Texan Mosaic

by DOMINICK PUENTE//Staff Writer

Baylor University has become a hot bed for intense scrutiny due to the number of mishandled sexual assault cases, along with a lack of justice, within the past few years.

Sexual assault is a sensitive subject to handle, but Baylor has neglected to even hear the cries of injustice.

Multiple reports and stories have been written informing the nation on mishandled sexual assault cases, ranging from the campus police ignoring victims, to coaches ignoring the problem within their system.

News of ignored cases surfaced following the 2016 season, causing the Baylor football program, and the university as a whole, to make drastic changes.

People called for resignations and high-ranking people within the university to step down.

Baylor fans have reached out within social media and have given their support to the coaching staff, the university and the people who resigned within the university. However, I think they should have received no support for their actions.

Allowing players to walk away with a slap on the wrist after sexually assaulting a woman is uncalled for. A head coach is the leader of the pack, and the leader failed miserably.

A coach should be a father figure to young football players. A player should be taught right from wrong, even if they are considered young adults.

Learning is timeless, and Baylor’s head football coach, Art Briles, let down a group of young men.

Not only did Briles lose his job, but the program suffered a tremendous loss. Top recruits decided to pursue their football career elsewhere. Any coach who is willing to take the coaching job will be hesitant to take over.

Football may be a popular sport, and people will want to push the situation aside. But I realize the women who experienced such a horrific event will never be able to push what happened to them aside.

For a university to ignore such awful acts is embarrassing and immature. These actions the college has taken should spark more uproar than it already has.

Sexual assault is not a minor crime, and the people who chose to ignore this have paid the price. Position status should not affect the consequences of the law.

For Baylor to recover from this awful situation, it will require the investigation to come to an end and all the facts to surface.

I would like to see strict and effective sanctions be put on the university for their negligence toward the people they allowed to suffer.

Many universities have had their fair share of scandals and sanctions put upon them from the NCAA. The NCAA has suspended programs over fraudulent grades, and I hope they understand the severity of this case.

No person should receive any type of special treatment because he or she is a five-star athlete, or the university is one of the best institutions in the nation.

A university that cares for all its students should be willing to take action for the young adults who are mistreated and harmed.

By Baylor allowing these actions to slide shows exactly what is more of a priority, and the clear answer is football. The fact that the university allowed a sport to take precedence over an illegal action should cast a cloud of shame over the institution.

The majority of the players who have cases of sexual assault have moved on, but that should not change anything. The players who committed such crimes should pay the price and learn that such actions should not be tolerated anywhere.

Now that a majority of the people who allowed these actions to go unnoticed have left, the university needs to understand there should be no leeway for error in attempting to right their wrongs and do what is right.

However, Baylor is failing on accomplishing that task. As more evidence will surface, it will become more difficult to overcome the obstacles. But the university is not helping itself.

The program has allowed former players who have had cases filed against them and others who have allegedly took part in sexual assaults to be on the field during games and talk to current players on the team.

I cannot find the positive side of Baylor allowing this to take place. Along with the university allowing this, the former head coach of the Bears has been in attendance at home games.

Baylor is not helping themselves get out of the hole they dug. Instead, they are only causing it to become deeper.

Some people might feel that Baylor has done more than enough to right their wrongs, but I fail to see how the victims find any closure or relief with no one going through the court system, players getting special treatment and the university higher-ups simply resigning.

I also understand that not everyone was fully aware, and some players had no previous knowledge of the actions taking place. For someone to blame every single person who attended the university, the staff and players is not suitable.

However, the people who run and oversee Baylor should have done more. Multiple victims have specifically stated they tried to talk to someone within the campus, and absolutely no one listened.

Baylor should have done more to help the victims, instead of putting a sport ahead of what was more important. The university showed their true colors when they chose to ignore the safety of their students and not give the slightest care for the victims.