DALLAS _ Baylor University officials will meet with Big 12 chief executive officers Tuesday in what could become the first step toward league-mandated sanctions for sexual assault cases in the Bears' football program.
Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said the scandal has "sullied" the image of the league in the minds of rival school presidents.
Bowlsby, during Monday's first day of Big 12 football media days, acknowledged that bylaws related to institutional control and Title IX compliance could be used to sanction the school.
"I wouldn't say that anything's on the table and I wouldn't say that anything is off the table," Bowlsby said. "The board has a wide array of prerogatives and I wouldn't presume which ones they would use."
Bowlsby acknowledged that CEOs from other league schools have expressed concerns about the Baylor situation, which includes multiple allegations of sexual assaults by former football players in recent years that led to the May departures of football coach Art Briles and athletic director Ian McCaw. Baylor president Kenneth Starr was removed from that role but remains as a law professor at the school after a report that addressed rape allegations involving football players and cited instances of inappropriate responses to those allegations by Baylor administrators and individuals in the football program.
"There are certainly those among the board ... that have felt that the image of the Big 12 and the other members of the Big 12 have been sullied as a result of this incident," Bowlsby said. "It's gotten a lot of publicity, obviously, so that's the reason the board took the steps they took. There are questions to be answered."
Bowlsby acknowledged that Baylor officials voluntarily addressed their situation with NCAA officials three months ago in regard to potential violations but shared no details of that exchange.
Asked what Big 12 officials hope to hear in Tuesday's meeting from a Baylor contingent led by interim president Dr. David Garland, Bowlsby said: "We have to be satisfied that their program is being operated in consistency with Title IX and institutional control and that governance processes are in place to avoid future incidents ... Institutional control is very much in the middle of this conversation. It will be from the NCAA and it will be from the Big 12."
