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Baylor Rape Talk Not Going Away


Doc Reeves

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The NCAA was never going to do anything, and they should just shut their doors for countless other reasons.  Truthfully it's a complete and utter failure that it's even on the NCAA to do something.  Seems there are countless other agencies with more power than the NCAA all within their rights to take action, and all sitting on their hands. 

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On 6/13/2018 at 12:31 PM, Gene Parmesan said:

The NCAA was never going to do anything, and they should just shut their doors for countless other reasons.  Truthfully it's a complete and utter failure that it's even on the NCAA to do something.  Seems there are countless other agencies with more power than the NCAA all within their rights to take action, and all sitting on their hands. 

But then what would the NCAA tournament call it's March contest, if the NCAA was stripped of the ability to profit off of student athletes..?

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  • 2 weeks later...

This belongs here. I know its in the other Baylor thread, but lets not conflate Baylor’s regular shit-tastic behavior with what should have been their second program killing / university ending scandal

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/higher_education/mccaw-baylor-regents-displayed-racism-preferred-misleading-report-on-rape/article_d6017176-142e-582d-a3bd-98c4a8e46e02.html

https://deadspin.com/court-docs-ex-baylor-a-d-says-everyone-was-in-on-the-1827179602

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Before addressing the latest revelation of horrifying details about the years Baylor spent covering up sexual assault, it is worth first noting the source. Former athletic director Ian McCaw was one of the first people to leave when the story became national news, and then landed at Liberty University, another private Baptist school where Donald Trump once gave the commencement address. He oversaw an athletic department whose football players have been, repeatedlyaccused of gang rape. He is not an innocent man. 

But McCaw did give a deposition as part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by 10 women who all say Baylor in various ways ignored, downplayed, or discouraged reporting of sexual assault. And portions of that deposition, as quoted in a filing today by lawyers for the Jane Does, describes a vast sexual-assault coverup that involved everyone—the Board of Regents, the PR firm G.F. Bunting + Co., and even the outside Title IX investigators—and was much bigger than just the football team. 

 
 

The motion filed today is a request by lawyers for the 10 Jane Does asking the judge to do several things: review documents that McCaw says he has; have those documents produced “as appropriate”; force production of McCaw’s separation agreement with Baylor; and have McCaw provide “oral or written testimony” on questions he was told not to answer in the deposition. To make the argument, lawyers Jim Dunnam and Chad Dunn quote liberally from McCaw’s deposition, the entirety of which is under seal.

In one section of the motion, they write that McCaw said the football program was a “scapegoat” to cover up for a “decades-long, university-wide sexual assault scandal.” Here is that section in full:

These actions, which Plaintiffs are peeling back like layers of an onion, go directly to Plaintiffs’ causes of action concerning both post-reporting conduct and what McCaw says is an “elaborate plan that essentially scapegoated the black football players and the football program for being responsible for what was a decades-long, university-wide sexual assault scandal” and go directly to the pattern of conduct that created a heightened risk to Plaintiffs and other Baylor female students.

It comes up again here, where McCaw also first mentions that the Title IX investigators from the law firm Pepper Hamilton and the regents were part of the conspiracy as well. From the motion: 

McCaw testified how efforts to be transparent were scrubbed, and how instead “intentional” efforts by regents “deflect[ed] attention away from their own failures and the other failures across campus,” how regents “changed the centerpiece of the story,” and how four-time Baylor Regent Chair Richard Willis “directed the Pepper Hamilton presentation to –and shaped it to accomplish the goals he was seeking.”Although urged to remain, McCaw refused to continue on as Baylor Athletic Director because he “was disgusted at that point with the regents, the racism, the phony finding of fact” and because he “did not want to be part of some Enron cover-up scheme.”

