By Bob Allen
A “prevalent culture” of “misstating, ignoring or denying matters of documentable fact” was among concerns prompting an accrediting agency to place a Southern Baptist college in Louisiana on probation, according to a July 9 letter made public last week.
On top of the list of concerns about integrity at Louisiana College, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges found evidence of undue external influence from leadership of the Louisiana Baptist Convention.
The state affiliate of the Southern Baptist Convention owns the college and elects its trustees, but accrediting standards require that governing boards of colleges act independently of external individuals or organizations — including religious bodies — to protect the institution’s academic welfare.
Other questions in the letter, posted online after the Alexandria Town Talk newspaper obtained a copy and contacted college officials for a news story to run over the weekend, focused on alleged failure to protect “whistleblowers” in personnel evaluations, forged signatures on documents submitted to the accrediting agency and financial controls.
The letter to interim president Argile Smith warned that Louisiana College bears the “burden of proof” in demonstrating why its accreditation should not be revoked. By rule schools on probation must be within compliance of accreditation standards within two years. Just six months before the letter, Louisiana College’s accreditation was reaffirmed after two years on warning status — a sanction less severe than probation.
The July 9 letter cited “mischaracterizations” of actions by the SACS Commission on Colleges among reasons for raising questions about institutional integrity. Those include a claim the former president was exonerated from allegations in a whistleblower complaint, misrepresentation of reasons for denying the approval of a law school and a statement that SACSCOC explicitly approved a college policy.
The former president, Joe Aguillard, stepped down this summer to take a sabbatical and return to the classroom as a full-time faculty member next year. Louisiana College honored Aguillard in chapel Aug. 28, bestowing the title of president emeritus and presenting a certificate for distinguished service.
Louisiana College wasn’t the only Southern Baptist school singled out by SACSCOS in June. The agency also voted to revoke accreditation of Brewton-Parker College, which is affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention, pending a final appeal.
The appeal hearing was originally scheduled for late August but has been rescheduled for Sept. 24, said Pamela Cravey, coordinator of communications and external affairs for the accrediting commission.
Previous stories:
SACS revokes accreditation of Baptist school
SACS commission releases statement on Brewton-Parker accreditation woes