Davis said.The Pelicans also are about to get healthier. Guard Tyreke Evans, a slasher who can penetrate and dish, has missed the entire season rehabbing fr

WACO, Texas -- Prominent Baylor alumni and donors advocated for reforming the schools board of regents and demanded transparency from university leaders Thursday, while deflecting questions about football and whether the group would advocate for the return of former head football coach Art Briles. Kevin Johnson Jersey .Bears for Leadership Reform drew about 350 people for its launch event in a small auditorium whose windows looked directly at McLane Stadium, the Baylor football stadium named for one of the reform groups prominent founders, Drayton McLane -- a former chairman of the board of regents and former owner of the Houston Astros.Another 30,000 reportedly streamed the rally online from the groups Facebook page.?Attorney and alumnus John Eddie Williams told the crowd that it was time for transparency and accountability in the universitys governance and got into specifics, noting that the regents dont provide their contact information on the schools website, issue copies of their rules, publicize how they vote on issues or release meeting minutes.In a perfect world, the regents would be up here addressing you today, Williams said, drawing loud applause and shouts from the crowd.Also on Thursday, Regents chairman Ron Murff posted a letter on the universitys website addressing some of the recent criticism of the board.?Since our announcement in May about Baylors systemic failures under Title IX, there have been continual requests from the Baylor Family for more transparency and information. Rather than stay silent, the Universitys senior leadership recognized that the Baylor Family deserved to know more about the magnitude of the problem and about the reasons why we responded so forcefully to the Pepper Hamilton findings, it read.The Board of Regents determined we simply could not allow a campus environment to continue where reports of sexual assaults were minimized, rationalized and mishandled within the University. We needed new leadership for our administration, our athletics department and our football team, it continued.Murffs letter also noted that the university announced the creation of a new Governance Review Task Force to assess and recommend improvements in how the governing board can improve its practices, procedures and selection process.Williams dismissed the universitys task force at the rally, saying, The best way to make a great idea die, is to give it to a committee, invoking a round of laughter from the crowd.Former Texas Gov. Mark White, also one of the founders, said he blames the board of regents for the schools failure to implement the guidelines issued in a letter sent to colleges and universities in 2011 from the U.S. Department of Education on how to carry out Title IX, the gender equity law that requires schools to investigate allegations of sexual violence.They ignored that letter. They treated it as though it didnt matter. As a result we went for years not taking care of the needs of people who were sexually assaulted on this campus, he said. It was not confined to the athletic department. ... It is a Baylor problem, not an athletic problem.Although speakers at the event Thursday did not mention football or Briles in their opening statements, McLane and some other founders of Bears for Leadership Reform have been highly critical of the schools firing of Briles in connection with the Pepper Hamilton law firms investigation into sexual assault complaints at Baylor.On Thursday, McLane said he wanted to see Briles honor restored but that he has not seen evidence -- either way -- to say whether his firing was justified.We are here to do the will of God. To do the right things and to be strong Christians, and to have a powerful influence, McLane said to the crowd.McLane -- and the other speakers, many of whom are large donors -- were asked if they would withdraw their financial support until the university met their demands, to which White pointed out a recent $18 million gift that McLane had given to the schools nursing program.Williams, who said it was unknown whether or not the recent controversy would affect his giving,?followed up by asking, Do you want happy donors, or do you want reluctant donors?When a reporter asked if there was support for reinstating Briles, a smattering of people started to clap as Williams interrupted and said he didnt want to lose focus.Our focus is not on athletics. They may be a symptom of the problem, but we dont know. The buck stops with the board, he said.?In his letter posted Thursday, Murff noted that many have second-guessed decisions made by the board, and he went on to address Briles specifically, stating, I need to make clear that, as brilliant and successful as Coach Briles was, he will not be returning to Baylor. This change in leadership was not based on any single incident, but on the weight of the information presented to us and a pattern of poor decisions over a range of disciplinary issues, not just sexual assault. The internal system of discipline operated by