Some of the key dates and allegations against Baylor in the school’s sexual assault scandal:
— Spring 2012: The mother of a women’s volleyball athlete met with an associate athletic director and informed him her daughter had been sexually assaulted by multiple football players at a party but did not want to go to police. The associate AD meet with football coach Art Briles. The NCAA said both officials remembered the discussion differently but nothing was done by Briles, the associate AD or another athletics official.
— September 2015: After a Baylor football player is convicted of sexual assault, the school hires law firm Pepper Hamilton to review how the campus responds to reports of sexual and physical violence.
— March 2016: Jasmin Hernandez files the first of several federal lawsuits, claiming the school ignored warnings of violent behavior by football player Tevin Elliott years earlier. Elliott was convicted of rape and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2014.
— May 2016: Pepper Hamilton’s investigation determines Baylor mishandled sexual assaults claims for years and the football program operated as it was “above the rules.” Briles is fired, and former president Ken Starr is demoted (he later resigns), and athletic director Ian McCaw was put on probation. McCaw is now Liberty University’s athletic director. Baylor later reaches a settlement with Briles.
— October 2016: Baylor Title IX coordinator Patty Crawford resigns after filing a complaint that Baylor was not in compliance with federal gender discrimination rules and retaliated against her. Federal education officials later open a civil rights investigation into Baylor.
— October 2016: Baylor regents tell The Wall Street Journal that 17 women reported being sexually assaulted by 19 football players, including four cases of gang rape.
— January 2017: A former Baylor student identified as “Elizabeth Doe” files a lawsuit claiming she was raped by two football players in 2013 and alleging more than 50 others by more than 30 players over a four-year period . Her lawsuit describes a “culture of sexual violence” throughout the program.
— February 2017: University regents reveal new details from the Pepper Hamilton report, including texts and quotes from conversations alleging Briles ignored sexual assaults by players and failed to alert university officials or discipline athletes. In one alleged gang rape incident in 2013, Briles was shown a list of players a victim had identified. “These are some bad dudes. Why was she around those guys?” Briles is quoted in the filing as saying.
— December 2016: Baylor receives a Notice of Inquiry from the NCAA enforcement staff.
— September 2018: Baylor receives a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA enforcement staff.
— December 2020: Baylor appears virtually before the NCAA Committee on Infractions.
— August 2021: NCAA infractions committee releases its findings, penalties. The NCAA notes that due to several unique factors, including the pandemic, the case has had a longer procedural history than most.