McCaw is clear as to the members of this conspiracy, naming Pepper Hamilton, six Baylor Regents, at least two senior Baylor administrators, as well as Baylor’s General Counsel. McCaw expressed disgust at the coordinated effort to conceal the University-wide failures by instead focusing exclusively on African-Americans to “scapegoat[] the black football players and the football program for being responsible for what was a decades-long, university-wide sexual assault scandal—with racially charged labels like “300 pound black football player” being freely thrown around to the exclusion of other instances of University-wide misconduct. Already revealed is the $15.1 million payment to Briles and his recommendation letter, which coupled with Baylor’s offer that McCaw remain on as A.D., reveal Baylor’s real attitude about any of their wrongdoing.

It seems like a lot, yes, but McCaw was under oath at the time.

According to one footnote in the motion, McCaw recalled hearing this from a Pepper Hamilton investigator:

McCaw spoke directly with Gina Smith of Pepper Hamilton, and he “asked what the final work product they would provide to the university. She said it would be up to the regents. They may want a detailed document. They may want a summary report, or they may ask us [Pepper Hamilton] to whitewash the whole thing.”

I sent an email to Smith, who now works with the firm Cozen O’Connor, asking for comment on what McCaw said. In response, I got an email from Jason Cook, Baylor’s vice president for marketing and communications and chief marketing officer. His email said: “The term ‘whitewash’ was never used by Gina Maisto Smith, nor did she suggest such a strategy. Her firm’s charge was to report to the Board, which would then determine the strategy and presentation format. Please attribute to a Baylor official.” 

The motion goes into further detail about the conspiracy with this description of McCaw’s testimony:

McCaw testified that ultimately a trip by a select number of Regents and Chris Holmes, Baylor’s General Counsel, to visit the Pepper Hamilton offices in Pennsylvania office, resulted in the strategy of Regent Cary Gray writing “false” and “misleading finding of fact skewed to make the football program look bad to cover up the campus-wide failings.” The Baylor Board of Regents ultimately adopted these Findings, carefully omitting details of the who, what, when and where of non-athletic related failures, yet highlighting specifics only in the football section of the Findings. 

The PR firm hired by Baylor also was a part of it, according to McCaw. 

After its prior PR firm Ketchum quit, the head of the new PR firm, Glenn Bunting, personally encouraged McCaw to tell this lie, a scheme Bunting promised would be “mutually beneficial” to Baylor and McCaw. McCaw’s response was direct - he told Bunting “that’s not true.” McCaw then explained the real truth, concluding “so I’m not going to agree to what he proposed and he hung up on me.”

Bunting told the Waco Tribune-Herald that what McCaw said was “absurd and a complete fabrication” and that his PR firm had advocated for transparency with the public from Baylor. Here’s how Bunting describes its own work on Title IX issues on its own website: “[W]e specialize in helping academic institutions deal with hostile media inquiries while showcasing their improvements and strengths in investigating sexual assaults under Title IX.”

McCaw lays blame with the Baylor police department as well, saying the then-police chief Jim Doak discouraged people from reporting they had been raped.

McCaw testified how Doak and others discouraged reporting and systematically buried rape reports, concealed them from McCaw when they involved sports, causing McCaw to only learn of them through ESPN. McCaw said that one recording even reveals a Police dispatcher putting a young women reporting her rape on hold to order himself a meal.

Why would so many people take so much time and effort to pull off such a conspiracy? McCaw is quoted as saying it was all about money. 

McCaw explained the cover up motivation —“It’s bad for business ... It’s bad for Baylor’s brand, bad for admission, bad for tuition revenue. And obviously you know Baylor is heavily reliant—it does not have a large endowment, so it’s heavily reliant on tuition revenue. So if there’s a dip in admissions, a dip in tuition revenue, that severely affects the university.”

There are other notable details sprinkled throughout the filing, which are attributed to McCaw’s deposition. It says that McCaw had a lawyer paid for by Baylor. While McCaw started at Baylor in 2003, he said he didn’t get any Title IX training until 2014. McCaw also is quoted as saying that Baylor previously had a report done in 2014 to see if it was complying with various federal laws governing campus safety and violence against women. That document, dubbed the “Margolis-Healy report,” is described in the motion as “scathing” and as having found “hundreds of violations of Clery, Title IX, and the Violence Against Women Act.” 

