Baylor University Names First Female President Amid Growing Campus Sexual Assault Scandal

WACO, TX — Baylor University officials on Tuesday announced the appointment of Linda A. Livingstone as the new president of the school — the 15th president of the school and the first woman to head the university in its history.

The appointment comes amid a growing sex scandal at the university centered on allegations of sexual abuse of female students by members of the football squad there. A recent lawsuit by one woman who says she was raped claims Baylor University football players committed 52 rapes in the course of three years, a number greater than the one university officials disclosed as they struggle to deal with the ongoing scandal.

“On behalf of the Board of Regents, I am both proud and honored to announce Dr. Livingstone as Baylor’s next president during this important time for the University,” Ronald D. Murff, chair of the Baylor Board of Regents, said in a prepared statement. “Dr. Livingstone brings an accomplished academic career to Baylor, combined with a strong appreciation and support of Baylor’s mission. A longtime Baptist and former Baylor faculty member, she has a passion for the distinctiveness of Baylor’s Christian mission in higher education.”

Livingstone herself issued a statement expressing enthusiasm in heading up the school as president. Her term begins on June 1, according to university officials.

“I am humbled and honored to be selected as the 15th President of Baylor University,” Livingstone said in her prepared statement. “I chose to begin my academic career at Baylor in significant part because of Baylor’s Christian mission. To return to Baylor to partner with the exceptional faculty, staff, students and administrators to fulfill the University’s vision to be a top-tier research institution, committed to excellence in all aspects of University life, while strengthening the Christian mission is an opportunity I look forward to with enthusiasm.”

Livingstone becomes the first female president in Baylor’s 172-year history, university officials noted. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in the state.

Livingstone has led The George Washington University School of Business since 2014, overseeing approximately 3,500 students in undergraduate, master’s and Ph.D. programs and more than 57,000 alumni worldwide, officials noted.

According to a university website, Livingstone formerly served as dean of the George Washington University School of Business and as dean of the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University from June 2002 to July 2014.

"An award-winning teacher, Dr. Livingstone’s research interest focuses on creativity in organizations as influenced by the fit between the individual and the organizational environment," George Washington University officials said at the time.

Noted in her bio was authorship of business textbooks and numerous scholarly articles. "Her views on leadership, women’s issues, and business education have been cited in a variety of media outlets including CNN, BusinessWeek, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg TV, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Financial Times, and the Economist," university officials noted.

The sex scandal led to the ouster of former president Kenneth Starr last year as details of the breadth of allegations began to surface. Starr was first demoted for his mishandling of rampant accusations of campus sexual assault, eventually leaving his position as a faculty member in the university's law school, as The Atlantic magazine and numerous other media outlets reported at the time, representing his cutting ties altogether with the school he once led.

Starr's departure came amid growing allegations of sexual assault by football players. One surfaced in 2015 when former player Sam Ukwuachu was convicted of raping a student. At a subsequent trial, it was learned Baylor officials investigated claims of rape against Ukwuachu but had not punished him. Another football player, Tevin Elliot, was accused by at least five women of rape and subsequently sentenced in 2014 to 20 years in prison.

In those and more cases, investigators found a culture at the university that discouraged students from reporting sexual assault, especially if the alleged perpetrator was on the football squad.

"Baylor failed to take appropriate action to respond to reports of sexual assault and dating violence reportedly committed by football players," independent investigators wrote in their findings. "The choices made by football staff and athletics leadership, in some instances, posed a risk to campus safety and the integrity of the University."

Athletic personnel were found to be complicit in the cover-up, according to independent investigators' findings: "In certain instances, including reports of a sexual assault by multiple football players, athletics and football personnel affirmatively chose not to report sexual violence and dating violence to an appropriate administrator outside of athletics. In those instances, football coaches or staff met directly with a complainant and/or a parent of a complainant and did not report the misconduct."

Before being thrust to the center of the controversy, Starr, 70, was perhaps best known for having been picked to head the so-called Whitewater investigation looking into real estate investments of former President Bill Clinton. The original investigation later grew into an examination of Clinton's affair with a White House intern.

Livingstone received her B.S., M.B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Oklahoma State University, where she played on the varsity basketball team, according to the George Washington University website. Livingstone has a unique perspective on university athletics given her marriage to Brad Livingstone, a fellow graduate of Oklahoma State University, where he played varsity basketball, according to details found in her bio. The couple's daughter, Shelby, recently completed her junior season as a volleyball student-athlete at Rice University.

Among Livingstone's notable accomplishments, Baylor University officials cited previous service as chair of the board of the international Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business in 2014-2015, noting her "deep expertise in accreditation issues." The AACSB is the professional organization for business schools and accredits 786 of the best business schools globally across 53 countries and territories. She chaired the AACSB Committee on Accreditation Policy in 2015-2016.

Her ascendancy as president marks a return to Baylor University for Livingstone, as university officials described.

"Dr. Livingstone returns to Baylor after time on the Waco campus from 1991-2002," officials wrote. "From 1998-2002, she served as associate dean of graduate programs for the Hankamer School of Business in which she was responsible for all graduate degree business programs. Dr. Livingstone was an associate professor in the department of management from 1997-2002 and an assistant professor in the same department from 1991-1997. She also was a member of the Faculty Athletics Council during her tenure at Baylor."

Livingstone reflected on her past times at Baylor as part of her prepared statement: “My time at Baylor as a faculty member and associate dean was formative in my academic career and in developing my passion for academic administration. Baylor’s unique culture of care and compassion – that I experienced personally from my colleagues and that I saw demonstrated among faculty, staff and students – continues to inspire and influence me as an administrator. Continuing to strengthen Baylor’s culture where faculty, staff and students are encouraged, inspired and cared for by one another is a priority.”

Livingstone succeeds David Garland, who has served as the interim president during the past year, Baylor officials noted.

Baylor’s Presidential Search Committee compiled feedback from more than 700 online input forms and listening sessions with more than 350 faculty, staff, students, alumni, community members and others as part of the search process for a new president, officials said. Heidrick & Struggles, a worldwide executive search firm, was engaged in October 2016 to work alongside the committee, the committee added.

The search committee was chaired by Bob Brewton, a 1974 Baylor graduate, and it reviewed more than 400 candidate backgrounds, contacted 150 individuals for screening conversations and held first-round interviews with 61 candidates.

“The Presidential Search Committee had a very strong candidate pool coming from the traditional academic fields as well as nontraditional candidates from government, military and corporate life,” Brewton said. “In the end, Dr. Livingstone’s experience uniquely fit the profile of the dynamic faith and transformational leader which Baylor needs at this point in time in our history.”

Steven Knapp, president of the George Washington University, added his message of congratulations to his outgoing colleague: “Linda Livingstone has been a stellar dean and an excellent colleague,” he said in a prepared statement. “I am sure that our entire GW community joins me in wishing Linda all success in her important new role and that Baylor University will benefit tremendously from her leadership.”

Baylor University's statement does not reference the scandal that has plagued the school of late in the way of context. To read the university's full statement, click here.

>>> Photo of Linda Livingstone via Baylor University