We originally covered this story here. Colleen Flaherty gets us up to speed at Inside Higher Education. Grove City College’s Board of Trustees recently said that it had formed a committee to investigate allegations of “mission drift” on campus and...
Christian higher education
What is going on (again) at Southwest Baptist University?
We did a post on this Baptist college back in May. At that time we wrote about Dwayne Walker, a social work professor, who was denied tenure for his failure to affirm creationism and his views on homosexuality. Now Brian...
Michael Lindsay is the new president of Taylor University
As a Taylor alum just told me, “I didn’t see that coming.” Lindsay just resigned as president of Gordon College, a similar evangelical college. This is big news in the Christian college world. Here is the Taylor press release Today...
How are evangelical colleges are responding to the January 6, 2021 insurrection?
Several colleges have released statements: Shirley Hoogstra of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities acknowledged the insurrection’s connection to “systemic racism” and “racial disparities.” She also affirmed the Electoral College results. (Sadly, we need to mention this because so...
Gordon College students hold a sit-in protest to call attention to a racist incident on campus
On November 1, 2020, a pro-Black Lives Matter T-shirt sitting on a Gordon College residence hall laundry room table was defaced with a racist slur. Gordon is an evangelical liberal arts college in Wenham, Massachusetts. Michael Gryboski has the story...
Rod Dreher defends the “Little Hitler” philosophy professor at Taylor University
In my post on the firing of Taylor University philosophy professor Jim Spiegel, I wrote: Should he be fired for “Little Hitler”? I can’t answer that question. I would need to know more about the local culture on campus at...
Was Liberty University a school or Jerry Falwell Jr.’s personal business?
Aram Roston and Joshua Schneyer of Reuters are uncovering things. Here is a taste of their recent piece: Falwell, who took over as president of Liberty in 2007 after years as a lawyer handling its real estate interests, intertwined his...
A conservative Lutheran college in Wisconsin withdraws a speaking invitation to Mike Pence
Mike Pence was scheduled to deliver the commencement address at Wisconsin Lutheran College, a theologically conservative school affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. The school withdrew the invitation to speak at the August 29th event after “careful consideration of...
We Need the Liberal Arts Now More Than Ever
Here is a taste of my recent piece at Sojourners: A nurse can learn how to insert an IV tube in a patient’s arm, but how will he develop the fortitude to enter a room filled with people suffering from infectious...
Should You Support Your Child’s Decision to Attend a Christian College?
Christian liberal arts colleges came under attack recently by a Southern Baptist theologian named Denny Burk. I was going to blog about his recent tweets, but I did not want to call attention to them. The tweets mischaracterize the work...
David I. Smith on Christian Teaching
What role does spiritual formation play in teaching at Christian colleges? Calvin College pedagogy expert David I. Smith discusses this topic in a recent interview at Faith & Leadership. Here is a taste: Q: So how do Christian beliefs and...
Do You Want To Know What Christian Colleges Are All About?
Watch this video from the Coalition for Christian Colleges & Universities: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vnWXWCKyTw&w=560&h=315] Needless to say, I am thrilled to see Messiah College president Kim Phipps featured in this video along with Shirley Mullen, president of Houghton College and a...
Alan Jacobs on White Christian Males in the Academy
Jacobs is responding here to Rod Dreher’s post at The American Conservative. I was struck by this paragraph in Jacobs’s response: I’m not exactly a pollyanna about these matters. I have said over and over again that, thanks to my long career...
How Much Money Do Christian College Presidents Make?
Over at The Pietist Schoolman, Chris Gehrz has the answers. Here is a taste: In 2013 I parsed some data from The Chronicle of Higher Education to see how well evangelical college and university presidents were paid. Since the Chronicle just released an updated version of the...
Rod Dreher Publishes E-Mails from Duke Divinity School Controversy
You can read them here. Get up to speed here. Some quick thoughts on what I have read: Faculty were invited to attend the Racial Equity Institute training at Duke. They were not forced to attend. Regardless of what one...
Cedarville University President Responds
In a statement titled “Biblically Consistent Curriculum,” Cedarville University president Thomas White has responded to criticism of his school’s new “Philippians 4:8” curriculum policy. Here is White’s statement: A recent article has raised some questions about the new Biblically Consistent Curriculum policy...
What is Going on at Cedarville University?
Yesterday we reported on the racist shenanigans at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Today, the conservative evangelical Cedarville University is in the news. Here is a taste of Christianity Today’s coverage of Cedarville’s new “Philippians 4:8” policy: This spring, Cedarville University enacted new...
"The Face of Higher Education is Not Jerry Falwell Jr."
It’s good to have Chris Gehrz, aka “The Pietist Schoolman,” back from Europe and blogging again. In this post he explains why Jerry Falwell Jr. should not get anywhere near American higher education. Here is a taste: On Tuesday Jerry...
David Michael Bruno Weighs in on the Gay Marriage Controversy in the CCCU
David Michael Bruno teaches history at Point Loma Nazarene University, a member institution of the Council for Christian College and Universities (CCCU). In this insightful post, drawing from the theological work of German scholar Helmut Thielicke, he provides some much needed...
The CCCU, Union University, Gay Marriage, and the Problem of Evangelicalism
Over at First Things, Carl Trueman of Westminster Theological Seminary has weighed in on Union University‘s decision to leave the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. If you have read this far, you probably know the story. We have covered it here...