Interim BU president: “We are going to weather this storm”

You’ve been on the job about two months now. How are things going?

We're really excited about this great class coming in. We're going to have over 3,500 students. We had over 35,000 applications. So all the students I've met they are very excited about coming to Baylor.

Do you feel like the university has taken a big hit because that is the perception?

No, not received a big hit. I mean when you have 35,000 applications and I met a lot of the students and they are very enthusiastic. There is a great deal of trust in Baylor. We are going to weather this storm and come out stronger. This is good for Waco to have a strong university here in Waco.

Why did you want this job? Most people would look at this job in the circumstances and say “no way.”

I didn't volunteer and I didn't apply but I felt indebted to the regents because of what they did in honoring my wife and naming the school of social work after her and so they appealed to my sense of duty and I feel like if they thought I could help in this situation then I will do everything I can.

In your previous role as interim president did you learn anything you're bringing to help?

Well that she seems like a very long time ago and this is a new day and time and I'm learning new things all the time, so it's a really a different situation.

Let’s talk about the Pepper Hamilton Report. How do you go about implementing the 105 recommendations of PH. Where do you even start or have you even started?

We've gotten more than just started on it. In 11 weeks, we have made incredible progress. Out of 105 recommendations, we've completed 76 that are ongoing and I'm amazed at the progress we've made.

We now have the biggest Title IX office of anyone in the Big 12. We have doubled the size of our counseling center, spent over 5 million dollars in increasing space and counselors and made a lot of revisions in policies and procedures so we've made incredible progress. We meet once a week to see how it's going and what still needs to be done.

Why do you think it took what happened for the university to say we have a lot of things we need to get in place?

I can't speculate on that all. All I know, is when I came in this is what I needed to do. To learn fast what went wrong, why it went wrong and to fix it fast. The findings of fact where extremely helpful and then the 105 recommendations gives us a road map of what we needed to do. That's what I'm tasked to do is to fix this problem so it doesn't happen again.

Can you clear up any speculation about PH, many still demanding it be released. Is there a written document that exist out there?

The written document is the findings of fact and it’s amazing how transparent the regents were in publishing that and making that available to everybody and what I heard in a briefing was the stories, the oral stories and I'm incredibly grateful to those survivors who were so courageous to come forward and tell what happened to them so that we might fix this problem. And as I understand it, we promised them absolute anonymity and I think it's deeply ingrained in Texas tradition, you're as good as your word and I intend for us to keep our word that we will keep those stories , the survivors anonymous.

So your understanding is there are no additional documents, an additional extended report that is written down that no one has seen?

No, that doesn't exist. No.

Did you feel like Pepper Hamilton was given too much time to do that report?

Again I was not involved in that. I think one of the important things we had to find out fast what went wrong so I thought they apparently did it very quickly because we acted quickly.

Have you talked extensively to the Board of Regents since this all transpired? Do you feel like if they go could go back, they would make any different decisions?

I can't speculate. You would have to talk to them. No, I think they were extremely courageous in what they did and being as transparent as they were. Admit we made mistakes and now what do we do to fix them.

Let's talk about those mistakes. Do you think those mistakes were made at a university-wide level or did it trickle down specifically to the athletic department?

Well, I think it was a university-wide issue and that is why we are addressing it as a university because every single faculty member, every single student, every single staff member is trained in Title IX procedures. So we take this as a university issue. And the amazing thing is the incredible progress we made and how serious we take this.

My understanding after visiting with some members of the athletic department is you all held a meeting recently and it was the first time they felt they were really briefed on what are the policies and how do we handle this. Is that true?

If that's what they said, then I guess it's true. But we are doing it.

Let's talk specially Art Briles. Why was the head football coach, if this was a university-wide problem, why was he ultimately held responsible?

I can't speculate . I was not involved in that decision at all. I was reading in the paper today, he is ready to move forward and that's what we're trying to do at Baylor University. That's what I'm tasked to do is take us forward so these things never happened again.

Regarding Ian McCaw and Art Briles, the national perception is they met with victims or they intentionally covered up sexual assaults, is that true?

I can't answer that. I was not part of that process. All I can do is say it won't happen again if that was the case. I mean we have clear procedures and processes in place to make sure that any person who is victim , reports and it gets reported up through the system and we want to do everything we can to help them become survivors.

So, is it fair to say those procedures and policies were not in place?

I think we admitted that in the findings of fact.

So, who does that responsibility fall on? Does that fall on the head football coach, the AD, the University President?

Well, I don't want to speculate who is ultimately responsible for it. I do know as president I'm ultimately responsible for the athletic program. And, so now I'm the one who is responsible for that.

What do you think Baylor has learned from specifically the PH report?

Very clearly that we didn't have the processes and the policies in place at the time and now we do. What is also important to me is how you prevent these things from happening so we also have a task force that is working on spiritual formation and the development of character because we don't want these things to happen at Baylor University.

I want to go back to what you just said. If you have learned that the processes and the policies were not there, I can understand where that responsibility falls on the University President but going back to a question that is still out there regarding the head football coach. If he didn't have the policies in place because the university hadn't taught him how to do it how he can he be held responsible?

We did have the policies in place. We did have a Title IX office, but I really can't speculate on that. I mean all I can do is what we are going to be doing now. And we now have an incredible interim football coach who is acknowledged across the country as a tower of integrity. I'm thrilled about our new AD. I was involved in hiring him. And he is interested in making champions on the field and then champions in life after they graduate. So the only thing I can do is my position right now is to help us move forward.

