Baylor University’s board of regents announced Thursday that Ken Starr would be removed as president and transition to the role of chancellor at the Texas university.
The board also suspended the school’s football coach, Art Briles, with the “intent to terminate” his contract, over the way school officials handled numerous claims from female students that members of the football team had committed sexual assault.
“We were horrified by the extent of these acts of sexual violence on our campus. This investigation revealed the University’s mishandling of reports in what should have been a supportive, responsive and caring environment for students,” Richard Willis, chair of the Baylor Board of Regents, said in a statement. “The depth to which these acts occurred shocked and outraged us. Our students and their families deserve more, and we have committed our full attention to improving our processes, establishing accountability and ensuring appropriate actions are taken to support former, current and future students.”
In the statement about the removal of Starr and Briles, the board of regents summarized findings from an outside investigation into the how university officials handled claims of sexual assault. The school had been accused of failing to address claims made by at least six female students that members of the football team had committed sexual assault between 2009 and 2016.
The investigation found that the university’s process for responding to and supporting those who made the claims of sexual assault was inadequate and that university officials “discouraged some complainants from reporting or participating in student conduct processes and in one instance constituted retaliation against a complainant for reporting sexual assault,” according to the board of regents.
Starr, an attorney known for leading a string of politicized investigations into former President Bill Clinton’s administraion, will also remain as a law professor at Baylor University.
Read the findings of fact from the investigation here.
