Word that Baylor College of Medicine is pursuing a closer affiliation with the Baptist university it separated from 40 years ago has prompted protests from medical students, faculty members, and alumni of the medical school, in Houston. More than 400 people have signed an online petition criticizing the move.
The petition was posted online after Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine ended their discussions of a possible merger last week and rumors began circulating that the financially troubled medical school might merge with Baylor University instead.
The interim president of the medical college, William T. Butler, confirmed in a letter to medical students and employees on Tuesday that the institution was discussing "a strengthening of our longstanding affiliation with Baylor University," a Baptist institution in Waco, Tex.
But he insisted that, unlike the arrangement the college had been pursuing with Rice, any affiliation with Baylor University would not be a merger.
Many of the people who signed the petition protesting the idea of a merger posted comments saying that the missions of a religious-affiliated university and a biomedical, research-based medical school were incompatible. Critics said that such a partnership, even if it fell short of a merger, could scare away donors, turn off potential students, and cause an exodus of top faculty members from the prestigious medical college.
In his letter, Dr. Butler suggested there was no need for alarm.
"Any new affiliation agreement between Baylor College of Medicine and Baylor University will assure that BCM maintains its independence and, importantly, its scientific and academic freedom," he wrote. "Our board is firmly committed to remaining a nonsectarian institution and continuing with our current no-discrimination policy."
The petition, which was posted before Dr. Butler's letter was sent out, contends that the university's religious mission is "incongruous" with that of the medical college.
"The religious ideologies that permeate throughout BU's academic policies may adversely affect both scientific progress and the culture at BCM, particularly in relation to issues such as evolution, embryonic stem cells, and sexual orientation," the petition states. "While we respect everyone's right to religion in his or her own life, we believe that science and medicine must be separate from religion, and urge you to reject any such merger."
Ties between Baylor University and Baylor College of Medicine date back to 1903. The medical school moved to Houston in 1943 as a nonsectarian institution that was still owned and controlled by Baylor University, Dr. Butler said in his letter. The university and medical school agreed to separate in 1969, although Baylor University retained the authority to appoint one-fourth of the medical college's trustees.
The medical college's Web site points out that the 1969 separation of the medical school from the university "encouraged broader, nonsectarian support and provided access to federal research funding."
Privately, faculty members at Baylor College of Medicine say they are already frustrated that so many people assume the medical college is part of the Baptist university.
Critics of any close affiliation say that anything that furthers that perception would hurt the medical institution.
Baylor University's interim provost, Elizabeth B. Davis, told faculty members at a meeting last week that the university, the medical school, and Texas Children's Hospital, in Houston, were engaged in discussions, but that no one from the university could comment further.
Texas Children's Hospital, which also confirmed such talks were going on, is one of Baylor College of Medicine's main teaching-hospital affiliates.
Comments
1. amnirov - January 20, 2010 at 06:28 am
Religion has no place in higher education, unless it is the study of religion with the goal of coming up with a strategy to convert every single last human to atheism.
2. tridaddy - January 20, 2010 at 09:42 am
The inconsistencies in the thought processes of those concerned are baffling.
3. sgjohnson46 - January 20, 2010 at 10:51 am
"Amnirov's" comments are such a denial of the enriching possibilities of religious thought to academic discussions. We should no more exclude a discussion of religion in higher education than we would sociology, biology or history. The assertion that a top flight medical school must mean divorcing ones' self from a discussion of religious perspectives on such matters as stem cell research is ridiculous. ALL medical research is grounded in philosophy and values - are we to believe this is OK unless those values are religiously based?
4. 11890636 - January 20, 2010 at 11:03 am
"Inconsistencies?" ... please explain.
I suspect many people, both in Texas and beyond, assume an affiliation between Baylor University in Waco and Baylor College of Medicine, 185 miles away in Houston. To add to the confusion, consider that the Baylor University Louise Herrington School of Nursing "is centrally located just east of downtown Dallas on the 32 block campus of Baylor University Medical Center, a five-hospital complex internationally recognized for its transplantation programs and other specialty care. Although not formally a part of Baylor University in Waco, our BUMC neighbor provides clinical placements for School of Nursing students and other significant support to the School."
But how problematic is affiliation between a medical school and a religious university? What can be learned from the experiences of Georgetown, Loyola U Chicago, St. Louis U, Creighton, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva U, ...?
5. hmlowry - January 20, 2010 at 11:23 am
Richard Lyman, president of Standford in the 1970's once said that "having a medical school in your university is like having a shark in your swimming pool." Does Baylor really want that.
Loma Linda University once attempted to integrate an undergraduate and diverse graduate division into its corpus. After 27 years the trial marriage was dissolved--not necessarily for good reasons, but rather from an incompatibility in cultures.
6. new_theologian - January 20, 2010 at 01:40 pm
Amnirov's position is strictly bigoted. There's no way around it.
7. rpexport2 - January 20, 2010 at 02:47 pm
God (Father, Adoni, El Shaddai, יְהֹוָה Jehova, Yahweh) is the root of all knowledge. Apart from His word and light is darkness.
How can anyone justify the logic that the historical roots of American higher education (religion) is now irrelevant. Remvove the root, end the life.
8. 22205373 - January 20, 2010 at 04:41 pm
"Critics said that such a partnership could turn away [religiously bigoted] donors, turn off potential [religiously bigoted]students, and cause an exodus of top [religiously bigoted]faculty members." Atheists seem bent on imposing their values on others as strongly as the Moral Majority once did.
9. thelm - January 21, 2010 at 11:28 am
Another article on this site points out that Baylor College of Medicine is facing NIH sanctions over financial conflicts. Maybe the faculty and students should be more concerned about real problems than perceptions.
10. mhick255 - January 21, 2010 at 01:57 pm
Did the Chronicle leave out part of the petition? Something like "...science and medicine must be separate from religion [except, of course, for the thousands of religiously-based hospitals which hire our graduates]..."?
11. neurosci - January 28, 2010 at 05:41 pm
"...What can be learned from the experiences of Georgetown, Loyola U Chicago, St. Louis U, Creighton, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva U, ...?"
Of the medical schools housed at these institutions, which one of them are as respected as Baylor College of Medicine?
Answer: None.