the coach was not in line with the Universitys mission and obligations.Briles daughter Staley Lebby attended the event and said that while her fathers firing may have indirectly prompted the movement, she said the focus is on overall reform and greater accountability by the universitys leadership overall.This group, Bears for Reform, thats not their mission. Thats not their goal. They dont have that in the back of their minds. Lets hire a new board and hire Coach Briles back. To me, thats not at all close to what they want to do. They want to see change at the top and they want to see truth and honesty from the board of regents, she said.Get the truth from the board of regents. I dont think thats asking a lot. I dont think thats hard. Theres been a lot of skirting around it, a lack of transparency, a lot of pretty words being used and a lot of things that theyre hiding, Lebby said, and them going to big news outlets and media outlets instead of coming first and talking to Baylor Nation and the alumni like theyve asked them to do for the past six months, honestly hurt a lot of peoples feelings.Lebby also handed out a flier promoting the #cabCARES campaign, which is a fundraiser her father is leading to raise money for a local advocacy center for crime victims and children. According to the flier, Briles has made an initial undisclosed donation to start the campaign and will match up to $8,500 of donations made to represent the 8.5 years I was a Wacoan and the head football coach at Baylor. Aron Baynes Jersey . -- Linebacker Myles Jack ran for four touchdowns, defensive end Cassius Marsh caught a scoring pass, and No. Armen Gilliam Jersey . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. https://www.cheapsunsonline.com/1209z-fr...ersey-suns.html . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. NEW ORLEANS -- The 15-5 Los Angeles Clippers have one piece of unfinished business before closing out their taxing, six-game road trip Friday night against the resurgent New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center.The good news is the Clippers played one of their most complete games of the season on Thursday night in routing the reigning NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers, 113-94, to snap a season-high, three-game road losing streak.With a victory over New Orleans (7-12) on Friday night, the Clippers would finish their six games on the road at 3-3, quite a salvage job after coach Doc Rivers was tossed from a double-overtime loss, his teams third straight, against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.Rivers was fined $15,000 by the NBA on Thursday for his verbal abuse of referee Ken Mauer, and he accepted the consequences.Obviously, I should have gotten fined, just from the actions afterwards, Rivers said. I had no problem with that at all. Im good with it.On Thursday night, the Clippers forced the Cavs to empty their bench midway through the fourth quarter by moving the ball with ease, recording a season-high 33 assists on 42 made field goals. Blake Griffin had a season-high 11 assists to go with 13 points, and J.J. Redick scored 23 points, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range.The Pelicans have rallied from a horrendous 0-8 start to win seven of their last 11 games, largely based on the spectacular play of forward Anthony Davis, who leads the NBA in points (32.1) and blocked shots (2.8) and ranks seventh in rebounds (11.2).But just as important in the Pelicans recent success has been the return of guard Jrue Holiday, who missed the first month of tthe season while caring for his wife, Lauren, following her surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. Kelly Oubre Jersey. .The Pelicans lost their first five home games and were outscored by an average margin of 9.0 points. With Holiday back on the court, the Pelicans have gone 5-0 at home and won by an average margin of 11.2 points.During the five-game home winning streak, Davis is averaging 37.4 points, 13.4 points and 2.4 blocks. He has shot 57.1 percent in the last seven games. Before Holiday returned, Davis shot just 48.5 percent from the floor.When Jrues on the floor, it changes the dynamics of our entire team, Davis said.The Pelicans also are about to get healthier. Guard Tyreke Evans, a slasher who can penetrate and dish, has missed the entire season rehabbing from knee surgery. Evans has been practicing with few restrictions and likely will return for spot duty next week, but not against the Clippers on Friday night.New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said although Evans knee is sound, he is still working through a calf injury.When hes healthy enough to get on the floor, well incorporate him into what were doing, Gentry said. The guy hasnt run up and down the basketball court for the last six to eight months. Hes not going to step out and be who he is. What weve got to do is put him in a position where hes not playing long stretches of minutes.The Clippers won three of four from New Orleans last season, but the Pelicans defeated them 109-105 at home on March 20 and took the Clippers to overtime at Los Angeles on Jan. 10. ' ' '