AUSTIN, Texas -- Ken Starr was stripped of his job as president of Baylor University on Thursday after a review found that under his leadership the school did little to respond to accusations of sexual assault involving members of its football program.
Baylor sexual-assault timeline
WACO, Texas — Baylor University, the largest Baptist school in the U.S., has been contending with cascading reports of sexual assaults committed by football players and, more broadly, complaints by students, alumni and others that officials at the university in Texas failed to adequately investigate rape claims for years.
The following is a chronology of events on Baylor’s campus:
JAN. 23, 2014 Tevin Elliott, a 2011 Big 12 honorable mention as a sophomore defensive end for the Bears, is convicted of two counts of sexual assault and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
AUG. 21 Sam Ukwuachu is convicted of sexually assaulting another student and later sentenced to six months in jail and probation. Ukwuachu was an All-American defensive end at Boise State before being dismissed from the team and transferring to Baylor. He never played for the Bears after being ruled ineligible in 2013 and suspended in 2014. Chris Petersen, Boise State’s coach at the time, said he “thoroughly apprised” Baylor Coach Art Briles about disciplinary infractions that led to Ukwuachu’s dismissal from Boise State. Briles contends he did not know the details about why the player left Boise State.
AUG. 26 The Big 12 announces it would begin crafting a new policy requiring more diligence when looking into athletes’ past disciplinary issues. Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said the new rule will be structured like one implemented by the Southeastern Conference. The SEC prevents schools from accepting transfers who have been dismissed from another team for “serious misconduct,” defined as sexual assault, domestic violence or other forms of sexual violence.
FEB. 1 ESPN’s Outside The Lines reports three Baylor students said the school failed to act on their allegations they were sexually assaulted by Elliott.
FEB. 7 President and Chancellor Ken Starr issues a statement saying, “Our hearts break for those whose lives are impacted by execrable acts of sexual violence.”
FEB. 12 Baylor announces efforts to improve how it addresses sexual assault, part of a $5 million commitment. The initiative includes adding another investigator to the school’s Title IX office, improving case-management systems and boosting services at the school’s counseling center.
FEB. 18 Federal statistics show Baylor did not report a single instance of sexual assault from 2008 to 2011, a finding that stands in sharp contrast to other private and public schools that made multiple reports over the same period. Colleges and universities are required to report crime statistics to the U.S. Department of Education.
APRIL 13 Shawn Oakman, a celebrated player once considered an NFL prospect, is accused of sexually assaulting a woman at his apartment.
MAY 13 University officials announce they have received a law firm’s report on how the school handled incidents of sexual assault. The university does not make the document public.
MAY 18 Outside The Lines reports that an examination of Waco police records over a five-year period found more allegations of violence involving Baylor football players who were not charged, appeared to face little or no discipline from the team even though coaches and administrators knew about the allegations, and that some documents were shielded from public view.
TUESDAY Asked about media reports that the board of regents had voted to fire Starr, university spokesman Lori Fogleman said in an email, “Ken Starr is president and chancellor of Baylor University.” Fogleman did not elaborate.
THURSDAY Baylor’s board of regents announces it has demoted Starr and fired Briles after Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton’s review revealed “a fundamental failure” in how the administration handled sexual assault allegations. It said Starr will vacate the presidency May 31 and stay on as chancellor. Athletic Director Ian McCaw was placed on probation.
Baylor also fired football Coach Art Briles and placed Athletic Director Ian McCaw on probation after an external investigation found the actions of football staff and athletics leadership "in some instances, posed a risk to campus safety and the integrity of the university."
None of the three immediately responded to requests for comment.
The board of regents at the nation's largest Baptist university said Starr will vacate the presidency Tuesday but stay on as chancellor and law school professor, jobs that will not include any "operational" duties for the school. Starr was the prosecutor who pursued charges against President Bill Clinton over a White House sex scandal in the 1990s.
The report didn't identify specific cases, but two football players have been convicted of sexual assault since 2014. In the past year, there have been multiple reports of other alleged assaults and women who said the school did nothing to help.
