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.
The next decisions impacting Southwest Baptist University won’t be made in closed trustee meetings or Missouri Baptist Convention sessions. Now the faculty, students, alumni, and trustees await decision from two non-Baptist groups that could determine the future of the school.
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.
Just a month after making headlines by announcing her departure from the Southern Baptist Convention, popular author and Bible teacher Beth Moore launched a second salvo against the male-dominated leadership of the SBC. Read full piece
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.
Donald Jump responds to a criticism of his legal filings by Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director John Yeats. Jump criticizes the MBC’s effort to takeover Southwest Baptist University.
New legal filings by individuals seeking to block new governing documents for Southwest Baptist University respond to the arguments made by the school in Bolivar, Missouri. The new responses rebuke SBU’s attempt to reframe the legal dispute as an internal theological controversy.
The American Association of University Professors is challenging Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, for terminating its tenured philosophy professor in apparent violation of academic freedom.