The basic definition of oblivious is “not aware of or not concerned about what is happening around oneself.” By the time all the lawsuits are finished, there’s going to be another synonym added to the dictionary under oblivious: Baylor University.
The school is currently in the middle of a Title IX lawsuit as a result of the 10 former female students alleging that they were sexually assaulted and that the school did little to protect them.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs revealed emails between former interim school president David Garland and another Baylor official saying that he’d heard on NPR that there some women who’d willingly make themselves victims of sexual assault.
Garland sent the message to Vice President for Student Life Kevin Jackson after he said he listened to a radio interview with Sarah Hepola, an acclaimed writer and the author of “Blackout: Remembering Things I Drank to Forget,” a book chronicling her alcoholism while in college. Hepola spoke to Baylor students in February.
He then cited verses in the New Testament book of Romans that refer to God’s wrath on those who commit sexual sin.
The plaintiffs, 10 former Baylor students who allege they were sexually assaulted, argue it is “telling and central” to their case that Garland “would conclude that these young women made themselves willing victims of sexual assault” and “would then immediately find relevance in ‘God’s wrath’ upon them in connection with their ‘sinful desires,’ ‘shameful lusts’ and ‘unnatural’ sexual relations,” the motion filed Wednesday states.
Baylor University released a statement Thursday stating that the email released was the first of many steps in the discovery process in the trial and that the university would not comment on anything else going further. It stands to note that former president Garland had been on sabbatical and plans to return to Baylor to teach theology classes.
The Baylor Football team is currently 0-3 after losing 34-20 to Duke last week. The Bears will play the third ranked Oklahoma Sooners in Waco on Saturday.
