Khator explains process in hiring ex-Baylor coaches
University of Houston president and chancellor Renu Khator assured faculty on Tuesday that the university conducted additional reviews “above and beyond” typical hiring practices when it added former Baylor University football assistant coaches Kendal Briles and Randy Clements to its football program.
Both Briles and Clements were employed by Baylor during a sexual assault scandal. UH announced the hires earlier this month.
Khator, who wrote to faculty in an email Tuesday, said the university also required coaching staff to receive additional training about the law, UH policies “as well as about our culture of reporting.” Morality clauses included
Khator did not mention Briles and Clements by name or by their former affiliation with Baylor in the email, but a university spokesman confirmed that the two were the subject of the notice. Khator also said that the “new staff members” had morality clauses in their contracts, which Briles and Clements do. The clause gives UH the right to terminate if any negative information from their time at Baylor comes out that has not previously been disclosed.
Baylor never implicated Briles or Clements during its investigation. Briles, 35, was named in a pending lawsuit — one of several Title IX civil suits filed against Baylor — that alleges he tried to attract recruits by saying female students at Baylor liked the players. “Do you like white women? Because we have a lot of them at BAYLOR and they LOVE football players,” Briles told a recruit, the lawsuit alleged.
Additionally, Baylor suspended Kendal Briles and another assistant after they were found to have committed recruiting infractions for impermissible contact with a prospect in 2015.
Briles paid tribute to his father, who was fired amid the scandal, by writing the initials “CAB” on his hands during Baylor’s season opener in 2016. Clear expectations
Khator urged faculty to report any unacceptable behavior in an online compliance portal, to campus police or to UH’s Title IX coordinator.
“Our values of mutual respect and accountability are clear,” she wrote. “Our expectations of an environment that is free of harassment, discrimination and fraud are even clearer … It is up to us — individually and collectively — to uphold these values.”
Her comments echo a statement made to the Chronicle on Saturday.
“Our expectations and values are clear,” she said regarding the two Baylor hires. “We want to make sure our (football) program is winning but absolutely to the best ethical standards. I’m convinced that’s what is going to happen.”
UH’s faculty senate met Wednesday for the first time since the hires.