Former Baylor frat president accused of rape banned from UT-Dallas campus after petition drive

DALLAS - The former Baylor fraternity president who had rape charges against him dropped in a high profile plea deal was banned from the campus of the university he's currently attending.

The announcement from the University of Texas at Dallas president came via an announcement on social media just before 5 p.m. Wednesday. Thousands of people had signed an online petition asking for him to be banned from the campus.

Jacob Anderson pleaded no contest to a lesser charge and received deferred probation without having to register as a sex offender. He was ordered to pay $400 for what happened but won’t serve any jail time.

Anderson left Baylor because of the incident and later enrolled at UTD as a finance major. He is from Garland.

UTD President Richard C. Benson said in a statement on Wednesday that Anderson was admitted without the school knowing his legal history.

“There is nothing more important at UT Dallas than the safety and security of our students,” Benson said. “I am grateful to the UT Dallas students, faculty and other community members who have shared their concerns, disappointment and outrage over this student’s presence on our campus.”

Benson said Anderson would not be allowed on campus as a student or guest and not allowed to participate in graduation. He also is not allowed to attend graduate school at UTD.

Kelsey Casto started the online petition that received more than 20,000 signatures to remove Anderson as a student at UT Dallas. The petition language stated to "remove [Jacob Anderson] from this new potential hunting ground."

"Every hour it just kept multiplying and going up and going up and going up,” Casto said.

The McLennan County District Attorney’s Office says it stands by the deal and believes it achieved the best result with the evidence.

Anderson will be on deferred probation for three years. He is now a week away from graduating with a finance degree from UT Dallas. Despite the petition, he will still be getting that degree — but nothing more from the university.

Title IX Attorney Bryce King says universities typically don't ask applicants for criminal history. He adds UT Dallas is playing it safe by allowing him to get his degree, but banning him beyond that.

"If they just came out and said, 'We're not going to give you the credits you earned because of this plea bargain that has nothing to do with his academic career at UTD,' then that would cause them some problems.”

"We got our request. He will not walk with us. He's never welcome on campus,” Casto said. “It's more than we could ask for, and we're more than excited about it."

Attorneys for Anderson declined to comment about the petition only saying there needs to be clarification about what they consider misrepresentations in the case.