In Fall 2015, Baylor University’s Board of Regents engaged outside counsel Pepper Hamilton, LLP (Pepper) to conduct an independent and external review of Baylor’s institutional response to Title IX and related compliance issues through the lens of specific cases.
 

Key findings of the investigation reflect a fundamental failure by Baylor to implement Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA). The findings include:
 

– The University’s student conduct processes were wholly inadequate to consistently provide a prompt and equitable response under Title IX; Baylor failed to consistently support complainants through the provision of interim measures; and in some cases, the University failed to take action to identify and eliminate a potential hostile environment, prevent its recurrence or address its effects.
 

 

– In addition to broader University failings, Pepper found specific failings within both the football program and Athletics department leadership, including a failure to identify and respond to a pattern of sexual violence by a football player and to a report of dating violence.
 

– There are significant concerns about the tone and culture within Baylor’s football program as it relates to accountability for all forms of student athlete misconduct. 
 

– Over the course of their review, Pepper investigated the University’s response to reports of a sexual assault involving multiple football players. The football program and Athletics department leadership failed to take appropriate action in response to these reports.
 

 

Pepper’s review was detailed, thorough and rigorous. Pepper had unfettered access to Baylor faculty, staff and administration. Pepper also spoke with students who have been impacted by interpersonal violence. Pepper Hamilton examined more than a million pieces of information – from correspondence to interviews to reports. The experiences of students impacted by interpersonal violence played a significant role in the investigation into the University’s response. While those experiences informed the findings, the details of individual cases are protected by Federal law and will not be referenced in any document made public by the University.
 

“We, as the governing Board of this University, offer our apologies to the many who sought help from the University.  We are deeply sorry for the harm that survivors have endured,” said Ron Murff, chair-elect of the Baylor Board of Regents. “Baylor’s mission to educate men and women for worldwide leadership and service by integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment within a caring community remains our primary imperative. The Board has taken decisive action to ensure the University’s priorities are aligned with our unyielding commitment to that mission.”
 

OUTCOME OF INVESTIGATION
 

Following Pepper’s comprehensive briefing, the Board charted a course of action that it believes is in the best interest of students and the long-term wellbeing of the University.
 

“We were asked to provide a thorough and candid assessment. Baylor allowed us to follow the facts, without influence or interference, wherever they led, and Baylor’s Board of Regents openly received sobering findings of failure within football, the Athletics Department and the University as a whole,” said Gina Maisto Smith and Leslie M. Gomez, partners with Pepper Hamilton, LLP. “We believe the choice to share these findings of fact publicly and acknowledge past failures is an important step for the University as it implements the recommendations derived from these findings.”
 

 

The Pepper findings revealed a lack of strong institutional management and control on a number of levels. The Board’s actions reflect a focus on the points at which the most significant levels of accountability and obligation should have been exercised.
 

 

The following personnel changes are effective immediately.
 

 

– Effective immediately, Head Football Coach Art Briles has been suspended indefinitely with intent to terminate according to contractual procedures.
 

 

– Additional members of the Administration and Athletics program have also been dismissed. Neither these individuals nor the disciplinary actions will be identified publicly.
 

– Greg Jones, as Executive Vice President and Provost, serves as second in command and will continue to have responsibility for the academic enterprise and fulfillment of the University’s Christian mission.  
 

– The roles of members of several University departments will be clarified and staff will be engaged in continuing and robust training before the start of the Fall 2016 semester.
 

– The overall business operations of the University, including Athletics, will be executed primarily through Dr. Reagan Ramsower, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
 

– The Board of Regents has created the full-time position of Chief Compliance Officer that will report directly to the Office of the President.
 

 

In addition to personnel changes, it is imperative the University leverages the investigation’s findings to institute improvements to better strengthen its ability to prevent, investigate and respond to acts of interpersonal violence and care for those who are affected by these acts. The University has retained the services of Rick Evrard, of Bond, Schoenech & King, PLLC, and has made contact with the NCAA to initially discuss potential infractions and to offer full cooperation with any resulting investigation.
 

 

– Remedial and Restorative Remedies: Baylor will review all cases of interpersonal violence over the past three academic years, to offer remedies, identify any current need for investigation, or isolate any broad pattern or cultural implications. Consistent with Title IX, Baylor will contact victims and offer specific remedies to the individuals identified in Pepper’s review.
 

