Robert Sloan is leaving Baylor
Wednesday August 2, 2006
This just in: Baylor University chancellor Robert Sloan is leaving Baylor to become the next president of Houston Baptist University, pending the expected confirmation of the HBU board next week. You read it here first. From a press release HBU...
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Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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I'm sad to see Sloan go, but I'm sure he will do great things for Houston Baptist.
Actually, since Baptist politics did not allow him to follow through with his plans here, I'm glad he will be president elsewhere. Thank goodness the new administration can't reverse everything he and Jeffrey tried to do. We still have the Great Text program and the Institute for Faith and Learning, even if the funding has been cut.
Maybe President Liley, whose favorite theologian is John S. Spong, can hold to Sloan's vision of making Baylor a top tier Christian University, but then again, Jeffrey was fired from the English department.
Sometimes Baylor makes me very sad.>
Hmmm,
Anyone who believes in what Bishop Spong believes will NOT last in a Baptist university.
The Baptists believe in the FUNDAMENTAL truth of the Bible - the WHOLE Bible - as the Word of God. Spong's theology(?) is that Jesus was just a very smart little Nazarene who said some neat and pithy things AND DENIES AND DISREGARDS ALL THE PARTS WITH THE SAME THAT HE WAS THE SON OF GOD AND ONE SUBSTANCE WITH THE FATHER.
So the choices are Jesus was either the SON OF GOD (Bible) or some whackjob liar with delusions of grandeur (Spong). If you want to believe the latter, go to some Episcopal College that teaches selective theology, and stay away from Christians who want to be taught by Christians in a Baptist (Christian) University...>
You're write, Mlyons ... in theory. But Baylor is in a strange place these days.>
I wonder how the Sloan impacts the Beckwith tenure case, which is still in appeal. The perception by many, such as FT's Jody Bottum, is that Baylor's failure to give Beckwith tenure is a sign that 2012 is out the door. Now that 2012's progenitor is going, a Baylor denial of Beckwith's appeal will seal the deal in most people's minds about Baylor's commitment to 2012. The fact that Baylor did not make a play to keep Sloan as Chancellor, such as giving him more power, in some people's minds will just confirm to them that the school is not serious about 2012. That may not be fair to Baylor, but all we outsiders have is what we see. And from my vantage point, it seems that the anti-2012 cabal has gotten what it wants.>
Kacy, where are you getting your info on Spong as Pres. Lilly's favorite theologian? My nephew has just been accepted at Baylor and this, to say the least, concerns me.>
Dr. Sloan did great things for Baylor. I am a parent of an incoming student from New Jersey, and am cautiously optimistic as to the direction of Baylor. Under the initiatives of Mr. Sloan, the physical plant has been greatly improved, Carnegie has upgraded the school to a research university with high activity (and shock of all shocks, the WacoTrib actually attributed this to Sloan's initiatives, see: http://www.wacotrib.com/hp/content/news/stories/2006/06/25/06252006wacbaylorresearch.html), applications went from 15,600 in 2005 to 22,000+ this year, and the percent of students admitted has dropped from 80 percent in 1998 to 44 percent today. The Honor's College and the living and learning centers have been very well received.
Dr. Lilley has expressed his unqualified support for Baylor 2012, and we should take him at his word.
By the way, Dr. Jeffrey was not fired from the English Department, but as Provost by Mr. Underwood. He is still is at Baylor.>
I had the Spong comment reported to me a month or two ago by a Baylor employee who said he heard it personally, and was taken aback when he did. Take that for what it's worth.>
The word BAPTIST can mean almost anything, from a Baptist like Bill Clinton to Jerry Falwell, from Bill Moyers to the current SBC leadership.
The word has almost no meaning, other than a commitment to individual freedom in all matters of faith.
The Baptist with the votes wins.>
HBU may be exactly what the doctor ordered for President Sloan. I wish him the best and continue to think of him as an immensely talented and compassionate person. However, I am also convinced that he had done all he was capable of doing for Baylor as its leader. Whether you believe in Baptist staples like "God's timing" or more secular pop wisdom like "a change will do you good," you have to agree that President Sloan has much left to give and ought not go quietly into the night.
FTR: According to my sources, the Honors College and other new programs have firmly taken hold and are healthier now than during the Sloan & Jeffrey ministry.
God speed to President Sloan. God Bless Baylor University.>
What a shame. What a shame. But watch to HBU to get a high profile.
I hope 2012 is still alive but there was such animus towards it and towards Dr. Sloan, it makes me wonder.
From a Baylor alumna.>
Kacy's information that Jeffrey was fired fromt he English department is just plain incorrect. The English Department at Baylor is not sufficiently staffed, in part due to the previous financial model that was in place under David Brooks and in part due to contractual limitations on the number of courses and students that could be taught by some of the high-dollar professors brought in recently by Jeffrey as Provost.
The department chairman told Jeffrey that he would, as all the other professors in that department, have to teach additional courses/students. Jeffrey balked at this request (substantially necessitated by his own making) and Dean Hibbs of the Honors College invited him to transfer there. I Guess David wanted to keep his load small in order to spend time with his horses.>
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