Baylor issued a statement saying the lawyers for the Jane Does “have grossly mischaracterized facts to promote a misleading narrative.” The statement then goes on to say Baylor has been trying through this court process to“steadfastly protecting the privacy of our students.” In another statement, the university said that what McCaw is quoted as saying was “based on speculation, hearsay and even media reports.”

The full court document is below.

 

Edited by Dnaguy
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12 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

I hope those 10 women own Baylor after the trial. Better yet, I hope they don’t take the money and ruin that piece of shit cesspool for food 

I really feel for ltbear having to see all this at one of his alma maters, as he has always been a solid poster, and as much as I dislike the actions of Baylor over the past decade, there's a small soft spot for the innocent fans or alums who also have a disdian for the schools inactions...

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Yeah I aint buying most of what McCaw is trying to sell.  At least the part that it was school wide for decades (maybe to a small extent) and not just the football program for the last 5-10 years (definitly to a large extent).  Their overnight success in football wasn’t a coincidence.

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It's really both.   Baylor as a University absolutely had a school wide problem with bottom barrel Title IX adherence (Exhibit A is the Title IX compliance officer that quit and is suing the school because she wasn't allowed to do her job).  Baylor also recruited a bunch of thugs to compete in football, many of which ended up being rapey.   Art  obviously covered up things in his area and absolutely deserves what happened to him, and Baylor PD/University as a whole covered up the problems on campus as a whole.  Clearly you have to take the former AD's comments with a grain of salt since the athletic portion happened under his watch, but I don't doubt that once it was obvious that this was a national news story, the powers that be (the Regents) wanted the focus to be on football/Briles and not Baylor as a whole.  Will be interesting what all comes out of it.  I'm really curious to learn more about this head of Baylor PD that resigned in 2013.   Interesting quote from another article:   

McCaw said a former Baylor official told him that "if Chief Doak was still here, we wouldn't fire him. We'd have to execute him."

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7 minutes ago, Landomatic said:

Yeah I aint buying most of what McCaw is trying to sell.  At least the part that it was school wide for decades (maybe to a small extent) and not just the football program for the last 5-10 years (definitly to a large extent).  Their overnight success in football wasn’t a coincidence.

I agree.

While I think there's an element of truth to his claim.... that the upper level folks were trying to white wash / make the shit roll as far down hill as possible  and accountability...  he then plays a victim w/out accepting any culpability.

Did football players rape women / sexually assault them?

Did your football coach try to keep those players from getting in trouble / obstruct justice?

Was he your employee?

Well it seems to be that you getting fired is appropriate

 

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I don't think the XII writing the administration of Baylor a "you've been bad" letter has had the affect the conference wanted... (it's been a year & still the same mess)...

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SEC
USATSI_6543688.jpg

Big 12 announces action against Baylor. Does the punishment fit the crime?

JASON FRAYCHINEAUD | 1 YEAR AGO
 

On Wednesday, programs within the Big 12 decided to drop the proverbial hammer upon Baylor.

The Conference Board of Directors voted unanimously to withhold 25-percent of future revenue distribution payments to Baylor — dependent upon the outcome of a verification review of changes the university must make within its athletic department.

This ruling is an undoubtedly severe penalty, especially as it pertains to finances. However, the money will be held until this review is fully completed. Assuming the desired improvements are made, Baylor will receive the cash.

Big 12 Conference Board of Directors chairman David Boren had this comment on the ruling:

“The Board is unified in establishing a process to verify that proper institutional controls are in place and sustainable. Effective immediately, the Conference is withholding 25-percent of Baylor’s share of any future revenue distribution until the proper execution of controls is independently verified.  By taking these actions the Board desires to ensure that the changes that were promised are actually made and that systems are in place to avoid future problems.

