where one could expect to witness an unfolding sex scandal.
It’s a faith-based university known for its high moral standards. Isn’t that right?
It’s also known as a place where they play some pretty good college football.
So, some football players get entangled in a sexual assault case and the university allegedly turns its back on the complaints filed by students against the athletes.
The uproar has been ferocious. With absolutely justifiable reason.
Baylor now has announced plans to implement recommendations from a panel formed to fix what’s wrong at the school.
https://www.texastribune.org/2016/06/10/baylor-announces-sexual-assault-task-force/
The Pepper Hamilton commission has found a “fundamental failure” at Baylor to uphold federal Title IX provisions that are supposed to protect students from abuses such as what occurred at the school.
One player has been convicted of sexual assault, but the stuff hit the fan after it was revealed that university administrators tried to hide the complaints against athletes.
Head football coach Art Briles was fired. University president Ken Starr was kicked out of his office and he quit his ceremonial job as chancellor; he remains on the faculty as a law professor. Athletic director Ian McCaw resigned.
All three of those individuals had to go.
Now it’s up to Baylor to pick up the pieces of its shattered reputation.
The Texas Tribune reports: “Let me assure you all that we are deeply sorry for the harm done to students in our care,” interim president David Garland wrote in a letter posted online. “Even during the course of Pepper Hamilton’s investigation, we began adopting improvements to our processes, and now we are pursuing the other improvements remaining in the recommendations.”
Pressure is mounting for the school to release the contents of the Pepper Hamilton report.
That seems like a good start to clearing the air and shining the light of accountability on what has occurred at the school.
I’m sure that somewhere in that report is a stern warning that Baylor needs to heed to the letter in the future: Do not, under any circumstances, even think of covering up a report of sexual assault.