Baylor U. Denies Tenure to Intelligent-Design Thinker; Ex-Dean at U. of Wisconsin-Whitewater Resigns Teaching Post; In Britain, an Alleged Affair of State

Printer friendly	E-mail article	Subscribe	Order reprints
	Discuss any Chronicle article in our forums
Latest Headlines Economists Get a Lesson in Making Policy Hundreds of academic economists have tried to shape Washington's responses to the financial crisis. But many have a gnawing sense that they aren't being heard. More Coverage of the Economic Crisis Emory's President Makes a Plea for Prudent Savings Student Group Grades the Parties Vying to Lead Canada A Troubled Mexican Institution Starts to Turn a Corner A Wave of Crime Puts Universities in Mexico on Alert

By PAULA WASLEY, THOMAS BARTLETT, and AISHA LABI

TENURE DENIED: Controversy is brewing at Baylor University, where Francis J. Beckwith, a prominent and widely published Christian philosopher and legal scholar, was recently denied tenure — some say for his conservative religious views.

Mr. Beckwith, 45, an associate professor and associate director of Baylor's J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies, joined the faculty of the Baptist university in 2003. Since his appointment, there have been rumblings on the campus about Mr. Beckwith's affiliation with the Discovery Institute, an intelligent-design think tank, and his writings that say the teaching of intelligent design in public schools is constitutionally permissible.

Mr. Beckwith's supporters call his tenure denial, announced last month, a "watershed" moment for Baylor and its new president, John M. Lilley.

William A. Dembski, a professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in Kentucky, who was director of a short-lived intelligent-design center at Baylor, sees two warring factions at work. "One side wants to see Baylor turned into a top-flight research university with an explicit Christian identity," he said. The other "wants to see Baylor continue in its old way as a recognized regional institution without the emphasis on the research and without pushing the Christian identity."

Mr. Dembski is among those who view Mr. Beckwith's tenure denial as the triumph of an "entrenched guard that wishes to see Baylor on its track toward secularization."

Baylor's provost, J. Randall O'Brien, would not comment on the particulars of the tenure review, but said Mr. Beckwith's "writings on intelligent design has absolutely nothing to do with the decision." He added that the university remained "totally committed" to its vision: "Baylor intends to enter the top tier of American universities, while affirming and deepening its distinctive Christian vision." Mr. Beckwith has appealed the tenure decision and is "cautiously optimistic," he said, about the outcome.

***

MONEY PROBLEMS: A former dean at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater has resigned from his faculty position after an audit found that he had misused university funds to cover travel and other expenses.

Lee Jones, 41, was demoted from his position as dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Continuing Education last fall after the audit was released. Mr. Jones, who was a tenured professor in the College of Education, remained at the university after his demotion. His resignation last week came as the university was in the midst of termination proceedings.

Mr. Jones's lawyer, David E. Lasker, said that Mr. Jones was forced to resign and that he was the victim of a racist conspiracy by university officials to "ruin his career and reputation."

"We emphatically deny that race had anything to do with the steps taken against Mr. Jones," said Sara Kuhl, a spokeswoman for the university.

This was not the first time Mr. Jones had been accused of misspending a university's funds. In 2003, when he was associate dean of education at Florida State University, an auditor questioned Mr. Jones's use of university money for nonuniversity expenses. No report was ever issued, however, and Mr. Jones left Florida State for Wisconsin soon after.

***

IT'S PERSONAL: Boris Johnson, the British Conservative Party's higher-education spokesman, has won the backing of the party's leader, David Cameron, despite some new revelations about his personal life.

Mr. Johnson, 41, a former magazine editor and one of the Tories' most colorful figures, has been higher-education shadow minister since January. A previous stint as Tory arts spokesman was cut short after reports that he had had an extramarital affair, but Mr. Cameron has said that recent stories about Mr. Johnson's alleged liaison with a reporter for The Times Higher Education Supplement would not cost him his job.

Mr. Johnson, an Oxford graduate and former president of the Oxford Union, was in China last week. He expressed support for a new program that would foster ties between institutions in the two nations, claiming credit for the Labour government's plan.

But he was less forthcoming about the tabloid stories. "Recent and current press reports are of a personal nature, and we have no comment to make on them at all," said a message from his office posted on his Web site.

Got a tip? E-mail peer.review@chronicle.com