After nearly two weeks of controversy following an unusual move to deny tenure or promotion to five faculty members, the Board of Trustees for Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, reversed some of those decisions in a meeting held virtually Tuesday.
Russell Jackson writes an open letter to the faulty at Southwest Baptist University, offering specific steps they could take amid controversies involving trustee changes, terminated professors, an accreditation inquiry, and more.
The board of Southwest Baptist University, in Missouri, rejected three faculty members up for tenure and two up for promotion, Word & Way reported. Read full piece
After Word&Way reported yesterday that trustees at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, had denied tenure or promotion to five faculty members, an SBU student created a petition at change.org urging the trustees to reverse their decision.
Trustees for Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, recently denied tenure or promotion applications from five faculty members in various departments. The unusual action could raise new concerns for the school already facing an inquiry by its accreditation body.
A college affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod announced Thursday it will close this fall, the third to do so since 2018. Read full piece
An accreditation body investigating recent events at Southwest Baptist University recently notified the school of an upcoming focused visit to further investigate recent governance changes. The visit by the Higher Commission also automatically changed SBU’s accreditation path.
As tensions about trustees at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, flared up during the Missouri Baptist Convention’s annual meeting, it was usually with the current SBU trustees speaking — sometimes challenging a fellow trustee at another microphone.
After Southwest Baptist University President Eric Turner resigned amid a two-year controversy over theology and institutional control, Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director John Yeats wrote a letter to SBU faculty and staff.
In December 2018, news broke of a controversy at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, involving the Missouri Baptist Convention, theological debates, and efforts to gain institutional control. As the SBU-MBC controversy continues to evolve, Word&Way created this timeline of key moments.