Baylor regents share details of sexual assault scandal, Briles exit
Baylor regents shared previously unknown details pertaining to the sexual assault scandal surrounding the university and its football program with Brad Reagan of The Wall Street Journal in an article published Friday.
It's the first public release of the findings of law firm Pepper Hamilton's investigation into the school's handling of sexual violence.
A total of 17 women have reported sexual or domestic assaults involving 19 Baylor football players since 2011, regents told Reagan. Those reported assaults include four gang rapes, all during the tenure of now-former Bears head coach Art Briles.
In at least one case, regents say Briles knew about an alleged assault and didn't inform police, relevant school judicial staff, or the Title IX office responsible for dealing with sexual violence.
Lawyer J. Cary Gray was among the regents who spoke with Reagan.
"There was a cultural issue there that was putting winning football games above everything else, including our values," Gray said. "We did not have a caring community when it came to these women who reported that they were assaulted. And that is not OK."
Gray also provided insight into a May 24 meeting with Briles in which the coach addressed the board about the issues that would lead to his firing two days later.
"He couldn't speak he was so upset, and all of us were," Gray said. "Art said, 'I delegated down, and I know I shouldn't have. And I had a system where I was the last to know, and I should have been the first to know.'"
Briles' lawyer, Ernest Cannon, said the regents held Briles responsible for the lack of a stringent Title IX program within Baylor - an overall failure of the university, not Briles.
"They are pulling their own house down to justify the mistakes they made," Cannon said. "He's the football coach. That's not his job (to enforce Title IX). That's their job."
Dallas businessman and chairman of the Baylor board of regents Ron Murff said wealthy alumni implied they'd hold back millions of dollars in donations unless Briles was rehired as head coach. He defended the board's decision to relieve Briles of his duties.
"It was all about football," Murff said. "My response was that we felt like our fiduciary duty was to uphold the mission of the university. That was the primary objective. It was not just to win football games."