Ken Starr resigned as Baylor University’s chancellor on Wednesday, less than a week after being removed as its president in the wake of sex assault controversy involving the school’s football team.
Baylor, a Christian university, removed Starr as its president last Thursday after unveiling the results of an independent investigation that showed a “fundamental failure” to respond adequately to student sex assault allegations, including some involving players for the Texas school’s rising football program.
Starr, whose investigation led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in the 1990s over the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, was then named the school’s chancellor. That appointment, however, lasted only a few days. He will continue to teach at Baylor’s law school.
In an interview with ESPN on Wednesday, Starr said he was stepping down as “a matter of conscience.”
“We need to put this horrible experience behind us,” Starr said in the ESPN interview. “We need to be honest … The captain goes down with the ship.”
Messages left with the university, as well as a university spokesperson for Starr, were not immediately returned to CNN Wednesday afternoon. Starr did not respond immediately to a request for comment via email.
Starr was not the only school official to be affected by the controversy. The university’s Board of Regents also suspended football coach Art Briles and said it intends to fire him. It named Jim Grobe as acting head football coach on Monday. Director of Athletics Ian McCaw was expected to oversee changes in the football and other sports programs, but resigned.
Other unidentified members of the school administration and the athletic department were dismissed. The board said it would not identify them.
In announcing its acceptance of Starr’s resignation, the university’s board said the investigation into the sexual assault controversy showed systemic failures across the university.
“As we move forward, we will continue to take the actions that progress the university and its leadership toward an environment of resolute accountability and responsibility as we relentlessly pursue the mission of Baylor University,” it wrote. “We recognize this is a tumultuous time for Baylor, most importantly for our current and former students and victims of sexual assault. We were horrified by what we learned from the investigation and again express our public acknowledgment and deepest apologies.”
