Despite reports that the Baylor University board of regents has removed President Ken Starr from office in the wake of Baylor’s handling of rape and sexual assault convictions and allegations against Baylor football players, the chairman of the board of regents said Starr remained Baylor’s president.
Richard Willis, the outgoing chairman of the board of regents, confirmed to media outlets, including the Waco Herald-Tribune, that Starr was still president on Tuesday. Rebecca Malzahn, deputy chief of staff in the president’s office at Baylor, told the newspaper Tuesday night: “We’ve been hard at work with the president all day. He’s still president today.”
Related: Opinion: Firing Briles Should Be Consideration for Baylor
Earlier Tuesday, Baylor spokeswoman Lori Fogelman released the following statement to the media: “The Baylor Board of Regents continues its work to review the findings of (the Philadelphia law firm) Pepper Hamilton investigation, and we anticipate further communication will come after the board completes its deliberations. We will not respond to rumors, speculation or reports based on unnamed sources, but when official news is available, the university will provide it. We expect an announcement by June 3.”
Chip Brown of Horns Digest first reported Tuesday that the Baylor board of regents was preparing to oust Starr, then later reported that the three-dozen members of the board had removed Starr. TV station KCEN in central Texas confirmed the Horns Digest report that Starr was out as president.
Starr, who has been Baylor’s president for six years, was offered a leadership position in the university’s law school, Horns Digest reported. Reagan Ramsower, Baylor's senior vice president of operations and chief financial officer, will serve as the school’s interim president as the school conducts a national search, sources told Horns Digest.
Baylor and head football coach Art Briles have been criticized for the number of recent sexual assault reports and its handling of those reports and sexual assault allegations. Former Baylor defensive end Shawn Oakman was arrested for sexual assault in April. Last year, former Baylor football player Sam Ukwuachu, who had transferred from Boise State and never played for the Bears, was convicted of sexually assaulting a Baylor soccer player. In 2014, former player Tevin Elliott was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Last week, an ESPN “Outside the Lines” report detailed more sexual violence allegations against Baylor football players and added the Waco Police Department may have protected a player by locking an incident report in an office and pulling it from the computer system “so that only persons who had a reason to inquire about the report would be able to access it,” according to the report.
Barring any evidence that he was engaged in a cover-up, Briles will remain as Baylor’s coach, sources told Horns Digest. Briles has led the Bears to four 10-win seasons in the past five years, including two Big 12 Conference championships. The Bears also produced Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III.
Baylor moved into $266 million, 45,000-seat McLane Stadium in 2014.
“The feeling is if the board got rid of Art (Briles), they’d be sitting in a $300 million mausoleum instead of that new football stadium,” one source told Horns Digest.
Speaking on “The Dan Patrick Show” Wednesday, Bruce Feldman of FOX Sports said of Briles’ future at Baylor, “My gut is he’s in real trouble there … He’s in serious jeopardy of losing his job.”
