Baylor University has decided in recent days to provide the public with more details about sexual assaults at Baylor University over the last several years. Some members of the Board of Regents have given media interviews that seem to be a part of a carefully orchestrated public relations campaign to validate their staffing decisions rather than explaining what happened directly to the Baylor Family.
Some regents chose to disclose details about the numbers of sexual assault complaints and the number of football team members accused just hours before a key road game. This appears to be a change in philosophy from Interim President David Garland’s promise that the university was committed to “protecting any details that may compromise the privacy” of the survivors and the innocent. The Baylor Line Foundation has long believed that a full accounting must be given directly to the Baylor Family, not just selected news media (no matter how credible they might be). We agree that the privacy of those who have filed complaints must be protected, but there are many unanswered questions that have nothing to do with the primary goal of protecting the survivors.
In the interest of transparency and credibility for Baylor University, especially in relation to the terminations of key leadership, details about the actions of our Board of Regents – actions that Pepper Hamilton clearly had issues with — must be made public. The Baylor Line Foundation renews its call for Baylor to return to the timeless Christian values fundamental to the university since its founding in 1845.
