Louisiana College: Let’s Stop Pretending.
I’ve written before about my opinion of Louisiana College’s new administration and the direction the school’s Board of Trustees has decided to take. Although I did not attend Louisiana College, several of my friends and relatives have. Just last week, one of my best friends earned a degree in history from LC.
The latest news out of LC is that its administration opted not to renew the contracts of Lori Thames, Dean of Student Affairs, and Maradee Kern, Professor of English. To the general public, this may just seem like a routine personnel decision, but to many current and former students, this is yet another sign that their school is being taken away from them.
Until today, I hadn’t heard of Ms. Thames, but I know that her job at LC was an important one, essentially a liason between the student body and the administration. It makes sense to me that the new administration would want to install their own person (crony) in this position.
Although I have never met Professor Kern, I have heard a lot about her. Ms. Kern has a great reputation with her students, and I know many of them who will be very saddened to learn of LC’s decision. (One of my friends had signed up for a class with Ms. Kern next semester). Ms. Kern also seems to be a bit of a blogger herself, and as evident from her last entry, she was not anticipating that she’d be terminated.
But why, you ask, does all of this really matter?
It matters to me for a few reasons.
Louisiana College calls itself Louisiana College. It’s not Louisiana Baptist College. We all know it’s affiliated with the Southern Baptist Church, but many other fine schools have religious affiliations. Religion should not impede on the ability of a school to create an environment that promotes the OPEN exchange of ideas.
I believe LC should lose its accreditation immediately. I believe that the present administration has sufficiently demonstrated its unwillingness to compromise on issues of personal belief and academic freedom. They have pillaged the school of many of its best professors. They have trampled on the individual rights of students and professors. They have made a mockery of higher education by instructing professors of all fields to adhere to a manifesto drafted by the Southern Baptist Convention. And they have added insult to injury by demanding that all professors agree to relinquish their God-given right to enjoy a glass of wine in a nice restaurant (or anywhere else deemed with the ambiguous label of “public”).
I must remind readers that LC accomplished all of this because the Board of Trustees wanted to install their own man as Dean, no matter who or what stood in their way. They took this school over from the outside, and then, they somehow convinced people in their moral and religious superiority. It didn’t matter that they broke precedent. It didn’t matter who the Search Committee had selected. They claimed to know the righteous path for LC’s future, and because of their direct relationship with the Almighty, they could skip around whatever they wanted in order to get their man in control. They were sued for this, but it didn’t matter. Ultimately, colleges are self-governed, and if the Board wants to turn LC into a Bible School, they can do just that.
I know many of you are probably thinking that LC is not really becoming a Bible School. Well, yes it is. Bible School is one of those umbrella terms. It doesn’t mean that soon LC will only be teaching the Bible. In this case, it means that LC is attempting to inject the Southern Baptist belief system into every academic discource. If LC truly wants to become a Bible School, then it should go ahead and join the leagues of the other prestigious fundamentalist schools, Bob Jones University and Liberty University. Like LC, Bob Jones and Liberty also offer courses in the hard sciences and the humanities, though every lesson is set against the backdrop of their own unique Christian dogma.
I know LC was on academic probation not long ago. Remember? (Oh, and you can’t forget that they BANNED Scott Peck’s The Road Less Traveled and Ernest Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying. Banned because they were intimidated by the lowest common denominator). I’m not sure much has changed since they were taken off of academic probation, and although I know it will pain many students and professors to see their beloved school stripped entirely of its accreditation, I believe it’s the only way to force a real decision from the new administration. Rather than let them slowly erode your school, choking departments of resources, terminating good professors, and censoring lesson plans and textbooks, give them an ultimatum, make them decide.
CenLamar 
If I were in charge of SACS, I would have stripped LC’s accreditation a long time ago. It doesn’t seem like anything has changed at all… even members of the current graduating class believe it’s going downhill. I will say, however, that LC may be a little better off without Thames’ strongarm management tactics, although they will probably replace her with an even more brutal and arbitrary disciplinarian… one who will also take orders.
Yeah. I’m not sure why they took them off of suspension. Did it just expire? Either way, nothing has changed. Things have only gotten worse.
At this point there is NOTHING that the President can do that you will not find fault in . If he wants to hire whoever as his Vice President or Dean then he has that right. I bet if it were a President you supported you would applaud his right to hire his own “team” You attack his decision without knowing ANYTHING about why he might want to replace them I think THAT shows real narrow mindedness. Perhaps the same type of narrowmindedness that you accuse those you do not even know.
No, my friend, there are many things that the “President” can do that I would agree with. I understand that he has the “right” to hire whoever or whatever he wants, but that does not necessarily mean that his decisions are in the best interest of those he represents.
It’s an interesting argumentative point that you make, but I’m not biting the bait.
I don’t have anything “personal” against the present LC administration. My problem is with their professional decisions. There is a big distinction here.
Perhaps, in your mind, I am displaying “real narrow mindedness,” but if anything, I think that those of us who demand a more inclusive LC are being more open-minded than those who willingly follow the decisions of their chosen leader. No offense, friend. Just think about it. You offered no specific details illuminating his decision-making process. Instead, you implied that he MUST know something that I do not. Well, if this is the truth, please, make your case for all of us.
Secondly, your hypothetical argument that I would support the every decision of someone I already support is tautological. Sorry, my friend, in my humble opinion, you’re running in circles here.
Again, respond with substance and I will respond accordingly. But these hypothetical, tautological, and name-calling arguments accomplish absolutely nothing.
Lamar – I think anonymous has a point. The President does have a right to place people in those positions that he feels is in keeping with his preferences. Just because you don’t agree with his decisions doesn’t make them wrong. I think he’s going to have to do a lot more than replace a couple of people to get their accreditation “yanked”.
Scarlett: He has caused the retirement and/or resignations of more than just a couple of people, but I suppose that is beside the point. I don’t disagree that the President of LC has the right to place people in positions that keep with his preferences. I just disagree with his decisions.
I’m just going to jump in here very quickly…when did the term liberal arts college ever fit with a baptist college? Having attended Emerson College in Boston I can tell you “liberal arts” does not jive with “baptist college” never has…never will.
The fact is that LC was a reasonably respected bible belt institution that was a great resource for Central Louisiana when it had a shred of academic credibility. Many of our local physicians and attorneys got their precursor degrees at LC. In those days it served up a passable education along with it’s theme of intolerance and myopic dogmatic world view. It no longer has the reputation or capacity to educate or prepare students for anything but careers as “ministers of music” whatever the hell that is, and vocations of like ilk. But, it reflects the central louisiana mentality. By the way, Emerson really has too narrow a focus and concentration to be a true “liberal arts” institution.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
liberal arts
One entry found for liberal arts.
Main Entry: liberal arts
Function: noun plural
1 : the medieval studies comprising the trivium and quadrivium
2 : the studies (as language, philosophy, history, literature, abstract science) in a college or university intended to provide chiefly general knowledge and to develop the general intellectual capacities (as reason and judgment) as opposed to professional or vocational skills
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