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By Kelly Boggs, Editor
PINEVILLE – When Joe Aguillard was elected as president of Louisiana College in Jan. 2005 it was under a cloud of controversy.
After the LC Board’s action during its most recent meeting, it seems he will leave office in similar fashion.
After weeks of news reports that questioned Aguillard’s leadership, which included leaked private documents, LC executive committee minutes of a black mail attempt which included allegations of forged documents, secret recordings and a lawsuit filed against the president and the college, the LC Board of Trustees voted on April 15 not to renew Aguillard’s contract as president of the college.
While his contract as president is set to expire on July 31, the board did approve an agreement which will allow Aguillard to remain on campus as president emeritus of the college beginning Aug. 1. The word emeritus, according to the Cambridge Dictionary means: “honorably discharged from a profession but retaining one’s former job title.”
Additionally, the board approved Argile Smith as the interim president of the college once Aguillard’s contract expires. Smith currently serves as Executive Vice-President for Integration of Faith and Learning at LC.
Following the trustee meeting, held in the Granberry Conference Center on the LC campus, Tommy French, LC Board chairman, released a statement to the media. The release was long on accolades for Aguillard but short on specifics concerning his future role at the school.
In part, the release said, “Today, the Louisiana College Board of Trustees voted to bestow upon Dr. Aguillard the honor of continuing his contributions to Louisiana College in the role of President Emeritus … God has blessed Louisiana College through the service of this President and we are grateful to God for that.”
French told the Baptist Message in a phone conversation Aguillard’s new role will entail no administrative duties. He will serve in the capacity of consultant and counselor whenever called upon by the interim president. Aguillard will also be available to assist LC’s next president in the same manner and will function in the role of fundraiser for the college.
According to French, Aguillard’s primary role will be to provide continuity during a time of transition at Louisiana College.
Aguillard is scheduled to begin a one year leave-of-absence/sabbatical on June 1 and Smith will be named president pro tempore.
On Aug. 1, after Aguillard’s contract expires, he will assume the role of president emeritus and Smith will become interim president of the college, according to French. After Aguillard’s sabbatical he will return to LC as a tenured professor in the college’s Graduate Teacher Education program.
No press conference was held to announce the LC board’s action with regard to the president and most media were asked to leave the Pineville campus. While the Baptist Message was allowed to remain on the property, it was not allowed in a meeting of faculty and staff members that included Aguillard and French.
“Multiple sources connected to the LC board said the agreement calls for Aguillard to begin a one-year paid sabbatical June 1 at his full $202,007 base salary. When Aguillard returns to the school as a tenured professor in the school’s graduate teacher education program, he will receive 50 percent of his current base salary – $101,003.50 – for his first year as a senior professor,” reported The Town Talk. “He will receive 30 percent of his current base salary – $60,602.10 – for all subsequent years he works at the college.”
Not everyone was pleased with the trustee’s decision.
Larry Hubbard, a trustee who left early in the meeting and then resigned, told The Town Talk – Alexandria’s daily newspaper, “I think it’s a very poor decision, wrong decision. Joe Aguillard needed to be removed … I was hoping for a national search to look for a college president with competence, integrity and honesty.”
Scott Culpepper, a former LC Professor of the Year who left the college in 2012 and is currently associate professor of history at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, was also displeased over the board’s decision.
“So here is the lesson, for today,” Culpepper, who is also an LC alumnus, wrote on his Facebook page which The Town Talk quoted in its story. “The reward at a Louisiana Baptist institution for general incompetence rabid anti-intellectualism, terrorizing subordinates and lying publically is tenure, financial security and a continued presence in the place he (Aguillard) has worked so hard to wreck.”
The trustee meeting was not without controversy. Early in the meeting it was reported by anonymous sources that French told board members LC had received a letter from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) indicating the trustees should sign new confidentially agreements.
News Channel 5, a local Alexandria television station, reported on its website, “We’re told Aguillard informed board members that the school would be put on probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges if board members did not sign a confidentiality agreement.”
The Baptist Message asked two trustees about the aforementioned reports and said the newly signed confidentiality agreement would not allow them to comment on any specifics. All they would say is the reports were not accurate.
According to those same sources previously mentioned, some trustees asked to view the SACS letter but they were denied. A vote was taken and LC trustees voted 18-14 to accept the new confidentially agreements.
In response to the vote, two trustees left the meeting. Larry Hubbard left and immediately tendered his resignation. Jay Adkins, pastor of First Baptist Church Westwego, left but indicated he has not yet resigned from the board.
“There was a gag order initiated and if you did not agree then you had to leave,” Hubbard was quoted to have said by News Channel 5. “It would have gone against my conscience.”
“They did not present a letter to the trustees. They said they had a letter from SACS but we never saw a copy of it,” Hubbard told News Channel 5.
Hubbard, pastor of Riverside Baptist Church in Watson, told the Baptist Message, French’s message was more nuanced than the reports that indicated the chairman said probation would result from non-compliance with the confidentiality agreements.
It was shared that signing the new agreements would help get ahead of any problems SACS might have with the process. “What was very clear was that SACS wanted us [the trustees] to sign the confidentiality agreements,” Hubbard told the Baptist Message.
Michael Johnson, senior vice president and chief of staff with SACS, spoke with the Baptist Message on the subject of confidentiality agreements and potential probation. In a follow-up email Johnson wrote:
“Thank you for the call earlier today. To repeat, I am not aware of a letter where we made such a statement, and only our Board has the authority to place an institution on probation. While we have several standards requiring specific policies pertaining to boards, we have no standard requiring board confidentiality policies. I hope there was some miscommunication or misunderstanding.”
Belle S. Wheelan, president of SACS, responded to an email request from the Baptist Message about the issue of a letter where her organization would indicate confidentiality statements must be in place or an institution would be placed on probation.
“We did not, nor would we (since we have no standard that addresses that), tell them that,” Wheelan wrote.
Aguillard’s presidency concludes somewhat the way it began, with a certain degree of controversy.
Smith, who will seek to provide interim leadership in the wake of the controversy, is listed as holding the following responsibilities beyond his position as vice president: Holder, Lyndon E. Dawson Professorship in Religion; Associate Dean of Christian Ministry, Caskey School of Divinity; Chair, Division of Christian Studies.
A press release from LC, issued on April 17, said, “Dr. Smith received his Bachelor of Arts degree at William Carey College. He earned his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy degrees at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Connie, have been married for 38 years. He says that his most precious treasures are his wife, three grown sons, three remarkable daughters-in-law, and one fairly perfect granddaughter.”