by Kalyn Story | News Editor
Baylor ended its four-month search for a new Title IX coordinator, announcing Thursday in an email from President Dr. Linda Livingstone that Dr. Laura Johnson will take on the role beginning June 11.
Johnson is currently the vice president for student life/dean of students and Title IX coordinator at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky.
“She has a wide range of experience in student services overall and in the prevention, investigation and management of sexual violence on college campuses,” Livingstone said in the email. “As we await Dr. Johnson’s arrival, the University will continue to provide the full complement of Title IX services for our campus community as we all commit to addressing the scourge of sexual violence.”
Johnson will be the university’s third Title IX coordinator in the last two years, replacing Baylor’s Interim Title IX coordinator Maureen Holland.
When Philadelphia-based law firm Pepper Hamilton conducted a nine-month investigation into Baylor’s handling of sexual assault reports by students, it found that Baylor failed to implement Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) and the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA).
“Baylor failed to consistently support complainants through the provision of interim measures; and in some cases, the university failed to take action to identify and eliminate a potential hostile environment, prevent its recurrence or address its effects,” Baylor Media Communications said in May of Pepper Hamilton’s findings.
In October 2016 Baylor’s first full-time Title IX coordinator, Patty Crawford, resigned in response to the recommendations from the Pepper Hamilton report. Her replacement, Kristan Tucker, resigned in December 2017 and was replaced by Holland.
