Baylor University announced today Ken Starr will be leaving the school altogether. He lost his job as school president and later resigned as chancellor in May after a scandal over Baylor’s handling of sexual assault allegations, but remained as a law professor.
A statement from Baylor didn’t reveal the reason for Starr’s exit, but it did say the move was a “mutually agreed separation.”
Baylor asked a law firm last year to conduct a review following allegations that the football program mishandled several cases of players sexually assaulting women. That report found certain university administrators “directly discouraged complainants from reporting or participating in student conduct processes.”
The Texas Tribune reports:
Starr said repeatedly during the interview that he accepts responsibility for what happened at Baylor, while also insisting that he was "behind the veil of ignorance." He reiterated his previous statements that he didn't know about the numerous cases of sexual assault until last fall, when the investigation into their handling was commissioned. Still, he said, "the captain goes down with the ship." But he struck a defiant tone at times, too. When asked whether Baylor had a sexual violence problem, he said "it really hasn't been [a problem] to my knowledge until August 2015," when football player Sam Ukwuachu was convicted of raping another student. That rape happened in 2014. And another football player, Tevin Elliott, had already been sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexual assault at the time. Multiple women have reported that Elliott raped or attempted to rape them.
The scandal also forced out football coach Art Briles. Three lawsuits have been filed against the university regarding the sexual assault cases.
