Patty Crawford, Baylor University's Title IX coordinator since November 2014, resigned her position yesterday and appeared on CBS This Morning on Wednesday to discuss the reasons for her departure. As Title IX coordinator, Crawford oversaw sexual assault and domestic violence claims, as well as the Title IX training program.Crawford claimed that senior leadership effectively sabotaged her efforts to do her job because they were "protecting the brand, I believe, instead of the students." In response, she filed a federal complaint and, prior to resigning, a complaint with Baylor human resources in which she alleged she "never had the authority, the resources, or the independence to do the job appropriately."Even though Crawford says she upped reporting 700 percent, "the more I asked, the more I tried, the more resistance I got. And I was retaliated against." She said it was "clear" that the 700 percent bump in reporting "was not something the university wanted." When she put the school on written notice about concerns she had that Title IX was being violated, her "environment got worse."It's the latest chapter in the sexual assault scandal that has gripped Baylor since last spring, when the school was accused of failing to adequately address sexual assault on campus (by, say, not hiring a Title IX coordinator until 2014), enabling athletes to continue committing acts of sexual and domestic violence, and in some cases actively discouraging accusers from reporting claims. In the wake of the scandal and an independent report from Pepper Hamilton, University president and chancellor Ken Star and head football coach Art Briles were fired, and athletic director Ian McCaw resigned.Included in her complaint, according to CBS affiliate KWTX, Crawford specifically mentions that she was subject to "retaliatory actions by Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Reagan Ramsower." In response to the complaint, Crawford and the school engaged in a settlement mediation, but talks broke down when the school demanded a confidentiality agreement. Baylor offered $1 million, plus an additional $50,000 for confidentiality and Crawford's attorney Rogge Dunne countered with $2 million total, which the school rejected. Baylor then, in what Dunne termed a "desperate attempt to smear Patty," apparently violated a Texas law which prohibits disclosure of mediation negotiations by releasing a statement that said "her demand for one million dollars and her request to retain book and movie rights were troubling."Crawford says the finding by Pepper Hamilton that Baylor "systematically failed victims of sexual assault" continues to this day and she had to make a decision whether she wanted to be part of the problem or part of the solution.[CBS]
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