Ex-Baylor president pondered if some women 'seem willingly to make themselves' assault victims
Could former Baylor president David Garland believe some women “seem willingly to make themselves victims” of sexual assault by drinking alcohol?
In an email to a Baylor administrator last year, Garland noted an interview with a woman who said she was an alcoholic in college. He then used the interview to help frame his views on sexual assault. The emails were obtained by the Waco Tribune.
The email is part of court records submitted by attorneys representing 10 women suing Baylor about the school’s indifference towards their sexual assault claims.
“As I drove back yesterday from the Big 12 meeting, I listened to ESPN rake the president over the coals, in my view, justifiably, for his blatantly obvious self-serving attempt to protect himself and his reputation. I then listened to Fresh Air on NPR and the interview with the author of the confessional “Blackout,” which added another perspective for me of what is going on in the heads of some women who may seem willingly to make themselves victims. It makes writing a commentary on Romans, as I am currently doing, seem most relevant … It occurred to me as I am writing this that Romans is outline in much the same way as the Ppper [sic] Hamilton report: Findings of Fact (what happened”) [sic], why? (What went wrong?) and steps that must be taken to remedy the situation. The difference is that God is the one who took the steps to remedy the situation.
The email was composed on June 4, 2016, as then-Baylor president Ken Starr was still in charge and leading the school’s haphazard defense of itself. The emails are viewable in full here.
Per the Tribune, the email chain started on the topic of a sexual assault survivor rally held on campus and attended by “approximately” 30 people. Four survivors of sexual assault spoke at the rally and Garland previously said he “would like to meet with these four students who came forward over lunch in the presidents’ office. It is not to try to appease them but to lend a sympathetic ear from a symbolic high officer of Baylor.”
The meeting never happened because the Baylor administrator Garland was corresponding with wondered if the meeting would grow in size or lead to more meetings. Per the Trib, Garland declined comment about the emails and is set to return to Baylor’s theology school from his sabbatical in August.
Garland was appointed the school’s interim president after the resignation of Starr, who resigned after the fallout from the Pepper Hamilton investigation into Baylor’s reprehensible mishandling of sexual assault accusations. The school fired coach Art Briles and former athletic director Ian McCaw also resigned after he was punished. Inexplicably, McCaw is now the athletic director at Liberty University.
Garland is also the man who said in a sworn deposition that he didn’t know why the Pepper Hamilton law firm made the recommendations it did following its examination of Baylor’s indifference to sexual assault accusations.
Baylor’s president is currently Linda Livingstone. She was appointed in April.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
