“It really does come down to leadership. From the commissioner to coaches, the athletic director, the compliance office, you’ve got to have leadership in place.”
— Steven Leath, who was then Iowa State president, at a forum on sexual assault and domestic violence on college campuses, Sept. 28, 2016
Baylor was still spewing that day in downtown Dallas, a repugnant sexual assault scandal where a university appeared to sell its soul to build a football monster. It was a sickening story, it still is, but at least the Big 12 Conference thought enough to gather Leath, league commissioner Bob Bowlsby, rape survivor and victims advocate Brenda Tracy, ESPN reporter Paula Lavigne and excommunicated NFL running back Ray Rice together to try to come to grips with the issue.