– Title IX: The work of the Title IX office, established in November 2014, provides prevention training, engages student advocates and supports those who experience interpersonal violence. Improvements call for clarifying roles and responsibilities within the office, better utilizing case management tools to coordinate care and support, and providing leadership to coordinate information across University functions. In addition, standardized protocols will be established to balance individual requests for anonymity with broader campus safety obligations. Other recommendations include committing sufficient infrastructure and resources to the Title IX office and support from senior leadership to ensure appropriate and informed administrative oversight.
 

community is vital to the successful transformation of our campus culture. A renewed emphasis on our faith commitment will permeate the work we do in this area over the coming months and years. Annual training will be required for all students, faculty, employees and contractors, with additional trauma-informed training for implementers, investigators and adjudicators. Additional focus will be given to establishing expectations for student organizations and interest groups as well as greater community engagement within campus residence halls. Additionally, the University will evaluate the climate on campus and undertake a more concerted effort to openly discuss prevention of and response to interpersonal violence.
 

– Centralized Reporting and Resolution: A centralized hub of student conduct information will provide a level of “early warning” for those students who are at risk or who may place others at risk. The University will ensure the accountability of employees by making clear the violation of reporting obligations could be cause for discharge. Additionally, processes will be put in place to ensure all instances of interpersonal violence, regardless of where they originate, will be evaluated under the Title IX office.
 

– Public Safety: Baylor has placed a priority on improving its professional public safety office with the hiring of new leadership and additional experienced officers. Continued training, the establishment of community partnerships and stronger collaboration among area law enforcement will be a focus of improvement. Improvements will also focus on establishing clear protocols for supporting the needs of individuals who have experienced interpersonal violence and establishing partnerships with advocacy organizations. The University will also revisit its protocol for sharing information between Waco Police Department and Baylor University Police Department.
 

– Counseling and Advocacy: With more than $5 million allocated to improvements and staffing in the Baylor Counseling Center in the coming year, efforts are already underway to improve services, support, and access to this vital resource. Additional work will be done to enhance after-hours access and emergency crisis availability and coordination with Title IX staff. The University will establish dedicated victim-advocacy services for students who need help navigating recovery and continued pursuit of their education after an incident of assault.
 

“Undergirding our work to implement the recommendations of Pepper Hamilton is a firm commitment to care for and develop the whole person – body, mind and spirit,” said Kevin Jackson, Vice President for Student Life. “We will continue to provide opportunities that help each student grow in their faith and become the person God has designed them to be. We commit to illustrate God’s love and grace and to help them grow their own deep roots that hold them firmly in God’s will for their lives.”
 

 

 

The Task Force, which is led by Dr. Ramsower, includes implementation groups comprised of members of Baylor’s faculty, staff and administration who share responsibility for identified areas and the holistic well-being of students in our campus community.
 

 

 

 

 

Over the course of the investigation, a special committee of the Board of Regents was periodically updated on Pepper’s work. Additionally, in early May, Pepper presented their findings of fact and recommendations to Board leadership in Philadelphia and was onsite to brief the full Board during its May meeting in Waco. While no written report has been prepared, the Findings of Fact reflect the thorough briefings provided by Pepper and fully communicates the need for immediate action to remedy past harms, to provide accountability for University administrators and to make significant changes that can no longer wait. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Hernandez’s mother and father both sought to speak with Coach Briles directly, but those efforts were rebuffed.

She lost her academic scholarship and eventually dropped out of the University, moved home to attend a community college, giving up her dream to study nursing at a major university.

 

Federal law known as Title IX requires academic institutions who receive federal funds to protect students from gender discrimination including sexual harassment and sexual assault by fellow students.  These institutions are required to respond immediately and equitably once it receives actual knowledge of a report of sexual assault of a student. They must also act to protect the victim from further harassment and exposure to a hostile environment including providing the student with adequate accommodation so that she is not denied equal access to academic opportunities.  The complaint contends that Baylor failed to meet its responsibilities under Title IX and state common law negligence law that require universities to provide security, counseling services and academic help to those who report sexual assaults.

 

On Friday, May 20, the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Baylor University must release some of their sexual assault records, however they are allowed to withhold aspects involving student privacy issues.

 

According to the Waco Tribune-Herald, on Thursday the newspaper received an opinion from the AG’s office stating certain documents submitted to their office must be released to be in compliance with a new law that makes private colleges in Texas acquiesce with public information guidelines. However, the opinion did not say what information should be withheld.

 

The Tribune-Herald requested reports from Baylor on February 9 involving sexual assaults and improper sexual conduct over the last 20 years. After a lawyer who represents Baylor asked the paper to “limit the scope of their request.” The Tribune-Herald then requested the information from the past 15 years.

 

Instead of releasing the documents, according to the Waco-based paper, Baylor counsel instead contacted the AG’s office to make a judgment on the matter.

 

In 2015, Governor Greg Abbott singed SB 308 into law. This requires campus police at private universities to abide by Texas public information laws which all police departments must acquiesce with the releasing of law enforcement-related activities. The law was introduced by Senator John Whitmire, of Houston. 

 

A Whitmire staff member was critical of Baylor and AG Ken Paxton, a Baylor Law School alum, when they spoke to the Tribune-Herald saying they are “playing silly games with their interpretation of the Public Information Act.”

