HOUSTON (ABP) — Robert Sloan, controversial former president of Baylor University, appears poised to assume the presidency of Houston Baptist University, a conservative school that relates to both the fundamentalist and traditional Baptist conventions in Texas.
The HBU presidential search committee recommended Sloan at a special called meeting of the university's board of trustees Aug. 1. The board will reconvene Aug. 8 to vote on the recommendation. Sloan currently serves as Baylor's chancellor.
“God's hand has been in the prayerful and deliberate efforts of the search committee. They ultimately reached out to Robert Sloan, and — simultaneously — God's hand was guiding him to HBU,” said trustee chairman Ray Cox of Houston, who praised Sloan as “a renowned Christian educator.”
The trustees affirmed the search committee and its recommendation at the called meeting, Cox noted.
Sloan spent two days on the Houston campus meeting with the search committee and trustees, as well as other groups including the faculty, staff, alumni and students who served on the advisory search committee, a group that also affirmed the recommendation, Cox added.
Sloan also participated in campus dialogue sessions with deans, faculty, administrators and staff.
“The members of the search committee feel [Sloan's] leadership skills and vision for Christian education will make him the perfect choice to lead HBU into the future” Cox said.
If elected, Sloan will succeed Doug Hodo, who served as HBU's second president from 1987 until his retirement in July. During Hodo's tenure, HBU's endowment grew from $30 million to more than $75 million, and the school's total unrestricted revenue increased from about $13.3 million a year to $33.3 million.
Also during his time as HBU president, the university took steps to loosen its ties to the Baptist General Convention of Texas. HBU trustees voted in May 2000 to create a self-perpetuating majority on their board, rather than continuing to allow the BGCT to elect all its trustees. And three years later, HBU entered into a fraternal relationship with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, a fundamentalist group that broke away from the BGCT.
BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade praised the HBU search committee for its recommendation and said his “great hope” and expectation is that Sloan's election as president would strengthen the relationship between HBU, the BGCT, its churches and its other institutions.
“The experience and passion for Christian education Robert Sloan would bring to the role as Houston Baptist University's president signals a great future for this important institution, which is in such a strategic place in our state,” Wade said.
Sloan served as Baylor's president from 1995 to 2005 — a period marked both by significant expansion at the university and deep division within the Waco school's varied constituencies.
During the last two year's of Sloan's presidency at Baylor, the faculty senate twice gave him “no confidence” votes, and the regents voted three times on Sloan's continued employment — once coming within one vote of removing him from office. Most of the criticism centered on Baylor 2012 — the university's long-range plan to become a top-tier national school — and Sloan's implementation of it.
Supporters praised his vision for blending a commitment to strong Christian faith and high academic standards. Opponents accused Sloan of alienating longtime faculty, saddling the university with debt, sacrificing classroom teaching in favor of research and raising tuition so high that it priced Baylor out of the range of typical Texas Baptist families.
Baylor President John Lilley praised his predecessor for all that he contributed to the school, singling out Baylor 2012 as possibly “his greatest contribution” to the university.
Before becoming Baylor's president, Sloan was dean of the university's Truett Theological Seminary. He served on the Baylor religion faculty from 1983 to 1995, and he taught at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1980 to 1983.
Sloan holds a bachelor's degree from Baylor, a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a doctorate in theology from the University of Basel, Switzerland.
Sloan was born in Coleman, Texas, and grew up in Abilene. He and his wife, Sue, have seven children.
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