As Long As Those At The Top Don't Get In Trouble...

Earlier this week I wrote about what has been happening at Baylor University and their cover-up of sexual and domestic abuse claims against athletes at the university (including retaliating against at least one victim), and I wondered why Ken Starr wasn't showing the same moral outrage on this as he did against then President Clinton.

The results of the report submitted to the Baylor board of regents came out today, and while there were firings the people at the top were largely not included.

This included Ken Starr who, while he is being removed as president, will now become chancelor of the university on terms "still being discussed." I'm guessing that means he will be getting a raise?  He will also still be a professor of constitutional law at the law school, because nothing says you can teach constitutional law like overseeing people covering up law breaking.

This includes the athletic director Ian McCaw who has been "sanctioned" and put on "probation" but will still be retaining his job, because why would you remove someone who oversaw programs that lacked institutional control?

Art Briles, the head football coach, is being suspended with the intention of seeking his dismissal "according to contractual procedures." Does that mean he might still be retained? Or is it another way of saying he will be dismissed but with a nice compensation package on the way out? Since they are a private institution they are under no obligation to report any compensation package unless they want to, which they are clearly not going to want to do.

Now there were some firings that did take place from the administration and the athletic department, but they say "Neither these individuals nor the disciplinary actions will be identified publicly." That's even though they did just say what the disciplinary action was, they were fired, we just don't know who they are. Which means these are people way down the totem pole, people that were clearly expendable, people not covered by million dollar salaries and contracts, so people that are easy to scapegoat and push out into the wilderness.

So, once again, we all learn the lesson that if you are at the top and things go badly, rarely is the buck going to stop with you.  Instead it lands on those way down at the bottom. What does this teach anyone, and what does this say about our understanding of leadership? Or, I might ask again: Where, Mr. Starr, is the moral outrage?

Where Is The Moral Outrage?

In the mid-90's, Ken Starr led a moral charge against Bill Clinton for his affair, even though that was not what he was hired to do. Of course that action led to Clinton's impeachment.

Since 2010 Starr has been the president of Baylor University.  During that time, the Baylor football team has moved from mediocrity and obscurity, to a national powerhouse. Perhaps that rise came with the cost of overlooking, or maybe even enabling, illegal behavior by it's football players including assault and sexual abuse.

There have already been several investigations and allegations of what the school did not do, and the way it treated the victims of these crimes. ESPN's Outside the Lines has uncovered even more cases that had never been reported before and that included the Waco police department working to make sure these cases never saw the public light. The accusation is being made that at the very least that the football coaches knew about these events, and perhaps even known by those at the top.

So, my question Mr. Starr, is where is your moral outrage? Where is all the work you did to bring down the President in order to make sure those who are committing violence against women are brought to justice? At least you will be able to say that you had a winning football program.