What about from the university financial support standpoint. Lots of rumors going were going around some of the biggest donors were coming in asking for a re-vote. Was that true?

That I don't know but our donations are still strong and there continues to be rising gifts to Baylor University. The support for the University is unabated I think.

You have been a part of the training sessions with how Title IX will work from here forward. There are some who say coaches shouldn’t' have to be the cops. There should have been procedures in place.

They're certainly not the cops in a Title XI procedure. When it's run properly, no one is the cop. We have an adjudication process and our responsibility as responsible faculty and staff member is to report and let the process work out.

How do you go about talking to students about changing the culture, making sure they know it’s okay to report these incidents?

My wife did a lot of research in clergy abuse and I listened to her over the years and one thing I want to say to them is that one we want to do everything we can to prevent you from being assaulted in any way, so we're committed to safety for all our students but no student who suffers sexual assault will ever be punished for whatever circumstances they may have been in when this occurred, or no one who witnesses this so that we are not going to blame witnesses. We are going to do everything we can to help them through this trauma. We now have trauma informed counseling and we are going to do everything we can to make them survivors.

How do you assure people that Baylor is a safe place?

It's a very safe place. We are so conscious of it, so committed to this. I’m driving around our campus and I see our police cars everywhere. And I see our policeman riding their bicycles and it gives me an enormous sense of comfort. We have an incredible department of safety at Baylor University now. One of the things we’re thinking about is putting the phone numbers on their ID cards so they know exactly what to do and how to report it. And we will react quickly and have 24/7 on call.

How did you control what happens off campus? Almost all these alleged assaults didn't take place on Baylor campus. How do you go about preventing these incidents when the students are away?

That’s one of the things we do in our training. We warn students to watch out for one another, and also males watching out for one another. That is why we are putting an emphasis on spiritual formation and building character. I don't want any student every graduating thinking they can use a person as something disposable. And so this is a very important part of an education that's not just education but transformation.

A lot of people say Baylor didn't get out in front of this issue. Have you addressed that internally? If a crisis does hit how do we stay in front of what is going on?

We would always want to stay in front of what is going on, but there were negotiations going on so I think we were limited in kinds of things we could say.

Do you think if the university could go back, they would change that and be more forthcoming, early on?

We can't go back. We only go forward and that's what we're doing.

So then what is being done now to make sure Baylor stays out in front of issues?

We are open to meet with the press, meet with people and do everything we can and frankly I think we have been incredibly transparent in what we have done. I mean we've made great progress. You learn fast, you fix it fast and then we move on.

Are there too many regents? It's a criticism out there. UT has 10 or fewer.

There is a difference between private and state. So state usually has fewer and private schools tend to have a large number.

Hays: Some have also argued that some regents don't have the best interest of the university as a whole, in part, because their alma matter is TCU or they give a lot of money or support to UT. Has that been an issue?

No. Every regent I know is deeply devoted to Baylor University and that is their responsibility. They have a fiduciary responsibility to Baylor University and I consider our regents to be outstanding.

From what I understand, less than 10 percent of assault cases, particularly relating to Baylor, actually involve student-athletes. There is perception that athletes here could be dangerous. What are you doing to clear up that this was a university wide problem and not all your athletes are a danger?

Well you've mentioned, this is a national problem. And I think when Coach Grobe came in he said these are outstanding guys and we have a great staff and we have consistently led the Big 12 in graduation success rates. The average GPA for a student athlete last semester at Baylor was 3.28 out of 4.0. For 5 years in a row, we've had over 600 athletes named to Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll and they go on mission trips and I just think the folks we have in the athletic program and the students are outstanding.

Thoughts on Jim Grobe?

I'm extremely happy with Jim Grobe and I'm convinced we're going to have a great year. We have great coaches and great players and they have pride and Baylor pride and this will be a great year.

You mentioned Art Briles talking at training camp yesterday. One of the things he said is he's always lived his life in a righteous manager. What are your feelings about Art Briles?

I believe if he says he lives his life in a righteous way, I believe that's true.

Looking ahead to the football season, some are worried there is no concentration on being competitive.

Oh my goodness, we are very competitive. We are going to win. We are going to surprise a lot of people. These are great players surrounded by great coaches. I slipped into a practice the day before yesterday. I watched the coaches take players aside and help them. Coach Grobe said these assistant coaches are great teachers and we've seen that in the past record of the success of the Baylor football team. I've seen that in our coaches across the athletic department.

This is the first time I've been able to ask about Ian McCaw’s resignation. Originally he was on probation and two days later he’s gone. What led to that?

The personnel issues I was not involved in.

How do you feel about the new AD?

I was involved in hiring him. He's extremely impressive. He has an incredible record and what really impressed me was his emphasis that he is going to create champions on the field, on the court and in life. So what is so important is that these students that go through this program, they get a Baylor diploma and are all successful in life when they graduate.

What does the football season ahead look like to you?

It’s going to be great. We have great players and coaches and I'm looking forward to going to a bowl game.

Do you think the seats are going to be filled?

I think they are already filled because we had this incredible turn out for “Meet the Bears.” I mean, I read where Lynx Hawthorne had kids signing his arms.

As you look ahead in hiring a long term coach, could you assure those serious Baylor fans that this is an important position and that money will be spent to get the right person?

Absolutely because that's why we hired an outstanding AD who has a track record for hiring great coaches. One of the things at Baylor is we are committed to excellence, in academics and teaching and research and athletics. And we remain committed to that. I'm so appreciative of those who are for Baylor, with Baylor through all this, I greatly appreciate their support. Baylor is an outstanding university and we are going to be outstanding on the field and in the classroom.