On Friday, Southwest Baptist University announced its new president to lead the school after its previous president resigned amid an ongoing nearly three-year conflict over power and theology. Rick Melson, vice president for advancement at Cedarville University in Ohio, will become SBU’s 26th president.
A national nonprofit group of professors devoted to academic freedom, shared governance, and quality higher education, recently argued that Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, is not an institution where academic freedom can be expected.
A judge in Bolivar, Missouri, ruled Thursday in favor of three individuals who filed motions to challenge new governing documents for Southwest Baptist University. The rare move further delays the school’s new articles of agreement from going into effect.
Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director John Yeats has served as an officer for the Southern Baptist Convention for 24 years. A pastor in Virginia thinks that’s too long. So, Adam Blosser announced his candidacy Wednesday, less than a week before the SBC’s annual meeting in
A conflict over the extent of the Missouri Baptist Convention’s control over Southwest Baptist University leads to disputes over changes to governance documents, tenure denials and more. This article cites Word&Way reports and quotes Word&Way Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor. Read full piece
The chair of Southwest Baptist University’s Board of Trustees sent a message to faculty about the ongoing conflict over control and theology. But the statement from Eddie Bumpers to “provide a greater level of clarity” actually included significant inaccuracies.
Word&Way Editor-in-Chief Brian Kaylor responds to the decision by Southwest Baptist University to bar Word&Way from attending an upcoming SBU trustee meeting. Kaylor questions the motivations behind the decision to limit media access.
Still in the middle of one investigation from its accrediting body, Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, now faces a separate inquiry that emerged after trustees denied tenure to the director of the school’s social work program.
As Southwest Baptist University looks for a new president to the lead the school, a prominent group that advocates for victims and survivors of sexual abuse criticized the school’s trustees for naming a “controversial” minister as vice chair of the search committee.
As Southwest Baptist University searches for a new president, trustees sparked additional concerns by creating a presidential search committee made up only of themselves and two Missouri Baptist Convention leaders. The school’s Faculty Senate passed a resolution on Friday criticizing this search process.