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I felt compelled. I felt convicted. It is freaking 2016 and the fact we're still having these problems is disgusting.
For those who may not know, on Thursday May 26th the head football coach of the Baylor Bears, Art Briles, was fired from the University. Reports were that the President of the University, Kenneth Starr, was let go a few days ago, and the University only confirmed that today.
The backstory: Baylor has come under fire (and rightly so) for the way they've handled sexual assault and violent incidences committed by football players. A report, entitled the Pepper Hamilton report, allegedly details and addresses these claims. A full statement from Baylor can be read HERE. (You can also read the full findings of the report, titled Findings of Fact, HERE. I could write so much more based on specifics of the report but I'd like to keep this under 10 pages.)
Before we go on, I feel like I have to say: I really enjoy sports. I do. I am not an anti-sports or anti-athlete person. I am not someone who is going to bemoan the fact that sports are a prevalent aspect of our collegiate institutions. Sports are fun to watch, and bring people from the school and community together. They help to build pride in our alma maters, our communities, our states. Many programs and athletes give back to the communities both financially and in volunteering. There are many football programs across our country who are doing great things, and have good people both in the coaching staff and on the field. For every bad apple on the ground, there are hundreds of good apples in the trees.
BUT - - the fact that in 2016, we are still dealing with the "don't look too carefully" method of dealing with assaults against students (primarily women) because schools would rather win championships than protect people is disgusting and frankly, hard to believe.
Those few bad apples are rotting the entire tree, and they need to be thrown out.
* The argument of "the coach / coaching staff didn't / couldn't have know(n)" has to STOP.
The tweet below from yesterday from @BenKercheval PERFECTLY sums up my feelings.
When you are hired as a leader of a team, you are the face of the team. The buck starts and stops with you. If you're being tasked to win games and win championships but also claim to not be involved or aware of personal incidents regarding your players, you're either lying or you're an idiot. You cannot have it both ways. You can't claim to know and watch every single breath they take on the field, but then claim you have no idea or knowledge of their actions once they leave the field.
If you're a coach who only cares about the outcome of the game but not the people in that game - you are personally failing on such a high level, I don't know where to begin.
Many university football coaches are one of the highest, if not THE highest paid people at their school. (For instance, our coach Kirk Ferentz of the Iowa Hawkeyes - my personal favorite college sports team - is the highest paid state of Iowa employee.) Because they are so highly compensated, more is (and should be) expected of them.
Of course, any decent person should NEVER protect this kind of behavior, no matter how much they are compensated.
* This statement from the Pepper Hamilton report says it all: "There are significant concerns about the tone
and culture within Baylor's football program as it relates to
accountability for all forms of student athlete misconduct."
We see this over and over and over again. Coaches and leaders and university officials turn a blind eye to the conduct of their players because they've made the (seemingly) conscience decision that protecting a football team is more important than protected an assault victim. It's more important to win games and win trophies than to ensure that people are safe and that offenders are dealt with, both by the University and also the legal authorities.
Certainly the culture of football in the state of Texas (where Baylor is located) comes into this issue, but as we've seen over and over again, this problem is not relegated to the schools in the South.
* Athletes (specifically male athletes) need to be speaking out about sexual violence and assault.
In general, when these failings come to light, we often see the players rush to the defense of their coach and/or coaching staff.
What we *rarely* see are those same people coming to the defense of the victims.
Collegiate athletes (male athletes in particular): I want to hear strong and loud statements from your programs that you WILL NOT under any circumstances tolerate this sort of depravity on your teams. I want you to throw your support behind the victims and help lead a culture where people who rape and beat and assault are not welcome on your teams.
* Dale Hansen, once again you hit the nail on the head.
Dale Hansen is a reporter in Dallas who speaks to this issue, unfortunately, frequently. His commentary is spot-on and addresses the institutional failings that often contribute to these problems.
His quote, as sad as it is, says it all: "No one should be surprised by this, that it's easier to fire a president at a university in Texas than it is to fire a winning football coach." I would offer that that statement is also true around the country, and not just in Texas.
* Football (and all sports) programs all over the United States need to get rid of the cancer if it's festering in their own programs. The time is NOW.
Heads up, University Football Programs - this could be YOU. This could be you on the front page, and top of the hour on every news station. And you need to clean house and start opening your eyes to what is going on around you, and stop doing "business as usual."
Please don't mistake what I'm saying. I'm not suggesting that teams should take a harder look at their players and coaches only because they don't want to be on the receiving end of some truly bad PR. They should do it because it will send a signal to their students as well as other programs across the United States - here at XYZ University, we will not tolerate this garbage. We have zero tolerance. We will not place our athletes on pedestals to the detriment of others. If you assault someone, you will no longer be on this team. Imagine how wonderful it would be, as a student (or potential student) to hear, We care about you more than we can about the Ws at the end of the season. That would bring in more people to most schools than any glossy brochure or catchy commercial.
As Mr. Hansen from WFAA in Dallas says in his statement, "I like Art Briles, I always have. But he has failed the women at Baylor. He has failed the University, and you can't win enough games to make up for that."
When will we say, enough is enough. When will we choose to stand on our convictions and morals and say, I'd rather lose every single game than stand by as women get assaulted. I hope that day is soon, but I fear it is not.
