Baylor is wrong to think the clock will run out on game it’s playing with sexual assaults

Baylor’s board of regents is more determined than ever to run out the clock on calls for a full accounting of the university’s sexual assault investigation.

Neither pressure from deep-pocket donors and alumni nor questions from parents and current students have moved the regents. Nor have months of blistering news coverage about the school’s handling of sexual violence complaints.

Baylor’s board foolishly maintains a “no comment” posture — except to release a detail here or there, without documentation, that digs a deeper hole for the regents’ two villains, former football coach Art Briles and president Ken Starr.

Otherwise, the board is focused on that final whistle.

Here’s the problem with the regents’ strategy: There is no final whistle. Not with at least a half-dozen lawsuits in the hopper.

Given the trustees’ lack of interest in following the wishes of their own Baylor Nation and releasing a written report that proves the appropriate people were removed and no bad actors remain employed, the courthouse is the best remaining hope.

Our repeated request for details that back up the Pepper Hamilton law firm’s summary and analysis is not some game of chicken with the regents. It’s an attempt — on behalf of women at Baylor and campuses nationwide — to assure that others aren’t at risk.

The investigation found “fundamental failure” in Baylor’s Title IX implementation and a football program operating above the rules, with coaches and staff failing to stop or deter sexual assaults.