ll Louisiana Baptist eyes are on Louisiana College. Events at the college,
the gem of Louisiana Baptists, have garnered significant concern, a great deal
of news coverage and a monumental helping of gossip.
All Louisiana Baptist eyes are on Louisiana College. Events at the college,
the gem of Louisiana Baptists, have garnered significant concern, a great deal
of news coverage and a monumental helping of gossip. There are as many interpretations
of events at the college as there are interested parties.
What we know for sure is this: Malcolm Yarnell was offered the position as
president of the college, and Malcolm Yarnell accepted the position, and he,
then, declined the position. We know that Malcolm Yarnell said the primary issue
was that he and the college trustees’ executive committee could not agree
on the “governance” of the school. As of yet, neither the search committee
nor the trustees’ executive committee have made official responses to his
stated reasons.
The happenstance of Louisiana College’s trustees
offering Malcolm Yarnell the presidency just before the annual meeting of the
Louisiana Baptist Convention and the presentation of Malcolm Yarnell at the
convention “as the next president of Louisiana College” and, then,
word that he would not be coming added to the embarrassment of the process.
But that simply was unfortunate timing that Louisiana Baptists can understand.
Processes take time, and they are not over until the ink is on all the lines
of the contract.
We also know that by the bylaws and constitution of the college, the trustee
search committee that recommended Malcolm Yarnell is to stay in place until
the position of president is filled.
We also know that the search committee has pledged to continue its work until
the position is filled. At this point, we do not know if all the members of
the search committee will chose to stay on the committee or if one or more will
resign or if the full board will ask them to resign so another committee can
continue the search. All of these are options.
We also know that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools likely will
take very seriously Malcolm Yarnell’s stated reason for his decision not
to accept the position of president. Part of the accrediting agency’s concern
about Louisiana College is “governance” of the school. Malcolm Yarnell’s
statement certainly will add weight to SACS’ concerns.
On the encouraging side, the committee that formed the school’s response
to SACS did excellent work and offered to interim President John Traylor a strong
report. Trustees basically “signed on” to the committee’s response.
John Traylor alone is responsible for issuing a response to SACS, but he was
able to send a response developed by a representative team and endorsed by trustees.
To at least this editor, it appears that if the college follows the responses
the committee formed to SACS points of concern, and the trustees basically endorsed,
the college will be stronger. SACS is certainly not an enemy of Louisiana College
that is trying to hurt it but an agency committed to guiding member schools
to maintain their academic integrity and scholastic process.
The school’s trustees meet December 13-14. They will be faced with multiple
challenges that will demand the wisdom of Solomon and the attitude of statesmen.
Many faces of concern will be turned toward them, and hopefully, many knees
of prayer will support them. In crises rest the opportunities for triumph and
growth. Louisiana Baptists believe there can be overcoming and growing and will
be praying for the best of both.