(July 23, 2008—The Baylor University Board of Regents voted Thursday in Grapevine to oust President John Lilley and begin a search for a new president.
“The decision was necessary in order to unite Baylor’s many constituencies and move the University forward in its next period of growth and renewal,” Board Chairman Dr. Howard K Batson said in a statement issued by the university.
Baylor Press Release
“The Board had hoped to transition to a new president gradually, officially beginning the presidential search in January 2009 and eventually replacing Baylor President John M. Lilley during the final portion of his five-year contract. Because plans for a gradual transition were rejected by Dr. Lilley, the Board will immediately seek a new president,” the university said.
In a statement e-mailed to the Associated Baptist Press, Lilley took issue with the decision.
"Two and a half years ago, I was invited unanimously by the board of regents to come to Baylor," Lilley said.
"I did not come to Baylor to advance my career. [Wife] Gerrie and I were reluctant, but finally were persuaded to come because of the unanimous vote and the promised prayers of the regents," he said.
"We felt that we could help to heal the wounded hearts left in the wake of the conflict that preceded us. Despite the board's unanimous vote, it became clear immediately that the Baylor board of regents reflected some of the deepest divisions in the Baylor family."
"I am proud of the work my colleagues and I have done to bring the Baylor family together and to help the university achieve the ambitious goals set forth in our mission and Vision 2012, documented in our annual report just presented to the regents," he said.
"I deeply regret the action of the board, and I do not believe that it reflects the best interests of Baylor University."
Lilley was inaugurated as the university’s 13th president in April 2006, almost exactly 45 years after he earned the first of his three degrees from the university.
Regents elected Lilley to succeed former President Dr. Robert Sloan on Nov. 4, 2005.
He took over from acting President William Underwood on Jan. 1, 2006.
Underwood meanwhile moved to Macon, Ga. where he is president of Mercer University.
He was considered the frontrunner in the search for a replacement for Sloan, but withdrew his name from consideration.
Lilley came to Waco from the University of Nevada Reno where, he had served as president since July 2001.
“I’m not a liberty to discuss the specifics of this personnel decision,” Batson said, “but we believe that Baylor must demonstrate its commitment to excellence in all areas, including communication and the building of relationships within the Baylor family.
“Change is always difficult, but Baylor has a solid leadership team in place and the university continues to experience unprecedented success in many areas. The Board is confident that the university will be able to press forward and continue its progress during this time of transition.
Former Board of Regents Chairman and current regent Harold Cunningham will serve as interim president.
“For 160 years,” Batson said, “the University’s success has been based upon the collective efforts of the entire university community working together.
In this time of transition, we know that all members of the Baylor family will ensure that Baylor continues to do what it does best – provide an outstanding education in an environment that embraces both faith and learning, delivered by the best faculty.”
Lilley earned bachelor’s degrees from Baylor in 1961 and 1962 and a master’s degree in 1964.
He received his doctorate from the University of Southern California in 1971.
He was a member of the faculty of Claremont Colleges in California from 1966 to 1976 and served as assistant dean of faculty at Scripps Colleges from 1973 to 1976 as well.
He was assistant dean of Arts and Sciences at Kansas State University from 1976 to 1980.
From 1980 to 2001, he headed Penn State Erie.
The hope was that his arrival at Baylor would signal the start of a calmer period after a decade of increasing turmoil on and off campus during Sloan’s tenure.
Saying he had become a lightning rod for controversy, Sloan and university regents agreed in January 2005 that Sloan would step down to become chancellor.
The announcement was the last chapter in a festering controversy that pitted faculty against faculty and graduate against graduate in a debate over everything from hiring practices to indebtedness and tuition rates.
The controversy bubbled to the surface in 2003 after the disappearance of Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy and the subsequent scandal that led to the resignations of the school’s head basketball coach, Dave Bliss, and its athletic director, Tom Stanton.
But it had its roots in Sloan’s ambitious Vision 2012 plan to make Baylor a top tier university within a decade, an effort that has continued.
He planned to do that by placing renewed emphasis on faculty research and by embarking on a $250 million expansion project that included new campus housing and a $103 million science building among other facilities including The Stacy Riddle Forum, The Harry and Anna Jeanes Discovery Center and a parking garage and office facility.
As part of the plan, Regents approved a flat rate tuition plan that boosted the cost of attending Baylor enough that critics complained the school had priced itself out of the reach of the students it has traditionally served.
The plan also established a two-tier faculty system—later abolished—that differentiated between teaching and research faculty.
That distinction, and concerns about what some faculty members described as a narrow theological litmus test for prospective faculty members, led to deepening divisions on and off campus.
The Baylor Faculty Senate approved a no-confidence motion in Sloan’s administration in September 2003 and reaffirmed the vote in May 2004.
Divisions notwithstanding, Sloan unquestionably left his mark on the university.
Under Sloan’s administration, enrollment grew from 12,202 in the fall of 1995 to 13,799 in the fall of 2004 and the average SAT score of entering freshmen improved during the same period from 1160 to 1190.
Minority enrollment increased by almost 5 percent during Sloan’s tenure and graduate student enrollment on the Waco campus reached an all-time high in the fall of 2004.
Almost $400 million in new facilities were constructed during Sloan’s presidency including the new sciences building, residential village and parking garages.
The campus grew from 450 acres to almost 750 acres and the once-beleaguered athletic program enjoyed unprecedented successes in the wake of the Men’s Basketball Program scandal, including national championships in tennis and women’s basketball.
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