Faith on View

Baylor, Scandal, and Christian Cowardice

The scandal at Baylor University is all the buzz right now. (Read here for a good recap or here) This week news broke that the University was “firing” President Ken Starr for his failure to investigate allegations …

Dr. Joe Aguillard in his office standing next to a 10 commantments plaque

Honestly, the last article I wrote on Joe Aguillard and Louisiana College I thought would be my last. Actually, the last two articles. But, things worth mentioning keep happening. Add to that, the e-mails I get …

Pastor Kirk Jones, Louisiana College Board of Trustee member

When I wrote about Louisiana College yesterday, I really wasn’t planning on writing on the subject again and I don’t plan to continue. But, I need to acknowledge the good and not just call out …

It has been a long time since I wrote about Louisiana College. It has been just over a year and a half. I am writing today because there are developments that essentially put an end …

Rondall, Pamela, and the kids in a fall 2014 portrait

A little while back I had a fan of Faith on View message me on Facebook asking me to once again post regularly on Faith on View. Okay, truth be told it really was more of an internet friend teasing me for my failures. For those who follow this blog, they noticed that in September posts stopped fairly abruptly. What happened was that I had the wonderful opportunity to become a Senior Lecturer at California College of the Arts which is one of the top Art Schools in the nation. But, I had previously committed to teaching two classes at William Jessup University, an evangelical school in the Sacramento area, and a class at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, where I am pursuing my PhD. This meant that in addition to the Theological Aesthetics course I was auditing from the esteemed Frank Birch Brown, I was also now teaching five classes at three different institutions. All that to say I was really busy and I let my writing on Faith on View slip. The good news is that this semester my teaching is reduced and I am only teaching one course at GTU and one at CCA. This should translate into more regular writing from me. I have a lot of ideas so I am looking forward to having more time to get them on “paper.”

Rondall, Pamela, and the kids in a fall 2014 portrait taken by Nicole DiGiorgio of Sweetness and Light Photography — Rondall, Pamela, and the kids in a fall 2014. Portrait taken by Nicole DiGiorgio of Sweetness and Light Photography

Tommy French sitting in front of the Louisiana College administration building

Tommy French looks like an unassuming elderly preacher. He was the founding pastor for Jefferson Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1959 and served as the Senior Pastor there for 50 years. For the last several years, he has served as pastor emeritus. He has been respected within the Louisiana Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention, previously serving as both Vice-President and President of the Convention. He also spent a decade on the Board of Trustees for New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary as well as two years as the Chairman of that board. Currently, he serves as the Chairman of the Board of Louisiana College.

With a resume like that one would expect behavior fitting the consummate man of God. Unfortunately, that is not what Tommy French has so far demonstrated in his role as Chairman of the Louisiana College Board of Trustees. French first gained attention for his behavior as Chairman of the Board when in March he threatened Trustee Jay Adkins for speaking publicly about ethical issues at LC and accused him of possessing materials which he had no right to have. French later became even more notorious when he lied to the Board of Trustees about SACS requiring an expanded confidentiality agreement. In July, French was one of two persons who received a copy of the damning letter from SACS. He ,shortly thereafter, promised trustee members who wanted to see the letter that he would “send information when it becomes available.” Despite that promise French held onto the letter for a while two months until forced to release it because the Town Talk had obtained a copy. This failure frustrated trustees, including Jay Adkins, who in an e-mail to the board pointed out French’s failures at keeping his word.

Log for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

Thursday Louisiana College posted the letter that they received from Belle Weelan president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC more commonly referred to as SACS). This is a letter …

Joe Aguillard in a suit with his hand in his pocket

This semester I’m teaching five classes at three different institutions plus working on my Ph.D. So, while have been getting ready for the semester my writing on Faith on View has been pretty limited. Few …

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) just voted to place four institutions on probation and to end the accreditation of another institution. Inside Higher Ed focused primarily on two Southern Baptist colleges in their story about this decision: Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Georgia and Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana. These two Southern Baptist institutions face the most serious issues. SACS has chosen to rescind Brewton-Parker’s accreditation, a decision that places the financial viability of the school in doubt, and Louisiana College (LC) has been placed on probation only six months after being removed from “Warning” status.

Several months back Dr. Joe Aguillard denied that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) had reopened an investigation into Louisiana College. However, this afternoon LC released the following Press Release:

Louisiana College Placed on Probation by SACSCOC; Maintains Full Accreditation

PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact John Willie, (318) 487-7194
[email protected]

PINEVILLE, LA. June 19, 2014 – The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) has placed Louisiana College on probation because of issues related to trustee board governance (3.2.4), institutional integrity (1.1), personnel policies (3.2.9; 3.2.10), and audit findings that pertain to some financial control matters and student financial aid (3.10.3; 4.7).

The announcement comes following a vote of the accrediting agency’s Board of Trustees at their annual June meeting in San Antonio, Texas.

“Although the decision is disappointing, it represents an opportunity for Louisiana College to address the issues in preparation for the arrival of a new president.” said Dr. Argile Smith, President pro tempore. “Fortunately, the issues don’t bring into question in any way the excellent classroom work being done by our professors and students. The issues have to do with administrative areas.”

The decision by SACSCOC does not change the status of Louisiana College as a fully accredited school. Louisiana College has been continuously accredited since 1925. In fact, the accrediting agency reaffirmed Louisiana College’s accreditation in December 2013. The faculty has worked diligently to maintain and exceed the standards set by the accrediting agency.

In accordance with its probationary status, Louisiana College remains fully accredited. A monitoring report will be prepared in advance of a SACSCOC team visit to the campus in April 2015.

To learn more about the recent SACS ruling and Louisiana College’s steps moving forward, a question and answer session with Wildcat Media’s, Al Quartemont, and Interim President, Argile Smith, will be available tomorrow.