Most people know Dinesh D’Souza as a conservative author. But, to be frank I don’t read many of the type of books he writes. I know him as the former president of the evangelical The King’s College in New York City. For those of you who do not know, D’Souza resigned from his position at The King’s College in October 2012 after World Magazine reported that he checked into a hotel at a conference with a woman who was introduced as his fiancée despite the fact that he was still married, though estranged. He has followed that up now by being indicted for campaign fraud. More details are available here, but basically he gave too much money to a campaign but gave it under different names so it wouldn’t get caught and knowingly caused others to lie.
The issue of the relationship, or lack thereof, between homosexuality and the church, especially the evangelical church, is a hot topic these days. In some ways, I am a really bad blogger. I tend to …
“Unacceptable” at Louisiana College. David by Michelangelo, 1501-04
Louisiana Colleges president promptly responded to my letter sent to his faculty this morning. I believe his response is very telling in both what he addresses and what he does not. (See his full response at the end of this post)
First what he doesn’t address:
Dr. Aguillard fails to address his blatant violation of copyright law in his reproducing and showing an image which he does not have permission to reproduce or show. He illegally confiscated the painting from the student who painted it in 2011. When the student and her mother attempted to get the painting back, he refused to return the painting until he could have the painting photographed by his lawyer for ‘legal purposes’. Apparently, those legal purposes include disparaging former faculty in faculty meetings.
(ETA: I’ve been informed that Dr. Aguillard is taking this illegal full size reproduction to show to preachers around the state. He does not have authorization from the copyright holder to do this. Unfortunately, the only recourse against this behavior is a restraining order and Dr. Aguillard has shown a willingness to throw the budget of Louisiana College behind his legal defense. A poor young college graduate does not have the financial resources to fight such illegal and unethical behavior on the part of a college president.)
“Unacceptable” at Louisiana College. Discobolous by Myron 460-450 BC
He also fails to address that Dr. Scott Culpepper had no link to the painting. The attempt to tie him to the painting was pure unadulterated maliciousness. Dr. Culpepper’s “sin” is merely that he is a friend of mine who also believes Dr. Aguillard’s presidency is filled with ethical and educational failings. He had no part with the painting. Dr. Aguillard connecting him to the painting is a pure attempt at slander.
He did not address that when I interviewed at LC. I was clear that I wanted to bring nude figure studies to LC with the same controls as are used at the respected evangelical institution, Gordon College. I should add that I also included some nude work in my image portfolio when I applied and included nude work in my lecture during the interview. There was ample opportunity for Dr. Aguillard to inform me of his position during the interview process. Instead, the only time he stood against students making such work (he did stand against displaying it in the gallery) was after I wrote a letter notifying the college constituency of moral failings at the school. It makes one wonder.
With the end of the academic year I took a break from blogging and let my mind rest a little. But, now that it is rested- it is getting restless. I can’t think of a …
To be honest, I’ve been trying to step away from the issues at Louisiana College. I am now two years removed from my affiliation with LC and while I have tried to be a voice …
The non-renewal of the contracts of Kevin McFadden, Ryan Lister, and Jason Hiles caused a real stir a few months back. This was especially true since the non-renewals coincided with public statements from President Aguillard about his position against “hyper-Calvinism”. It was assumed by all that the non-renewal had to do with the tensions between Arminian and Calvinist camps within the Louisiana Baptist Convention. As more information became available and further conversations where had it became clear to me that Calvinism, at least in the case of Jason Hiles, was used as a smoke screen to hide that Aguillard was trying to hurt Dr. Quarles for blowing the whistle. Aguillard chose to attack Quarles by attacking those under him. It is a little less clear with Mcfadden and Lister if the primary motivation was hurting Quarles or if they simply got caught in the situation and it was more theological for them. If it was theological, it was also misplaced to fight over a secondary doctrine, or tertiary as McFadden argues.
Since I reported last week that Samuel Camp of Pamlab pharmaceutical wealth was the new donor at LC, there have been claims to the contrary. At this point, I am uncertain of the truth. I have had additional sources confirm that Sam Camp is the donor and the information trail seems to lead all the way back to President Aguillard’s office. On the other hand, two comments on my blog come from people who claim to know Camp and they say he denies he is the donor. So, at this point it is impossible to tell if Camp is denying true claims to continue to protect his anonymity or if the information that, according to multiple sources, came from the President’s office is incorrect.
Either way, the publication of Samuel Camp’s name uncovered some disturbing information. Two different sources sent me a link to a sexual harassment case which was appealed to the Fifth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals. The Appeals Court upheld the juries conclusion that Pamlab was guilty of sexual discrimination toward Carleen Black stating, “We conclude that there was ample evidence to support the jury’s finding of sex discrimination” and “In sum, there was ample evidence by which the jury could conclude that Pamlab had a corporate culture hostile to women, that this discriminatory animus extended to Pamlab’s management, and that Black’s sex was a motivating factor in Pamlab’s decision to terminate her.” This information is important whether or not Sam Camp is the individual who pledged $10 million to Louisiana College because Camp is a member of the Louisiana College Board of Trustees and a member who voted to exonerate Joe Aguillard from the whistle-blower charges. I think many people will find the text below very bothersome, especially as it relates to a a board member of a Christian College. The date on the legal ruling, which is the second appeal on the case, is July 2011. It is unclear if Sam Camp joined the Louisiana College Board of Trustees in 2008 or 2011. Either way this information should have been considered. If he joined the BoT in 2008 he was renewed in 2011 after this appeal was concluded.
The Court’s decision lays out the following information :
On Saturday, Over 20 alumni and friends of Louisiana College met in Pineville to analyze and report on their research into the current state of affairs at Louisiana College. Today that group, which was a …
Lewis Richerson Pastor of Woodlawn Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana wrote a commentary in the Town Talk today which called for David Hankins (Executive Director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention) to step down from his voting position on …
Obviously there has been a lot of attention paid to the troubles at Louisiana College on social media and in the press recently. This blog has had almost 23,000 page views in just the last …
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