Lawsuit Pulls Covers Off Rape Culture In Baylor University's Football Program
For many young people, going off to college represents hope and preparation for a bright future. Academically, students take courses that will help them succeed in their career aspirations. The college years are also a time for coeds to mature and get used to being on their own.
They enjoy a whole new level of freedom which is why it is so important that campus officials enforce the rules and seek justice when the law is broken. A recent lawsuit, filed against Baylor University, alleges a failure in epic proportions to perform both of these functions.
The filing accuses 31 Baylor football players of 52 sexual assaults, including a gang rape, from 2011 - 2014. The investigation was opened after the sexual assault convictions of Tevin Elliott in 2014 and Sam Ukwuachu in 2015. These investigations opened the door for more alleged victims to speak out. Should be no surprise, where there's smoke there's fire.
As many as six unnamed victims have since come forward alleging that university officials were not only aware of their allegations, but colluded to sweep them under the rug. In spite of police reports filed with university police and the city of Waco, and attempted Title IX investigations by Patty Crawford, reported cases were neither investigated nor prosecuted.
The university has been under fire for some time now and everybody is playing the blame game. Accusers allege that they were either ignored, punished, or given the run-around by university officials. The regents have pointed to buried police reports and a secret in-house operation within the football department as the cause of the cover-up.
In an effort to clean house, former Head Coach, Art Briles, and former Assistant Athletic Director, Colin Shillinglaw, were fired along with other athletic department staff. Both men have denied any involvement in the scandal. Briles attempted to sue the university for libel and slander, but has since dropped his case citing a desire to distance himself and his family from the scandal and future scrutiny. On the heels of Briles' withdrawing his lawsuit, Shillinglaw has filed one of his own.
"Colin Shillinglaw's defamation claims amount to nothing more than a public relations smokescreen intended to hide the truth about how Shillinglaw, Coach Briles and others created a culture within the football program that shielded players from University discipline for alleged offenses ranging from drug use and academic cheating to assault," the regents said as reported by Deadspin.
The evidence against Briles, Shillinglaw, and another coach is damning as a series of tweets revealed in court documents appear to confirm both their knowledge and willful concealment of the various crimes. Including, drug dealing, weapons charges, illegal alcohol consumption, indecent exposure and solicitation, assault, drug abuse, and marijuana possession.
Here are a few of the incidents cited in the suit per the Houston Chronicle:
Baylor University's Board of Regents stands firm that this culture and the fallout from fostering it all stems from independent action by the football department. "The football program was a black hole into which reports of misconduct such as drug use, physical assault, domestic violence, brandishing of guns, indecent exposure and academic fraud disappeared," according to Deadspin. "In all, investigators compiled a lengthy list of such offenses, which had gone largely unknown to the rest of the University."
What you have read here is just the tip of the iceberg. This scandal runs deep. College football is a big business and, apparently, the rape and marginalization of women is just a small price to pay to become one of the top collegiate football programs in the country.
There will likely be a lot more allegations and knowing eyes. Wonder which side of history the Baylor family will be on when the dust settles? If they knew and did nothing about these crimes, there will be hell to pay. Condone or condemn, people. Condone or condemn.
