July 24, 2008

Baylor U. Regents Fire President, Citing Failure to Unite Campus

Baylor University’s Board of Regents today fired the university’s president, John M. Lilley, effective immediately. Mr. Lilley, Baylor’s president since November 2005, had been at the center of several recent controversies, including over a reported uptick in tenure denials.

In a conference call with reporters, Howard K. Batson, the board’s chair, said no single issue had led to the termination. But he said Mr. Lilley had failed to unite campus constituencies in pursuing the university’s ambitious strategic plan, dubbed Baylor 2012, which seeks to elevate its research profile while strengthening its Baptist character.

“We didn’t really see the Baylor family coming together, like we had envisioned it doing,” Mr. Batson said.

Mr. Lilley’s dismissal comes less than four years after the ouster of his predecessor, Robert B. Sloan Jr., who resigned after frequent clashes with faculty members.

Tomorrow’s Daily Report will have more coverage of this story. —Paul Fain

Comments

1. He will be much happier now.

   — Kyle David    Jul 24, 02:15 PM    #

2. From someone who is a baptist, who wants out of baptist “education,” amen to comment #1.

   — Baptist Captive    Jul 24, 02:46 PM    #

3. The poor man. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Tenure denials can be so very painful. Still, what goes around, comes around.

   — Shane Fergusson    Jul 24, 02:56 PM    #

4. Isn’t that an oxymoron, “to elevate its research profile while strengthening its Baptist character”? Baylor is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, and as such some members of the faculty find themselves facing the same dilemma as Wake Forest University’s faculty did back in the ’70’s, and Furman University’s faculty faces even now. Is the goal of the Southern Baptist Convention really to promote genuine research? Many members of that denomination, for example, view evolution as a myth, while creationism is viewed as fact. Where then does research fit?

   I doubt seriously that anyone of substance will want to follow Baylor’s two recently turned out presidents.

   — JR    Jul 24, 03:41 PM    #

5. Did anyone at Baylor really check into his history at University of Nevada, Reno?

   — Tom Spencer    Jul 24, 03:41 PM    #

6. Baylor may have passed the tipping point into obscurity. It started with Sloan, and Lilley, in trying to unravel that knot, stepped on a lot of sore feet. Pretty soon, you can count Baylor with the other bible colleges — Howard Payne, Houston Baptist, Oauchita Baptist and the list goes on and on. Very sad indeed.

   Also, Baylor is not with the Southern Baptist Convention, but with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and only barely with that. Its problems are its own doings, starting with Sloan and the back-slapping board he put in place — neither of which knew anything about higher education.

   — drkvc    Jul 24, 03:46 PM    #

7. Baylor is a case study of board dysfunction and how a strategic plan can either unite or divide a university community. A sad day for Baylor and a warning to us all.

   — SEC    Jul 24, 03:53 PM    #

8. I wish I could say that I feel sorrow for the Baylor institution, but it’s hard to feel sorry for an administration that is far too self-righteous to admit it’s own misgivings. I do, however, feel for the faculty and students, a group who by-and-large hold dear many of the ideals (God, family, community, and so forth) that seem obscured in today’s society.

   — Zach    Jul 24, 04:02 PM    #

9. The same old ritual: the Prsident takes the heat for Board decisions which are attributed to him, the faculty balks, and the board rewards the loyal president by tossing him to the faculty lions who disdain the board.

   — case hardened    Jul 24, 04:16 PM    #

10. @JR (#4). For the sake of your argument, you will be disappointed to discover that Baylor has not been affiliated with the SBC for nearly 20 years and it’s mission — however successful — aims to be exactly the opposite of what you described.

    — BU    Jul 24, 04:17 PM    #

11. I echo the correction regarding Baylor’s lack of affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention. I was privileged to be a part of some fact finding that the University engaged in, while I worked as an adjunct lecturer at an institution in the Northeast. I found the Baylor contingent profoundly dedicated to providing a road map that would engage a wider audience, while maintaining the Baptist nature of the school. I do not find this impossible, in and of itself, but challenging because of the role that Divinity Schools, Theological Schools and Seminaries find themselves in. In a word, they are challenged because of divisions of Arts and Science, and other Social Science disciplines. It is hard to walk a sectarian road, while maintaining a world appeal. I wish them the best in this as I do believe it can be an important contribution.

    — Gregory    Jul 24, 04:27 PM    #

12. Does this mean they now go back to Bill Underwood? The Board and faculty split on him last time and he withdrew.

    — adam causey    Jul 24, 06:16 PM    #

13. Every university, on its ambitious rise to third-rate status, finds the need to soft-pedal or even deep-six its sectarian origins. Baylor is struggling with that problem now, deluded by the idea that it can be both a third-rate university and a Baptist bible college. It will be interesting to see the outcome, especially if one has the luxury of not being involved in the struggle.

    — Lawrence S. Lerner    Jul 24, 11:14 PM    #

14. Baylor University is a top tiered campus — check US News and World Report — it is well on its way to achieving more academic excellence.

    — SP    Jul 26, 12:04 PM    #

15. “check US News and World Report “

    You’re kidding, right?

    — jruiz    Jul 27, 01:26 PM    #

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