Cedarville UniversityCedarville University president Thomas White is a Paige Patterson disciple. (According to this story, Patterson preferred to called people like White his “proteges”). He worked for Patterson at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
We have blogged before about White and the direction he has taken Cedarville. Get up to speed here.
Patterson is a member of the Board of Trustees of Cedarville University. Now that Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has removed Patterson from office and has taken away all of his benefits, will Cedarville remove him from the Board? Will Cedarville University continue to have a man who covered-up a rape on their Board of Trustees?
There are a LOT of Cedarville alums who want him out. Here is a taste of a piece published about an hour ago at the website of an Ohio radio station:
Patterson joined Cedarville University’s Board of Trustees in 2013. A petition calling for his removal from the board has now garnered more than 1200 signatures. In a statement issued last night, Cedarville president Thomas White condemned abuse while also expressing sympathy for Patterson. He also asserted he does not have the authority to remove Patterson from the Board.
“I do not know whether Dr. Patterson will continue to serve as a Trustee at Cedarville. The President neither appoints nor removes trustees. I serve under the authority of the Board and not the other way around. Our Board is self-perpetuating, and they have processes in place that they follow. Communication across the twenty-seven members with busy summer schedules can take time, and any action typically happens at regularly scheduled meetings. In my experience with them, our Board seeks to make wise decisions after gathering and considering all available information. I trust our Board to do what is right, at the right time, and in the right way.”
White, who worked alongside Patterson at both Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Texas, also referenced the increasing number of sexual abuse allegations coming to light at American colleges and universities.
“We recognize that training students in this generation is complex. We live in the midst of a #MeToo movement surrounded by a “Fifty Shades of Grey” culture populated by humans bearing a sinful nature inherited from Adam.”
Read the piece here. Read the petition here.
I have no idea what this last paragraph is trying to communicate. How does the #MeToo movement make “training” student “complex?” It seems pretty straightforward to me. What is “complex” about not abusing women? And why the use of the word “training” instead of “educating?” What is White trying to say when he compares the #MeToo movement with a “Fifty Shades of Grey” culture? This is a really strange statement.
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