The proportional withholding of revenue distribution payments will be in effect until the Board has determined that Baylor is in compliance with Conference bylaws and regulations as well as all components of Title IX.”

The Title IX problems emanate from the Art Briles era. For four years, there were multiple incidents of alleged sexual and non-sexual assaults involving Baylor football players. University officials failed to take action regarding the alleged rapes and other sorts of assaults.

During this time, Briles and his staff were reported to actively intervening in the discipline of football players. This included arranging for lawyers, and the attempt to keep potential cases under wraps. Most recently, a Baylor assistant coach was caught soliciting a prostitute in Waco. This was yet another black eye within the athletic department.

Interim University President David E. Garland released this statement:

“Upon learning the scope and scale of the troubling incidents that occurred within our campus community through an independent investigation, Baylor University took unprecedented corrective actions that led to leadership changes within the University administration and athletic department and 105 recommendations to strengthen the safety and security of our students. No other university in the country has responded as aggressively and decisively as Baylor regarding incidents of sexual assaults on its campus.

Under the University’s new leadership, Baylor has demonstrated a firm commitment to athletics compliance and integrity, increased awareness and prevention of sexual assault, implementation of Title IX best practices and providing comprehensive support services for any student in need of them. Baylor already had planned to hire an outside auditor to audit the implementation of our enhanced practices, and we welcome the Big 12 Conference’s request of an independent review. While the withholding of conference distributions is an unexpected financial event, we do not deem these actions to materially impact the overall financial position of the University. We pledge our full cooperation, and we will work with the Big 12 Conference to conduct the audit as expeditiously as possible.

This third-party review at the request of the Big 12 Conference will provide an opportunity for us to demonstrate our progress to date and our ongoing commitment in establishing Baylor as a leading institution in athletics compliance and governance and for preventing and addressing sexual assaults on college campuses.”

 

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Rice University

Houston, TX

#14 in National Universities (tie)

Rice University is located in the heart of the Museum District in Houston, TX. The private institution has a need-blind admissions policy and meets the full demonstrated need of any accepted student who requires help paying tuition.more

$45,608 Tuition and Fees
3,893 Undergraduate Enrollment
SAT, GPA and more

vs

Quote

Baylor University

Waco, TX

#75 in National Universities (tie)

The student community at Baylor University is bound together largely by religion and service. The Waco, Texas, school is a private, Baptist institution, and its student body is particularly active in volunteerism. Each semester, students donate a collective 12,000 hours of time to service projects through a one-day program called Steppin’ Out.more

$43,790 Tuition and Fees
14,348 Undergraduate Enrollment
SAT, GPA and more

Rice would be a far better add for the XII, better than both aggy & Baylor in academics, and carries part of the Houston metro media market...

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10 hours ago, kopp0e said:

Rice would be a far better add for the XII, better than both aggy & Baylor in academics, and carries part of the Houston metro media market...

I agree Rice >>>> Baylor.

I would disagree that Rice carries any of Houston metro. It's in Houston, yes..... that's about it.

Now, I would welcome Big12 games in Houston with open arms. It makes 0 media sense to have Rice in the conference though.

But it makes - 1,000,000 sense to have  Baylor in our conference. 

They're a private religious institution with a limited alumni base that has had multiple scandals and only recent athletic success.

Edited by Dnaguy
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7 minutes ago, Dnaguy said:

I agree Rice >>>> Baylor.

I would disagree that Rice carries any of Houston metro. It's in Houston, yes..... that's about it.

Now, I would welcome Big12 games in Houston with open arms. It makes 0 media sense to have Rice in the conference though.

Pretty much this. But i do love watching games at Rice Stadium

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13 hours ago, GreenspointTexas said:

Crazy how this new “news” doesnt even make headlines

I think ESPN feels like it did it's job with it's prior reporting of Baylor's rapeyness, and it's moved on to more important matters of the day, like Paul Finebaum's contract.

