Amid Scandal, Baylor Names New Athletic Director

Baylor University, which has seen its president and football coach depart amid scandal over the school's handling of sexual assault allegations involving student athletes, on Wednesday named a new athletic director. 

Mack Rhoades comes to Baylor from the University of Missouri’s athletic program, and he had served as vice president for athletics at the University of Houston prior to joining the administration at Mizzou.

Rhoades succeeds Ian McCaw, who resigned at the end of May after Baylor, a private Baptist university, placed him on probation in the midst of public outcry over the school’s response to sexual assault — specifically incidents involving members of its football program.

An investigative report that found that Baylor had mishandled a number of sexual assault complaints, suggesting that some victims had faced intimidation or retaliation after making reports.

The scandal prompted an administrative shake-up that reached the top of Baylor’s leadership. Its board of regents fired its football coach, Art Briles, and also initially reassigned university President Ken Starr to the chancellor position, though he stepped down from that post just days later.