Ex-Baylor interim head says no assaults from 2008-2010
Garland answers questions in suit involving victims
Former Baylor interim president David Garland said he filed annual reports from 2008-2010 to the Department of Education that stated there were no sexual assaults on Baylor’s campus during a 20-month span in which he was the university’s interim president.
Garland, who was interim president from 20082010 and again from June 1 last year until the end of May this year, was questioned by Waco attorney Jim Dunnam on May 31.
Dunnam filed a lawsuit against Baylor on behalf of 10 alleged sexual assault victims.
In addition to stating he was unaware of any sexual assaults during that span, Garland also said he didn’t know the proper process for a student to report a sexual assault on campus.
At the time, Baylor didn’t have a Title IX office.
105 recommendations
In the deposition, Garland said part of his responsibilities in the last year were to implement the 105 recommendations from the Pepper Hamilton summary. Pepper Hamilton is the law firm that investigated Baylor’s Title IX compliance and found a “fundamental failure” to protect female students and concerns about the “tone and culture” within the football program.
Garland said he was unaware of any reasons the university was given the recommendations. He only knew what he saw in the report’s Findings of Fact.
“I’m only aware of what was written in the Find- ings of Fact,” Garland said under oath.
He also said he received no Title IX training until his second stint as interim president in 2016. So he was never taught proper Title IX compliance during his tenure from 2008-2010. He has also held positions as a dean and a provost and was given no training in either of those roles.
In his time as president, he met with three Baylor victims.
One section of the Pepper Hamilton recommendations is “Restorative Remedies” and includes contacting known survivors and addressing their ongoing needs.
Garland said he hasn’t sought out any victims but has talked to three who requested to speak with the president.
The deposition, which went on for more than four hours, revealed Baylor’s leadership didn’t adhere to Title IX regulations.
There were several statements that showed Garland’s ignorance to what was happening at the university under him and other people in leadership roles.
He continued to say “I don’t know” when ques tioned about the reasons for 105 recommendations, on what other leadership should be held accountable for discouraging victims from reporting sexual assault (except for the former Baylor Police Chief Jim Doak), and on who drafted the Findings of Fact letter the Baylor regents released.
Higher authority
His answer when Dunnam asked him to whom the regents were accountable was “God.”
Baylor leadership has said multiple times that the university is continuing to implement the 105 recommendations from Pepper Hamilton.