News
In media interviews, Patty Crawford has said that she was refused access to police reports during her tenure as Baylor's Title IX Coordinator.
The Pepper Hamilton law firm that investigated Baylor University’s response to sexual assault complaints presented an oral rather than written report to the board of regents in part because producing a document could have delayed the process about nine months, two Baptist ministers who serve as regents said.
Nothing is more important at Baylor University than providing a safe and caring community for our students. We have a renewed focus on our Christian mission and made a number of personnel and policy changes to help ensure this is the case.
Baylor University regents seem baffled about why so many questions remain regarding the school's sexual assault tragedy. After all, they are quick to remind, the board took unprecedented steps after the Pepper Hamilton investigation into the school's handling of assault complaints. Regents dumped the school's wildly popular football coach, its university president and its athletic director.
While Baylor University regents on Thursday provided some new insight into the university's handling of the sexual assault scandal that has rocked the Waco campus, they remained tight-lipped about many of the details.
Baylor University is now facing a federal investigation, and along with our news partners at The Dallas Morning News, NBC 5 sat down with four members of the school's Board of Regents Thursday to get answers.
We are working diligently to ensure that Baylor University fulfills its mission to be a caring, Christian community where our students thrive. As part of this commitment, I have directed the University to be more transparent wherever possible about the sexual assault crisis that has severely impacted our campus, our alumni and the entire Baylor family.
Former Baylor University Title IX coordinator Patty Crawford, who claims Baylor set her up to fail in the role, received three salary increases, workspace expansion and a growing Title IX budget — including a $12,000 office-wide, three-day spa retreat funded by the university, a Baylor spokesperson said.
Baylor University on Tuesday launched a website to provide more details about the sexual assault scandal that led to the firings of university president Kenneth Starr and football coach Art Briles and the resignation of athletics director Ian McCaw this summer.
Hundreds of students approached former Baylor University Title IX Coordinator Patty Crawford with complaints of sexual assault in her less than two years in the role, Crawford said in an interview with “60 Minutes Sports” on Showtime on Tuesday night.
Baylor has spent $4.3 million on the Title IX office and other services for sexual assault victims since November 2014, when the University hired its first full-time Title IX Coordinator.
Editor's note: Baylor regent Mark Lovvorn has heard from a number of people questioning the appropriateness of the decisions made by the board of regents in recent months. The following is a letter he sent in response to an avid football fan.
Officials shed light on outside investigation into sexual assaults by football players that led to departure of team coach and university president.
WACO, Texas (Oct. 19, 2016) – On Tuesday evening, the University received notice from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that it will investigate a complaint filed by Baylor’s former Title IX Coordinator. An OCR review of this nature results in a broad, comprehensive look at policies, procedures and practices for a specified number of years: in this case, from the Fall of 2014 to the present. Interim President David E. Garland immediately assured OCR the University will cooperate fully with the investigation.
WACO, Texas (Oct. 7, 2016) – Baylor University announced today that Doug Welch, who has served as Associate General Counsel at Baylor University since 2006, has been named as the University’s Chief Compliance Officer (CCO).
WACO, Texas (Oct. 5, 2016) – Baylor University Interim President David E. Garland has announced the appointment of Kristan Tucker as Baylor’s Title IX Coordinator, effective immediately.
WACO, Texas (Aug. 23, 2016) – Baylor University Interim President David E. Garland today provided a progress report on the implementation of recommendations for improving the University’s response to sexual violence. The recommendations resulted from the University’s external investigation launched last fall.
Our work to improve prevention, response and care for students is well underway and we endeavor to demonstrate a system that is supportive, responsive, fair and thorough in upholding students’ access to an education. We are committed to doing the right things for the well-being of our students.
Following a national search, Baylor University Interim President David E. Garland today announced the appointment of Mack Rhoades as Vice President and Director of Athletics. Rhoades comes to Baylor after serving since April 2015 as Director of Intercollegiate Athletics for the University of Missouri where he oversaw the university's 20 intercollegiate athletics programs, 300 employees, 550 student-athletes and an annual operating budget of $92 million.
WACO, Texas (July 7, 2016) – Baylor University Executive Vice President and Provost L. Gregory Jones has announced the members of the Spiritual Life and Character Formation Task Force, a group formed after the release of the Pepper Hamilton Findings of Fact and Recommendations to re-energize a focus around the University’s Christian mission. The Task Force has received its charge and held its initial meeting to begin work.
President David Garland updates the Baylor family on the University's efforts to move forward as an institution, and discusses the incoming class that were welcomed to campus as Baylor students at Orientation this month.
WACO, Texas (June 10, 2016) – Baylor University has actively launched groups to lead the implementation of recommendations made by Pepper Hamilton, LLP following its independent investigation into the University’s handling of sexual assault. Two complementary executive-level task forces have been named to efficiently implement change that leads to improved processes, communication, training and response and that cultivates a culture of respect and character that reflects Baylor’s mission.
We have entered a new season in the life of Baylor University. It is a season that calls for clarity, compassion and collective action as a Christian academic community and as a body of Baylor alumni that spans multiple generations, often within individual families. It is a season that calls for Baylor to stand together and speak as one voice, resolute in our shared commitment to student welfare and safety and to our institutional values.
As we begin a new summer academic term and a challenging journey together, I am honored and humbled that the Regents have asked me again to serve as interim president of Baylor University. Our work to pursue collectively Baylor’s distinctive mission requires our fervent prayers and a trust in God as the ultimate source of mercy, strength and guidance.
Members of Baylor University’s Board of Regents and a representative from Pepper Hamilton, LLP held a media phone briefing May 26, 2016 related to its announcement of actions and findings resulting from Pepper Hamilton's external investigation into Baylor University’s handling of sexual assault. Richard Willis, chair of the Board of Regents; Ron Murff, chair-elect of the Board of Regents; David Harper, member of the Board of Regents; and Gina Smith, partner with Pepper Hamilton, LLP, participated in the teleconference.
WACO, Texas (May 26, 2016) – In Fall 2015, Baylor University’s Board of Regents engaged outside counsel Pepper Hamilton, LLP (Pepper) 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.