When former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan testified to Congress about the 2008 housing market crash and Great Recession, he took partial blame for the banking collapse. He said he never imagined people would work against their own self-interest.
I never imagined that the Baylor Board of Regents would seek to reinstate former head football coach Art Briles, not after the Pepper Hamilton report -- as thin as it is with no names, places, or dates; you know, verifiable facts -- dropped napalm on the athletic department and specifically the football coaching staff. Even ardent Baylor fan bloggers like our esteemed friends at Our Daily Bears wrote thoughtful, reflective pieces that not only sought to ally themselves with the victims, but come to terms with what they had done as unwilling accomplices. I imagine some of the Baylor faithful felt like they had opened the hall closet in their chest, maybe looking for that jacket they haven't worn in a year and totally forgot about, but found it full of holes with silverfish making little silverfish families in the lining.
The information on today's pending BOR meeting has been a little all over the place since this morning, maybe as to be expected in a story broken by sectarian reporter Chip Brown. The last word before the BOR's meeting set to happen right about now, though, is this from WFAA:
Source: Baylor boosters not pressuring for Briles reinstatement
According to a large Baylor donor, high-level boosters are not pushing for Art Briles to be reinstated, but rather for transparency from the Board of Regents and for the opportunity for Briles to defend himself.
If the goal from the boosters and the pro-Briles contingent of the BOR is transparency, then I think we all wish them a speedy victory. In addition to restitution for the victims, transparency and accountability are all anyone wants in Baylor's answers to the repeated crimes committed against women on its campus that were then systematically covered up and ignored by university administration, staff, and coaches. (Worth noting here, any Baylor fan who thinks now the time to copy+paste their bit about how Baylor is not responsible for sex assaults or rape culture must now acknowledge Baylor is responsible for coverups and malicious acts toward victims, because that's why your coach got fired.)
If Art Briles has a compelling defense to make, then let him make it. But, what might happen to Baylor the institution, not just Baylor the football program, if powerful donors and zealous regents are committed to blazing this trail to truth? If one third of the ugly rumors splattered across Twitter and even Baylor247 are true, then not only will Briles remain fired, and he and other coaches -- as well as many across the university faculty -- face criminal investigations. No, Baylor itself won't be the same for a generation.
These donors and regents say they want justice. Well, so do the rest of us. If it turns out Briles truly did nothing wrong, which seems impossible at this point, then I welcome him to his green and gold football team. But we want a whole justice. Any coaches, staff, educators, administrators, campus police, Waco police, or District Attorney's Office personnel who coerced, intimidated, or ignored even one of these victims must be publicly named and dealt with by whatever presiding body has the authority.
Greenspan's fallacy was that he forgot about hubris. Banking institutions didn't act against their own self-interest. The people inside just never thought they would actually fall down. Pro-Briles surrogates probably think they're doing the right thing for their university. They may just light the torch for justice and burn the whole goddamn place to the ground.
