| | Furthermore, its athletic programs have been the center of two major scandals in the 21st century: | | Furthermore, its athletic programs have been the center of two major scandals in the 21st century: |
| − | *First, in 2003 men's basketball player Patrick Dennehy was murdered by teammate Carlton Dotson after an argument. What on the surface appeared to be a routine criminal investigation quickly unraveled as questioned arose as to how Dennehy could afford Baylor's tuition since he was a "walk-on" player<ref>A "walk-on" player is a player on a college athletic team who does not have an athletic scholarship; NCAA rules limit the number of scholarship players on a team. A "walk-on" player chooses to attend a school for many reasons, such as lack of interest in colleges offering a scholarship (often less prestigious ones) or who may simply want to attend that school for other reasons, such as for a particular academic program.</ref> and apparently did not have an academic scholarship either. Men's basketball coach Dave Bliss tried to avoid suspicion by claiming that Dennehy was paying his own tuition by selling drugs; ultimately it was discovered that Bliss was paying Dennehy's and another teammate's tuition on the side, in violation of NCAA rules. After further illegal activities arose (drug use ignored by the coaching staff and an "illegal tryout" of a recruit) and a report that Bliss had illegally paid tuition for a player while the head coach at [[Southern Methodist University]], Bliss was forced to resign. Tom Stanton, the Baylor Athletic Director, also resigned: though there was no evidence he knew about the activities, he did so to take responsibility for what happened. Ultimately Baylor lost scholarships, was not permitted to play any non-conference games for one season, and Bliss was hit with a ten-year "show cause order".<ref>In the NCAA, if another institution wishes to hire a person under a show cause order, that institution must show the person has complied or is complying with the terms of the order. Most institutions will not even consider hiring someone who is under a show cause order, or in some cases even after the period ends, thus essentially blackballing the person from NCAA employment.</ref> Bliss has not worked at an NCAA school since; he later coached a private Christian school (which ended up being kicked out of its league for misconduct) and later at an NAIA school (from which he resigned after a Showtime documentary aired about his actions while at Baylor). | + | *First, in 2003 men's basketball player Patrick Dennehy was murdered by teammate Carlton Dotson after an argument. What on the surface appeared to be a routine criminal investigation quickly unraveled as questioned arose as to how Dennehy could afford Baylor's tuition since he was a "walk-on" player<ref>A "walk-on" player is a player on a college athletic team who does not have an athletic scholarship; NCAA rules limit the number of scholarship players on a team. A "walk-on" player chooses to attend a school for many reasons, such as lack of interest in colleges offering a scholarship (often less prestigious ones) or who may simply want to attend that school for other reasons, such as for a particular academic program or believing that the school may eventually offer a scholarship.</ref> and apparently did not have an academic scholarship either. Men's basketball coach Dave Bliss tried to avoid suspicion by claiming that Dennehy was paying his own tuition by selling drugs; ultimately it was discovered that Bliss was paying Dennehy's and another teammate's tuition on the side, in violation of NCAA rules. After further illegal activities arose (drug use ignored by the coaching staff and an "illegal tryout" of a recruit) and a report that Bliss had illegally paid tuition for a player while the head coach at [[Southern Methodist University]], Bliss was forced to resign. Tom Stanton, the Baylor Athletic Director, also resigned: though there was no evidence he knew about the activities, he did so to take responsibility for what happened. Ultimately Baylor lost scholarships, was not permitted to play any non-conference games for one season, and Bliss was hit with a ten-year "show cause order".<ref>In the NCAA, if another institution wishes to hire a person under a show cause order, that institution must show the person has complied or is complying with the terms of the order. Most institutions will not even consider hiring someone who is under a show cause order, or in some cases even after the period ends, thus essentially blackballing the person from NCAA employment.</ref> Bliss has not worked at an NCAA school since; he later coached a private Christian school (which ended up being kicked out of its league for misconduct) and later at an NAIA school (from which he resigned after a Showtime documentary aired about his actions while at Baylor). |
| | *Second, in 2016 the football team was the center of allegations that, from 2012 to 2016, players on the team had assaulted (sexually and otherwise) females attending Baylor, and that university officials had failed to take action. The scandal resulted in the ouster of head football coach Art Briles and the resignations of university president [[Ken Starr]] and athletic director Ian McCaw.<ref>McCaw is now the athletic director at [[Liberty University]]; his team gained a small measure of revenge when the Flames defeated Baylor in Waco in 2017, the Flames first victory over a major college program.</ref> Patty Crawford, Baylor's Title IX director, also resigned, claiming that she was not allowed to do her job in protecting the female students by university officials. | | *Second, in 2016 the football team was the center of allegations that, from 2012 to 2016, players on the team had assaulted (sexually and otherwise) females attending Baylor, and that university officials had failed to take action. The scandal resulted in the ouster of head football coach Art Briles and the resignations of university president [[Ken Starr]] and athletic director Ian McCaw.<ref>McCaw is now the athletic director at [[Liberty University]]; his team gained a small measure of revenge when the Flames defeated Baylor in Waco in 2017, the Flames first victory over a major college program.</ref> Patty Crawford, Baylor's Title IX director, also resigned, claiming that she was not allowed to do her job in protecting the female students by university officials. |