Baylor Suspends Coach Art Briles With Intent To Terminate
By: Josh Clark
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WACO (105.3 The Fan) - A major shakeup is in order for Baylor University.
Art Briles, the head coach of a rising Baylor University football program, "has been suspended indefinitely with intent to terminate according to contractual procedures," the university said in a statement Thursday morning.
Baylor also announced that Ken Starr will no longer be the president of the school and will transition to a role of chancellor. He will remain a professor at the Baylor University Law School.
Starr issued the following statement Thursday afternoon:
Despite public pressure surrounding a sex assault scandal involving student athletes, Baylor University issued a statement Tuesday night saying Ken Starr would remain the school's president and chancellor, but the school decided to reverse course.
Athletic Director Ian McCaw has been sanctioned and placed on probation, while Dr. David Garland has been named interim University President. Garland previously served as Baylor's interim President from August 2008 to May 2010.
The university says that additional members of the administration and athletics program have also been dismissed, but they will not release those names publicly.
"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."
In Fall 2015, Baylor University's Board of Regents hired outside counsel Pepper Hamilton to conduct an independent and external review of Baylor's institutional response to Title IX and related compliance issues through the lens of specific cases.
The report from the law firm included the following findings:
- 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, 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."
Baylor football players flooded twitter Thursday morning to express their disbelief that their head coach has been ousted.
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