Ex Title IX coordinator: Baylor VP said some accusers were mentally ill
Baylor’s former Title IX coordinator alleged that the school’s head of public safety said that some women making sexual assault accusations at Baylor were mentally ill.
Patty Crawford, who resigned from her position at Baylor earlier this fall, told 60 Minutes Sports in an interview that Reagan Ramsower made the statement in an emergency meeting in September 2015 following the rape conviction of Baylor football player Sam Ukwuachu.
The meeting was in then-president Ken Starr’s office.
“As I understand it, what someone said in this meeting was, quote, ‘What Patty is saying is not fact,'” 60 Minutes reporter Armen Keteyan said. “‘Those women had mental illness. We have to stick with the facts and there are none.’ Is that accurate?”
“That is,” Crawford said.
Ramsower, who was also interviewed by 60 Minutes, denied the accusation.
” I did not say that. No I absolutely did not say that,” he told 60 minutes.
Crawford said she believed Ramsower’s alleged comment was because a woman who said she was sexually assaulted was suicidal.
“And I remember saying, I said ‘No.’ I said ‘The incidents themselves have caused traumatic response in these women,” Crawford said. “They are not mentally ill.'”
Crawford said she was told by Ramsower in July that she shouldn’t “ever put anything in writing” again to Ramsower. Crawford had written a memo to the chief expressing her unhappiness with Baylor’s Title IX procedures and an increasing inability to effectively do her job.
[Check out Dr. Saturday on Tumblr for entertaining things you won’t see on the blog]
Those are the stated reasons why Crawford said she resigned from Baylor. She did not sign a confidentiality agreement with the school after her resignation. She expressed frustration with Ramsower in her complaint upon resignation and the school’s handling of sexual assault accusations has been under intense scrutiny since a law firm’s investigation into the school’s actions.
Her former boss also denied the accusation he told Crawford she shouldn’t put anything in writing in the future and instead call or talk in person.
“She says you ranted and railed, those are her words, for an hour and half to her. And you said to her, ‘Don’t ever put anything like that in writing to me again,'” Keteyian said to Ramsower.
“I did not say that,” Ramsower said. “And I was not ranting and railing. I don’t– that’s just complete fabrication.”
Before the 60 Minutes Sports segment aired Tuesday evening, Baylor launched “The Truth” website, in a self-described effort for more transparency regarding its handling of sexual assault accusations. The school has said 17 women have accused 19 football players of various types of assault since 2011. Two ex-football players, Ukwuachu and Tevin Elliott, are serving prison sentences for rape while former defensive end Shawn Oakman is currently facing sexual assault charges.
[Visit Dr. Saturday on Facebook for stories you might have missed and chat with the writers]
– – – – – – –
Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