 

 

On Wednesday, May 18, ESPN revealed they obtained multiple police reports that go into detail about previously unknown sexual assaults and acts of domestic violence by Baylor football players.

 

According to the documents from police, some Baylor officials and coaches knew about the incidents involving their players and most athletes did not miss any playing time for disciplinary reasons.

 

 

In 2011, three Baylor football players were charged following an off-campus assault. In the files, obtained by ESPN’s Outside the Lines, Waco police asked a commander to pull the case concerning the Baylor football players from the computer so only people who had a reason to ask about the case could access it. OTL reports the documents were placed in a locked office. 

 

 

A sexual assault allegation against a former star football player at Baylor, Ahmad Dixon, was in the Waco Police Department’s “open-case status: for four years. This shields the record from public view, according to Texas law. Police said the woman was deemed “deceptive” because she had made other claims of sexual assault prior to this. Dixon was also arrested in 2013 after reportedly hitting a man he thought stole his TV.  Dixon told OTL he was involved in multiple fights while at Baylor. Dixon, who is now an NFL free agent, earned All-America honors during his time in Waco.

 

 

In April 2014, a woman told police Bears running back Devin Chafin had grabbed her and slammed her into a car in front of witnesses, according to OTL. She gave photos of bruising to police. She also said prior to this, Chafin had grabbed her by her throat and slammed her into a wall before throwing her to the ground and kicking her.

 

Chafin played in nine of 13 games for the Bears that season. Chafin was arrested for marijuana possession earlier this year and was suspended for spring practice. He was later reinstated.

 

 

In April 2012, a woman told police she attempted to break up with her boyfriend, cornerback Tyler Stephenson, reports ESPN. He lured her to his apartment before restraining her, refusing to let her leave and taking her phone. She was finally able to get away and tried to call 911 once she got out of the apartment. The woman said Stephenson then grabbed her by her hair and threw her against a wall. Police say witnesses confirmed the victim’s account of what happened. It is unclear whether Stephenson faced disciplinary actions.

 

Read more from the OTL report here.

 

 

On April 13, police arrested a former Baylor star football player on a sexual assault charge just days after they began their investigation. Shawn Oakman was served with a search warrant for his DNA and his cell phone then arrested and booked into the McLennan County Jail.

 

A female has accused Oakman, who played on the defensive line for the Bears this year and is a 2016 NFL draft hopeful, of sexually assaulting..

 

According to the police report, Oakman met a woman at a nightclub and he asked her if she wanted to go back to his duplex. The female told police Oakman then forced her into a bedroom, forcibly removed her clothes, forced her onto the bed then sexually assaulted her, reports the Tribune-Herald.

 

The Central Texas newspaper says police seized two comforters, a fitted sheet and a flat sheet from Oakman’s bedroom. They also report the female went to the hospital following the alleged assault and was examined by a sexual assault nurse.

 

Oakman was suspended for one game in September 2015 for “violating team rules.”

 

 

Before coming to Waco, Oakman was booted from the Penn State football after an incident at an on-campus store. According to a police report obtained by Philly.com from the Penn State Police Department, Oakman went into the store to make a purchase. He presented his ID but the clerk noticed he’d hidden food and a drink and the clerk held his ID. Oakman then pushed the female employee against the wall and tried to get his ID back.

 

Oakman posted his $25,000 bail on Thursday afternoon and was released from jail. 

 

The most recent allegations came just days after a former Baylor student filed a lawsuit against the school over their handling of her rape by a another former Baylor football player.

 

 

In December 2015, Baylor settled with another sexual assault victim after another former Baylor football player, Sam Ukwuachu, was convicted of raping her in October 2013. The victim in this case said she was mistreated by the school and was “forced” to transfer to another university, while Ukwuachu remained on full scholarship and was “expected” to play during the 2015 season. After being found guilty, Ukwuachu was sentenced to six months in jail and 10 years probation.

 

 

Before transferring to Baylor, Ukwuachu was named a freshman All-American when he was at Boise State University in 2012. That season, he had played in all 13 games for the Broncos, starting 12 of them. He sat out as a true freshman in 2011 and was redshirted.

 

In May 2013, Boise State announced that Ukwuachu was dismissed from the team for violating unspecified rules. No other details were made available.

 

According to records cited by the Waco paper, when Ukwuachu was at Boise State, he allegedly attacked his girlfriend while drinking and using drugs. The newspaper said records show that Ukwuachu broke a window and cut his arm, which led to a Boise police investigation. 

 

At the trial this week, that former girlfriend in Idaho told the jury that Ukwuachu punched her in the head several times and choked her, the Waco Tribune-Herald reported. Ukwuachu denied the allegations.

