N.C.A.A. Will Not Punish Baylor for Sexual Assault Scandal

Baylor University, where sexual assault was a horrifying norm inside the football program in the 2010s, did not break N.C.A.A. rules when it failed to report allegations of wrongdoing, the association concluded on Wednesday.

“Baylor admitted to moral and ethical failings in its handling of sexual and interpersonal violence on campus but argued those failings, however egregious, did not constitute violations of N.C.A.A. rules,” an association committee wrote in a ruling released on Wednesday. “Ultimately, and with tremendous reluctance, this panel agrees.”

A different outcome, the committee said, would have required the panel “to ignore the rules the association’s membership has adopted,”…