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In a lawsuit against Baylor University, 10 women who brought complaints of sexual assault against other Baylor students say the university's strict alcohol policy was used to "shame, silence and expel" a student, and they included emails from a former university regent as proof.
Emails from 2009 show then-Baylor University Regent Neal “Buddy” Jones referred to female students drinking alcohol as “perverted little tarts,” “insidious and inbred,” and “the vilest and most despicable of girls.” They show, the plaintiffs argue in a recent legal filing, “evidence of discrimination by the highest of Baylor officials against a female student,” at a university where, in the midst of a sexual assault scandal last year, regents pointed to a strict alcohol policy and fear of judgment by officials as deterrents to victims reporting their assaults to officials.
The emails were attached in a recent legal filing by the 10 women, The Waco Tribune-Herald reported. It is not clear if those being discussed in the emails include any of the complainants suing the school. Baylor is currently facing six Title IX lawsuits.
Attached to the original emails, but not to the court filings, were photos of then Baylor students at a party where Jones claimed alcohol was served to underage students and prospective members of a Greek organization. Baylor forbids drinking for students of all ages. The emails were sent to Tommye Lou Davis, a dean at the time and the Greek organization’s adviser.
“I am an old district attorney and will produce more evidence if I need to,” Jones wrote, according to the Tribune-Herald. “Please don’t make me. All of this should be sufficient … I would take this one to trial and would win it outright.”
Davis responded to Jones that day saying that the photos did not include minors.
When Baylor’s sexual assault scandal erupted last year, the school president and numerous athletic officials were fired or resigned. School officials pointed to a “fundamental failure” of handling sexual assault allegations, notably those related to the athletic department. Part of the Board of Regents’ findings was that the strict alcohol policy created a culture of fear for victims, and judgment from administrators.
“Perceived judgmental responses by administrators based on a complainant’s alcohol or other drug use or prior consensual sexual activity also discouraged reporting or continued participation in the process,” the regents wrote.