"We're deeply sorrowful [for] these events," board of regents Chairman Richard Willis said. "We're honestly just horrified."
Baylor has alerted the NCAA about possible rules violations stemming from its handling of sexual assault cases involving football players, Willis said.
"The university has made contact with the NCAA to initially discuss potential infractions and offer full cooperation," Willis said in a news teleconference.
Baylor also has contacted the Big 12, Willis said.
Speaking to reporters in Oklahoma City at the Big 12 baseball tournament, Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said it is presumptuous to issue a statement given that he doesn't have the information the regents considered.
"I do think that when one of our schools has problems, it reflects on all of our schools," Bowlsby said.
Starr was chairman of the Big 12's composition committee, which has been studying expansion. Bowlsby said he did not know who would represent Baylor at the Big 12 spring meetings next week in Irving, Texas.
Although he's no longer university president, Starr gets to keep a title and a job at the school in Waco, Texas. His investigation of Clinton's relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky eventually led to Clinton's 1998 impeachment and made him a household name.
The review by Philadelphia-based law firm Pepper Hamilton found that under Starr, school administrators discouraged students from reporting or participating in student conduct reviews of sexual assault complaints and even contributed to or accommodated a "hostile" environment against the alleged victims.
In one case, the actions of administrators "constituted retaliation against a complainant for reporting sexual assault," the report said.
University leadership also was slow to enact federally required student conduct processes, and administrators failed to identify and eliminate the hostile environment toward victims, the report found.
In a statement to the Waco Tribune-Herald, Starr apologized to "those victims who were not treated with the care, concern and support they deserve."
He insisted he didn't learn about the problems until fall 2015 and started investigations as soon as he did.
"Despite these dark days, I remain resolved to join hands with the Baylor family to continue to build the University as we carry out its distinct mission in Christian higher education. May God grant us grace, mercy, and peace," Starr said.
Once a losing program, Baylor football enjoyed unprecedented success under Briles, including two Big 12 championships in the past three years. Starr, who arrived at the school in 2010, went along for the ride and often ran onto the field with students during pregame ceremonies.
Football victories brought a financial windfall. In 2014, Baylor opened a $250 million on-campus football stadium and Starr became one of the leading voices among the presidents in the Big 12.
The 13-page "findings of fact" released by Baylor didn't name Starr, Briles or McCaw individually, but the investigation covered from 2011-2015. Briles has been Baylor's football coach since 2008, and McCaw became athletic director in 2003.
Jasmin Hernandez, a former Baylor student who testified in football player Tevin Elliott's 2014 rape trial, has filed a federal lawsuit against the school. She said Thursday that the Pepper Hamilton report appears "honest and forthright" and shows the systemic way students who complained about sexual assault were denied their rights.
While The Associated Press generally doesn't identify sexual assault victims, Hernandez has spoken publicly to draw attention to the case.
Hernandez agreed with Starr's demotion but said "what concerns me more was the propagation of rape culture within Baylor University."
University officials time and again had knowledge of assaults committed by football players and others but took no action, Hernandez said, adding that she won't drop her lawsuit.
It was Starr who initiated the Pepper Hamilton review that would lead to his downfall, ordering it last year after former football player Sam Ukwuachu was convicted of sexually assaulting a female soccer player.
Pepper Hamilton lawyer Gina Smith said the firm reviewed more than a million pages of documents, reports and interviews before presenting its findings to Baylor's regents earlier this month.
While critical of top administrators for ignoring problems or being slow to act, the most critical elements were aimed at Briles' football program.
The report found football coaches and athletic administrators had run their own improper investigations into rape claims, and that in some cases, they chose not to report such allegations to an administrator outside of athletics.
By running their own "untrained" investigations and meeting directly with a complainant, football staff members "improperly discredited" complainants' claims and "denied them a right to a fair, impartial and informed investigation."
The football program acted in ways that "reinforced an overall perception that football was above the rules," the report said.
Sports on 05/27/2016