Some of Baylor University’s most prominent supporters, including a former Texas governor and the billionaire businessman whose name adorns the football stadium, called Monday for a shakeup of the school’s board of regents in the wake of the campus sexual assault scandal.
The months of criticism over the response by the nation’s largest Baptist university’s to sex assault reports led to the firing of school president Ken Starr and popular football coach Art Briles.
The “Bears for Leadership Reform” group says it wants to address regents’ transparency, appointments, conflicts of interest, structure and authority, as well as demanding more answers from the regents and the school’s investigation into how it mishandled reports of sexual assaults for years.
The group’s leaders include Drayton McLane, whose name is on the $266 million football stadium built at the height of the program’s success under Briles, and former Texas Gov. Mark White. White insisted the group’s goal is not about defending Briles or the football program.
“Not taking a position on (football) one way or another,” White said. “This is about urging the transformation of Baylor leadership.”
But football ― and Briles’ departure in May ― remains an emotionally charged topic on campus.
Last Friday, Baylor’s assistant football coaches released a statement defending Briles and directly contradicting statements made by a regent. On Saturday, fans lined up to buy black T-shirts with Briles’ initials that were being sold outside the stadium, where Baylor lost to TCU 62-22.
