Ex-AD: Black athletes made scapegoats
McCaw said he quit to avoid being part of ‘cover-up scheme.’
The former athletic director at Baylor alleges that regents schemed to make black football players scapegoats for a decades-long problem of sexual assault at the nation’s largest Baptist school and he resigned rather than be part of a massive cover-up.
Ian McCaw said he was “disgusted” by the racism and the “phony” investigation document Baylor issued in 2016 that leveled findings against the football program, according to excerpts from his June 19 deposition. He also testified he ultimately resigned because he “did not want to be part of some Enron cover-up scheme.”
The excerpts appear in documents filed Wednesday by attorneys representing 10 women who are suing Baylor over how it handled their allegations of sexual assault. McCaw, who is white, was subpoenaed to testify.
Baylor was engulfed in a sexual assault scandal surrounding its football team in 2016, ultimately resulting in the firing of then-football coach Art Briles and the demotion of the university’s president, Ken Starr. McCaw was put on probation and resigned a few days later.
Baylor has already settled several other lawsuits by women who said their reports of sexual assault were mishandled or ignored.
McCaw’s full deposition from the pending lawsuit remains under seal. The excerpts of his testimony were included in a request to a federal judge to force Baylor to produce documents the school has withheld, citing student privacy.
Baylor released a statement that didn’t specifically contradict McCaw’s allegations but said much of the “selectively quoted” testimony in the motion was “based on speculation, hearsay and even media reports.”
“The plaintiffs’ counsel have grossly mischaracterized facts to promote a misleading narrative in an effort to deflect attention away from the actual facts of the case pending before the court,” the school said. “Baylor has complied and will continue to comply with all court rules in this case.”
McCaw is now the athletic director at Liberty University in Virginia, where a school spokesman said he would have no further comment.
But in the Wednesday filing, the plaintiffs’ attorneys said McCaw didn’t attempt “to hide his own responsibility and readily admitted that the athletic department was not blameless.” The filing didn’t address claims previously made by Baylor officials that McCaw didn’t tell campus investigators of an alleged sexual assault of a volleyball player.
Baylor hired a law firm in 2015 to review how the school handled sexual assault claims after several incidents involving football players.
Then in May 2016, the school issued a 13-page report focused on its most troubling findings on a football program that was portrayed as acting as if it were above the rules. The document also suggested some staffers interfered with investigations and witnesses.
Baylor officials have said the investigation found that 17 women had reported incidents of sexual and domestic violence involving 19 Baylor football players since 2011, including several cases that involved gang rapes.