U.S. | Thu Oct 20, 2016 | 2:43pm EDT

Baylor University faces U.S. probe over response to sex assaults

By Jon Herskovitz | AUSTIN, TEXAS

The U.S. Department of Education has launched an investigation into Baylor University's response to sexual violence on campus, acting on a complaint filed by the school's former administrator responsible for looking into sexual assault complaints.

Baylor, the world's largest Baptist university, has been rocked by a scandal over whether it failed to do enough to prevent and investigate sexual assaults against women by football players and others that led to the ouster of the school's president and its football coach.

The federal investigation was disclosed by the Department of Education and by the lawyer representing Patty Crawford, who resigned this month as Baylor's Title IX coordinator and accused the university of retaliating against her for being too forceful in looking into sexual assault claims. Baylor is located in Waco in central Texas.

Title IX is a section of a U.S. education law that protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.

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