Baylor University won’t be releasing details of the independent review of the university’s response to reports of sexual and gender-based violence, interim president David Garland said in a statement June 3.
Garland’s statement came in response to calls from groups including the Baylor Line Foundation, formerly known as the Baylor Alumni Association, to release the “full report” of the Pepper Hamilton investigation that led to the departure of the school’s president and head football coach.
David Garland
Garland, former dean of Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary who served once before as interim president after the firing of President John Lilley in 2008, said the Philadelphia law firm’s report to the board of regents was an oral presentation summarized in Findings of Fact and Recommendations released by the university May 26.
Garland said those documents “fully reflect the facts and core failings identified in the investigation” but were released in that format to protect the privacy of individuals who came forward to aid in the probe.
“We respect survivors’ freedom to choose whether, when and how to share their experiences and will support survivors who choose to share their experiences publicly,” Garland said. “The details of these individuals’ experiences will not be discussed publicly by the university.”
The executive committee of The Baylor Line Foundation issued a call June 2 for “full transparency” about the university’s handling of multiple sexual assault and domestic violence accusations under Title IX described by Pepper Hamilton.
“Several high profile Baylor employees have been very publicly removed from their positions,” the statement said. “Baylor announced that many others have been fired and that Baylor will not reveal their identities or the reasons. No Regent has resigned or been removed that we know of.”
Garland said Baylor’s board and administration “have been as forthright as is possible and are fully committed to presenting the truth of these findings” but “are also committed to reconciliation with those who have been harmed.”
Baylor alum Bette McCall Miller, daughter of former Baylor president Abner McCall, responded in a letter saying that because of events leading to the recent settlement of a lawsuit between the university and alumni group, some members of the foundation “have understandably completely lost confidence in the regents and the Baylor administration.”
“We would like the opportunity to judge for ourselves whether those documents ‘fully reflect the facts and core failings identified in the investigation,’” she said in a letter published June 5 by the Baylor Line Foundation.
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