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Baylor Regent in Trouble?

Postby WorldStang » Tue Aug 16, 2005 2:22 pm

After refusing a request to resign, a member of Baylor University's Board of Regents on Friday became the official target of an internal investigation into whether she tipped off Baylor students to an ongoing undercover drug sting operation on campus, several sources said.

Jaclanel Moore McFarland, a Houston attorney and board member since 2001, has told Baylor officials that she did not tip off anyone to the drug operation, saying she did not even know that one was under way until after several arrests were made late last month, sources said.

A visibly upset McFarland left a Baylor Board of Regents meeting early Friday afternoon and declined to comment.

Larry Brumley, a Baylor spokesman, did not respond to questions regarding the investigation.

"The university cannot comment on confidential board matters," he said.

Baylor officials, including Board Chairman Drayton McLane Jr., of Temple, have told McFarland that a preliminary investigation of McFarland was done and the results were given to a subcommittee of the regents, known as the Board Council, which had concluded that there was enough information to warrant a full investigation by the Board of Regents if McFarland did not resign.

That investigation, launched Friday, could result in McFarland becoming the first regent in Baylor's 158-year history to be impeached and removed from the governing board.

McFarland, an outspoken critic of Baylor President Robert Sloan, Jr., has maintained that she is the subject of a vendetta by Sloan, several sources said.

In a meeting involving McFarland, McLane and Sloan, held on May 9 in McLane's Houston offices, Sloan at one point demanded the resignation of McFarland, one of 36 regents who are collectively Sloan’s boss, sources said.

At the heart of the controversy is an April 29 undercover drug sting conducted by Baylor's Department of Public Safety. In that operation, six people were arrested for selling illegal drugs and one other was arrested for possession of illegal drugs.

Sources said the undercover operation was ongoing for nearly a year. A Baylor police officer conducted the operation posing as a freshman student.

During the time he was undercover, the officer, under his real name, enrolled in classes and took part in fraternity rush. He lived in Penland Hall, a student dorm, with other students, and eventually was invited to join Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

The operation was compromised earlier than its intended end date when the officer's cover was blown, a source said. Members of Baylor's police department did not know about the ongoing operation, nor did some members of the Board of Regents, several sources said.

It is unclear who on the Board of Regents was informed of the ongoing operation.

The resulting arrests were minor in nature as compared to what Baylor law enforcement had been hoping for and Baylor Police Chief Jim Doak was subjected to criticism by administration officials, a source said.

Members of the Agriplex Drug Task Force were present for the arrests, along with deputies from the McLennan County Sheriff's Department. A law enforcement source said the two agencies were there as a courtesy to Baylor police, and to assist if necessary, but were not directly involved in the drug investigation.

The arrests occurred at Baylor dorms and at apartment complexes near the campus, within Baylor's jurisdiction. A university source indicated that Chief Doak was under some scrutiny from Baylor administration for the amount of time and money put into the operation and the lack of better results. The source also indicated there were rumors that someone from the administration had blown the officer's cover.

In an electronic mail sent to Baylor students on May 5, Doak said the officer went through fraternity rush as a part of the sting operation and was invited to join Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, which he did.

No members of the fraternity were arrested, but sources said that some of the fraternity members ultimately asked the officer if he, indeed, was an undercover operative.

Baylor officials said the leak that exposed this officer placed him in physical danger.

The link to McFarland, the Baylor regent, was made through her son, 22-year-old Allen McFarland, once a member of the fraternity, sources said.

Members of the fraternity declined to talk about the incident on Friday.

The younger McFarland withdrew from Baylor last spring for medical reasons and has been working at the Houston law office where his mother and father are both attorneys, several sources said.

While the younger McFarland keeps in touch with friends in the fraternity, he has told other friends that he was not aware of the undercover sting operation until after the arrests had been made.

Following the arrests, several sources said, Chief Doak began questioning several members of the TKE fraternity and, ultimately, asked them if they had been tipped off to the officer by either McFarland.

At one point, Regent McFarland was told that she was the subject of a criminal investigation, sources said. It is unclear, however, what law or laws, if any, may have been broken.

The most likely charge would be hindering apprehension or prosecution. The Texas Penal Code defines that charge as being when someone provides someone else with a means of avoiding arrest or warns them of impending discovery or apprehension.

The offense is a Class A misdemeanor, which carries a possible sentence of confinement in jail for up to a year, a fine of up to $4,000 or both.

Another possible charge could be the broader offense of interference with the public duties of a peace officer. That charge is defined by the penal code as when someone, with criminal negligence, interrupts, impedes or otherwise interferes with a peace officer performing his or her duty. It is a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 180 days in jail, a fine of up to $2,000 or both.

Local law enforcement officials say both charges are rarely used.

As part of the initial investigation of McFarland conducted by Baylor, two Austin attorneys — Steve McConnico and Julie Springer, both of whom are graduates of Baylor Law School and work for the firm Scott, Douglass & McConnico — came to Waco and were present during the questioning of the fraternity members by Chief Doak, several sources said.

Springer, reached Friday at her Austin office, refused to comment on the situation and referred all questions to the university. McConnico did not return phone calls Friday afternoon.

McFarland is serving her second term as a Baylor regent. She was on the board from 1991 to 2000 and some credit her with being one of Sloan’s strongest supporters when regents were deciding on whether to hire him in 1995.

Lately, however, sources say McFarland has become one of the board's most vocal critics of Sloan’s performance, particularly concerning the amount of debt Sloan is incurring for Baylor as part of its so-called "Baylor 2012" building program.

"She was opposed to Baylor 2012," said a former regent who once served alongside McFarland. "She has increasingly clashed with Robert over the direction of the university."

Nonetheless, the former regent expressed shock that the board was investigating one of its own.

"I've never heard of such a thing," the former regent said. "I can't think of anything you could tell me that would surprise me more."

In one incident last winter, McFarland led a charge in demanding a meeting with Sloan when several regents discovered that Sloan was about to buy a $2.3 million airplane without board approval, sources said.

Ultimately, Sloan met with several members of the board to discuss the issue and the board agreed to let him buy the airplane.
What we obtain too cheap.. we esteem too lightly. It is persistence alone that gives everything its value.
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Postby oakley » Sun Aug 21, 2005 6:07 am

OMG!!! Terrorists just hijacked airplanes and ran them into the World Trade Centers and Pentagon (p.s. datelines do matter).
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Postby HorsePower » Sun Aug 21, 2005 9:05 am

Hey oak -
Your point is loud and clear, but that reference really hits home to a lot of folks. Might want to re-think it.
Just my two cents.
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Postby Stallion » Sun Aug 21, 2005 10:27 am

sounds like a real Barney Fife. Criminal attorneys would have a field day with this mess and Sloan would come off as a clown in court. Might even get a big judgment against him for defamation. If you are going to attempt to destroy someone's reputation the accuser best not be a person with an axe to grind. Juries don't like that very much.
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