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4 hours ago, Machinator said:

And you're basing this off what, exactly?

A possibility that the dynamics (may) have changed in the time since the XII expansion was looked at back in 2017... Not only ESPN & FS1 are looking for content in the years to come, as there will be more bidders looking to add live collegiate sports... So there is a chance that the XII could look to add more content with solid regional additions that are contiguous to the conference...

For instance: broadcasters as Amazon/ Google/ Facebook/ Twitter/ AT&T and Comcast, looking to add a power 5 conference as the XII would be a plus, along with adding a "name brand" of BYU, and a state flagship of New Mexico, a program located in Houston that raises the AAU membership of the league in Rice; and a adding the Denver market back within the XII footprint...

Edited by kopp0e
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On 6/28/2018 at 1:17 PM, Landomatic said:

Yeah I aint buying most of what McCaw is trying to sell.  At least the part that it was school wide for decades (maybe to a small extent) and not just the football program for the last 5-10 years (definitly to a large extent).  Their overnight success in football wasn’t a coincidence.

Agreed, otherwise state flagships of Kansas/ Kentucky & North Carolina as state flagships should have had a similar surge of dominance well before a Baptist school in Waco...

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On 6/30/2018 at 5:37 PM, notre dame joe said:

Do the Waco cops have jurisdiction on Baylor's campus?

Abel Reyna, as DA, deals with every allegation in the county.  He just got two players’ charges no-billed recently.  He is such an utter piece of shit.

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Waco PD are basically the small town dirty cops in every movie about race. Except replace the motive of “protect white people” with “protect Baylor” 

Oh your daughter was raped by a Baylor student? I’m sorry, we closed that case. Lack of evidence. Sorry your daughter can’t keep her legs closed. 

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1 hour ago, Steel Shank said:

I don't see anything in that article to indicate that he (Johnson) would be an improvement.

Edited by Scheiss Meister
Specificity
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On 6/30/2018 at 5:09 PM, kopp0e said:

With the likelyhood of the XII surviving past the GoR's of 2025 increasing by the year, there needs to be some serious thought of who to replace Baylor with: (any of)

Tulane

Rice

New Mexico

Colorado State

BYU

 

Bama

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5 minutes ago, Steel Shank said:

What on Earth made you think McLennan Co voters would elect somebody with sense?

Everybody dropped out on the Democratic ticket.  He was the only Republican who ran against Reyna. A guy wanted to run as an independent but didn’t get his paperwork in on time.

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Baylor paid former football coach Art Briles $15.1 million and former president Kenneth Starr $4.5 million after they were forced out in the wake of the university's sexual assault scandal in 2016, according to federal tax forms filed recently.

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/22975930/baylor-bears-paid-former-football-coach-art-briles-151-million-ouster

Briles, 62, was fired as Baylor's coach on June 24, 2016, and he received less than half of the $39 million he was owed under the terms of his contract. He had eight years remaining on a 10-year contract extension he signed in November 2013. The tax returns revealed Briles was paid about $6.19 million per season, which would have made him the Big 12's highest-paid coach and one of the highest paid in the FBS.

 

Edited by Hornius Emeritus
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2 minutes ago, Leanderman said:

Makes me wonder if this was a buyout, hush money or both? Fuk Baylor.

I'd think that if there wasn't a confidentiality provision in the settlement agreement, Briles would be blabbering his mouth to any media outlet who would listen about how he either knew nothing and/or reported everything he knew to the Baylor administration and he's just a scape goat.  I just don't recall hearing much of anything from Briles.

Edited by South Austin
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10 hours ago, South Austin said:

I'd think that if there wasn't a confidentiality provision in the settlement agreement, Briles would be blabbering his mouth to any media outlet who would listen about how he either knew nothing and/or reported everything he knew to the Baylor administration and he's just a scape goat.  I just don't recall hearing much of anything from Briles.

 

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