Baylor's Former Title IX Coordinator Accuses Senior Leaders of 'Protecting the Brand Instead of Their Students'

Baylor University’s former Title IX coordinator, Patty Crawford — who maintained the post during the recent campus sexual assault crisis that resulted in the ouster of president Ken Starr, football coach Art Briles, and athletic director Ian McCaw — resigned earlier this week after filing complaint against the school for reta. Crawford's resignation came the same day two more women joined a class-action lawsuit against the school for failing to adequately address sexual assault allegations, bringing the total number plaintiffs to eight.

Appearing on CBS This Morning, Crawford said she believes the university set her up for failure from the beginning of her tenure in 2014. 

"I continued to work very hard, and the harder I worked, the more resistance I received from leadership," Crawford said on the morning show, citing a "group of senior leaders" without naming anyone specifically.

A Baylor University statement released Monday evening said, "Our understanding is that Patty was disappointed in her role in implementing the recommendations that resulted from the Pepper Hamilton investigation." Those 105 recommendations included a number of changes to the Title IX office; to implement those changes, the university created a Sexual Assault Task Force, of which Crawford was a member.

Baylor further asserts that Crawford requested "to retain book and movie rights" during mediation, which Crawford — joined by her lawyer — declined to comment on.

According to a recording obtained by KWTX-Waco, Crawford had expressed her frustration with the administration’s handling of sexual assault cases. From KWTX reports:

She told the group she had begun to refuse to share names of those involved in Title IX investigations with Baylor administrators, fearful that the officials might take action before those involved in the investigations receive due process.

… Crawford also told the group she felt like the football team had been unfairly targeted, noting just two football players have been convicted of sexual assault during Briles’ tenure at Baylor.

“A very small percentage of our cases have anything to do with athletics … This is not an athletics issue in the sense of violence and all these things, this is a human issue.”

In a statement released on Oct. 4, Interim President David Garland maintained that, "despite this recent personnel change, the office continues to have a capable, professional team to do its work." 

Read more from Waco Tribune-Herald.