Waco Tribune-Herald: GUEST COLUMNIST KEN STARR: Keep the Big 12 together; A&M University, other schools should talk out differences

The Waco Tribune-Herald featured a guest column today by Baylor University President Ken Starr regarding the future of the Big 12. Below is the full text of Judge Starr's column, published with permission of The Waco Tribune-Herald:

GUEST COLUMNIST KEN STARR: Keep the Big 12 together
A&M University, other schools should talk out differences

The Waco Tribune-Herald
Sunday August 14, 2011

When I assumed the presidency of Baylor University 14 months ago, I would never have guessed that one of the most significant challenges we would face as an institution would be the future health and unity of the Big 12 athletic conference.

Of course we celebrated with all Texans when the agreements were signed last year assuring a vigorous future for the Big 12, including even stronger ties between Texas A&M University, the University of Texas, Texas Tech University and Baylor. As a result of our decision to stay united, there will be additional television revenue to undergird all of the athletic and academic programs of the Big 12 institutions.

Yet, this week we learned of plans that would tear Texas A&M from the fiber of the Big 12 and place it within the Southeastern Conference where it would no longer face its sister institutions from the Lone Star state. The Aggies would compete against the University of Florida and the University of Alabama, to name a couple.

Let me be perfectly clear, Baylor continues to fully support the Big 12.

We especially appreciate our fellow Texas institutions in the conference and the special rivalries that entertain and energize our respective alumni. Now, in a formation that includes an incredibly strong regional association of 10 schools -- four of whom represent the state of Texas -- we believe that the Big 12 is one of the nation's foremost athletic conferences.

For Texas, strong connections between rival Big 12 institutions produce income and jobs. It helps student recruitment. And, of course, there is the great pride that we feel as Texans when our teams dominate the national collegiate athletics landscape, as they did during this past year.

As we saw last summer, there are many in the Texas Legislature who understand the economics associated with a strong and unified Texas presence in a dominant athletic conference. Our elected officials are again taking notice of a flurry of activity relative to the Big 12 and have called for a hearing on Tuesday of the Texas House Committee on Higher Education to discuss college athletics. We believe such conversations are certain to conclude that it is in the best interest of our state that the four Texas schools of the Big 12 stay together.

Texas A&M and other Big 12 institutions have expressed concerns about the launch of UT's cable television network, the Longhorn Network. But that concern calls for conversation, not calls to other conferences.

On Thursday, the NCAA ruled that it would not allow broadcasts of high school games on conference television networks. Good. Let's take that off the table and return to the conversations that are needed to ensure a strong Big 12 conference.

As leading Texas universities, we have an obligation to sit down and speak openly as we strengthen the bonds that have benefited us all for so many years.

In the spirit of the venerable biblical tradition, if we have issues to resolve, let us resolve them together. Decisions that impact our state's largest higher education institutions and their many constituents, as well as our economy and quality of life, ought to be reviewed thoughtfully and informed by input from all those with a vested interest, including alumni, citizens and lawmakers.

Baylor, Texas and Texas A&M have been competing against one another for more than a century, while Texas Tech has been facing these foes for more than 80 years.

Quite frankly, I can't imagine having a Baylor football season without a game against A&M with the Midnight Yell and the pageantry of the Fighting Texas Aggie Band marching at halftime.

Any change that disrupts our current athletic affiliations will create aftershocks throughout our conference and others. I shudder to consider a future gathering of my fellow university presidents in which conversations about the disappearance of our historic rivalries lead us to consider what we were thinking back in 2011 when we let something so valuable slip away.

Fortunately, it is still 2011 now. There is no need for a rush to judgment. Cooler heads can prevail when we take the time to listen to one another.