 

The following month after he left Boise State, Ukwuachu told the Waco paper that he was transferring to Baylor. He declined to discuss his dismissal from Boise State.

 

 

Ukwuachu would have had two years of eligibility remaining had he played for Baylor. However, he never played a down for the Bears despite remaining on the team’s roster.

 

In 2014, he was suspended from the team, but reasons weren’t given as to why, according to the Dallas Morning News. However, there were expectations from Baylor that Ukwuachu might take the field for the Bears for the 2015 season.

 

 

But all of that changed. Ukwuachu eventually was dismissed from the Baylor football team for violating unspecified rules. Ukwuachu graduated from Baylor in May and was taking graduate courses before the trial. He still had a year of eligibility to play football after graduation, according to NCAA rules.

 

 

According to Texas Monthly, Assistant District Attorney Hilary LaBorde told 54th District Judge Matt Johnson that Baylor’s investigation consisted of interviewing Ukwuachu, his accuser and one friend of each. The article also said that LaBorde said that the school never saw the rape kit collected by the sexual assault nurse examiner. Texas Monthly reported that the judge sustained a motion from the prosecution that restricted the defense from referring to the Baylor investigation during trial because it was so insufficient.

 

The Waco Tribune reported that McCraw, the Baylor associate dean, testified that she did not review the nurse’s report or review Boise State disciplinary records before making her determination in the investigation.

 

Following Ukwuachu’s conviction, Baylor released a statement that “acts of sexual violence contradict every value Baylor University upholds as a caring Christian community.” The school outlined steps taken there, such as staffing a Title IX office with two full-time investigators and supporting sexual assault survivors.

 

Baylor followed up Friday by stating that, after a meeting that afternoon, President and Chancellor Ken Starr ordered “a comprehensive internal inquiry into the circumstances associated with this case and the conduct of the offices involved.” That review will be led by Jeremy Counseller, a law professor and former prosecutor.

 

 

 

Briles claimed he was not aware of Ukwuachu’s past. However, Texas Monthly obtained court documents saying Boise State and Baylor had some communication regarding Ukwuachu. The documents also said Boise State officials expressed reticence about supporting Ukwuachu’s efforts to play again, the magazine said.

 

According to the Waco paper, after the news of Ukwuachu’s charges finally came to light more than a year later, Briles told reporters, “I like the way we’ve handled it as a university, an athletic department and a football program.”

 

Chris Petersen, now the head coach at the University of Washington, was Boise State’s head football coach when Ukwuachu was a member of the Broncos. In a statement, he said he in fact had reached out to Briles about Ukwuachu transferring.

 

 

According to Sports Illustrated, former University of Florida head coach-turned-Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp could have had Ukwuachu, but decided against it after having been told of his violent past by Boise State officials.

 

 

However, this isn’t the first time Baylor has been thrust into the limelight for athletic department scandals.

 

Prior to the 1999-2000 NCAA men’s basketball season, Dave Bliss was hired by Baylor to lead the Bears’ basketball squad. Bliss, who was known for his role in paying SMU basketball players, only made matters worse for himself when he made the move to Waco.

 

On July 26, 2003, the body of Baylor junior forward Patrick Dennehy, who transferred from the University of New Mexico where Bliss formerly coached, was found, decomposed, in a gravel pit near Waco. The death was ruled a homicide four days later.

 

Dennehy’s teammate Carlton Dotson was arrested for the murder and pleaded guilty to the crime in June 2005. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison. According to Mike Wise of the Washington Post, this was the first known case of a player killing a teammate in the history of U.S. intercollegiate athletics. 

 

Former Baylor President Robert Sloan gathered an investigative committee who found Bliss paid Dennehy and teammate Cory Herring’s tuition, but led the players to believe they had received scholarships, even though they had reached the limit on the funding. While meeting with investigators, Bliss painted Dennehy as a drug dealer. He also told his players and coaches to lie to investigators regarding the slain player’s tuition. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram released audio recordings taken by former assistant coach Abar Rouse of Bliss telling players to say Dennehy paid for college with money from selling drugs. Bliss was also found to have violated drug testing policies.

 

After finally admitting his wrong-doings, Bliss was forced to resign by the university on August 8, 2003. The 71-year-old scored his first coaching job since the disgusting scandal in May. Bliss is now the head coach at Southwestern Baptist University, an NAIA school in Bethany, Oklahoma.

 

 

According to Mac Engel of the Forth Worth Star-Telegram, an Austin filmmaker is bringing the basketball nightmare to the big screen with a documentary.

 

 

 

A comprehensive timeline was posted on Reddit of the most recent allegations among Baylor student-athletes.

 

The timeline begins in 2009 when Hernandez (the woman suing Baylor) testified that Elliott sexually assaulted her after she passed out drunk at her apartment in 2009. It ends with the most recent allegation against Oakman in April 2016.