Mulkey embarrasses herself
When your university is under a huge black cloud because of a widespread rape scandal, it’s not the right time to be taking swipes at those who are pointing out the school’s failings.
Kim Mulkey, coach of the Baylor women’s basketball team, a perennial national power, says she gets that now, but she certainly didn’t get it last Saturday.
By way of background, Baylor currently is the target of a lawsuit claiming football players there committed more than 50 sexual assaults over four years. The scandal resulted in the dismissal of the football coach, who was followed out the door by the Title IX coordinator, the athletic director and the president of the school.
But Saturday, after Mulkey notched her 500th victory as a head coach, she grabbed a microphone on the basketball court and made remarks to the assembled fans that made it sound as if Baylor was somehow the victim here.
“I’m tired of people talking about it on a national scale that don’t know what they’re talking about. If they didn’t sit in those meetings and they weren’t a part of the investigation, you’re repeating things that you heard. It’s over. It’s done,” said Mulkey. “I work here every day. I’m in the know, and I’m tired of hearing it. This is a great institution. The problems that we have at Baylor are no different than the problems at any other school in America. Period. Move on. Find another story to write.”
If that weren’t bad enough, she also said, “If somebody’s around you and they ever say, ‘I will never send my daughter to Baylor,’ you knock them right in the face.”
Compounding a rape culture with a call for violence. Nice.
By Sunday, Mulkey was backpedaling and talking about how much sympathy she has for victims of sexual assault, but the horse was out of the barn at that point.
Just like those who continue to whine about the raw deal the sainted Joe Paterno got at Penn State, Mulkey has proven that she is tone-deaf and clueless.