Ex-Title IX coordinator: 'I think Baylor set me up to fail from the beginning'
Baylor's former Title IX coordinator Patty Crawford says the school retaliated against her concerning the handling of several high-profile sexual assault cases.
Crawford appeared on CBS This Morning on Wednesday with her attorney just days after she resigned from her position, citing disappointment "in her role in implementing the recommendations that resulted" after an independent investigation suggested changes in how Baylor probed such cases.
On Monday, two women who attended Baylor joined a Title IX civil rights lawsuit, alleging the school did not do enough to investigate their sexual assault cases. Eight women have now filed suit against the school since June.
Crawford said she believes Baylor did not nothing to investigate her concerns about how the school went about investigating sexual assault allegations.
"I think Baylor set me up to fail from the beginning. The harder I worked, the more resistance I got." Crawford said. "I was being retaliated against for fighting discrimination."
KWTX-10 reported that Crawford filed a retaliation complaint against Baylor with the school's Human Resources Department, which led to settlement talks.
According to the report, Baylor wanted to pay Crawford $1.5 million, with an additional $50,000 for signing a confidentiality agreement. Crawford reportedly upped her asking price to $2 million, but when Baylor refused, she quit after less than two years on the job.
The Waco Tribune reported that Baylor was surprised by the move and that Crawford requested “to retain book and movie rights” regarding her time at the school.
Crawford's resignation was the latest in the fallout over Baylor and its football program.
Last year, Baylor hired Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton to investigate the school's response to sexual assault allegations.
The 13-page report, released in May, said that football coaches and staff interfered with investigations into sexual assault complaints against players, and possibly interfered with potential criminal proceedings.
The same day the report was released, head coach Art Briles was suspended and was later fired. I love Patty Crawford. I think she's a great person. I'd take anything she has to say very seriously," Starr told Outside the Lines on Thursday afternoon.
Former Baylor president Ken Starr, who later resigned after the Pepper Hamilton report, hired Crawford as the Title IX coordinator in 2014. Starr said he understood that Crawford's criticism of the school's administration.
"I love Patty Crawford. I think she's a great person. I'd take anything she has to say very seriously," Starr told ESPN.com. "I have to [take it seriously]. I take all criticism that is made in good faith seriously, and Patty is a very good person.
– Scooby Axson
