Baylor Fires Football Coach Art Briles and Demotes President Ken Starr; New York Times, 5/26/16

Marc Tracy, New York Times; Baylor Fires Football Coach Art Briles and Demotes President Ken Starr:

"Kenneth W. Starr, the independent counsel who delivered a report that served as the basis for President Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1998, was removed as president of Baylor University on Thursday after an investigation found “fundamental failure” by the university in its handling of accusations of sexual assault against football players.

The university also fired the football coach, Art Briles, whose ascendant program in recent years brought in millions of dollars in revenue but was troubled by accusations of sexual assault against athletes.

Critics claimed that Baylor had sacrificed moral considerations — and the safety of other students — for the sake of its winning football team. The report confirmed as much, describing a culture that flouted federal statutes, including Title IX and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013.

“Actions by University administrators directly discouraged some complainants from reporting or participating in student conduct processes and in one instance constituted retaliation against a complainant for reporting sexual assault,” the report said.

Starr was stripped of his title as university president but will remain Baylor’s chancellor."

Kenneth Starr, Who Tried to Bury Bill Clinton, Now Only Praises Him; New York Times, 5/24/16

Amy Chozick, New York Times; Kenneth Starr, Who Tried to Bury Bill Clinton, Now Only Praises Him:

"Mr. Starr now is contending with criticism of his own leadership over Baylor’s handling of sexual assault charges leveled against several of its football players.

In the panel discussion last week, he reached back to an earlier presidency — that of Lyndon B. Johnson. Saying today’s divisiveness “deeply concerns me,” he recalled Johnson’s appealing for comity before a joint session of Congress.

“I remember this so vividly — he said, ‘Come, let us reason together.’ Can we talk with one another?” Mr. Starr said. “The utter decline and erosion of civility and discourse has, I think, very troubling implications.”

He quoted E. Gordon Gee, the president of West Virginia University, saying, “The world has become a shouting match.”

“There are always places for shouts and strong feelings, but the genius of American democracy and of presidential leadership,” Mr. Starr continued, “is to bring unity out of our diversity. E pluribus unum — out of many, one. And we don’t seem to hear too many voices saying, ‘Let us find common ground.’”"