Amid an ongoing dispute about requiring faculty to sign a statement on human sexuality and gender roles, a theater professor at Ouachita Baptist University went public Oct. 20 with his intent to resign rather than sign.
Eric Phillips, chairman of the Theater Arts Department, and a Ouachita employee since 1992, said he cannot in good conscience sign the oath required by President Ben Sells and trustees. Ouachita is a school affiliated with and supported by the Arkansas State Baptist Convention.
Eric Phillips
“The president and trustees have created and implemented a faculty statement of required loyalty to Southern Baptist fundamentalist doctrine that I would have to sign if I were to continue working at Ouachita,” he wrote. “I have too many ideological and ethical issues with having to sign a promise that we as educators should all think alike, especially in an educational institution called a university, and I have Christian concerns with the contents of the statement itself. For these reasons, this will have to be my final year getting to be part of your faculty.”
Phillips said he and other faculty “have tried our best to head off this outcome, and I’ve tried to find ways to work around it, but in the end, I can’t sign a contract attached to the newly required statement.”
In spring 2025, Ouachita faculty passed a vote of no confidence in President Sells, who became the university’s president in 2016. Of 73 faculty members present at that meeting, 52 voted no confidence in Sells.
Trustees responded not by heeding the concerns of faculty but by increasing support for Sells. That included adoption of a “Statement on Sexuality, Gender and Marriage” that now has been rolled into a Statement of Affirmation.
The university’s website says the affirmation adopted by trustees in June 2026 now will be among beliefs that faculty and staff are required to affirm in writing: “Beginning with the 2027-28 academic year, they are asked to affirm the Statement of Faith, agree to uphold and not undermine the university’s statements on sexuality and on race and Christian community, and affirm Ouachita’s relationship with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.”
Ben Sells
The “Statement on Sexuality, Gender and Marriage” says: “Ouachita’s policy on human sexuality is grounded in the biblical and historical Christian view of marriage and sexual relationships and reflects its affiliation with and responsibility to Arkansas Baptist churches. While the university recognizes that not all students profess Christian faith, and that others may reach conclusions which differ from its biblical convictions, choosing to enroll at Ouachita carries the expectation that one will respect and live in accordance with the university’s values. As expressed in the biblical account of creation, God designed male and female as a beautiful expression of diversity and mutual dependence. Sex and gender are aspects of humanity that God created in harmony with one another. According to Scripture, both singleness and marriage are gifts of God. Marriage is a sacred covenant between one man and one woman, the exclusive context for virtuous sexual expression and procreation, and a symbol of Christ’s relationship with the church.”
The statement gives examples of expected behaviors: “Stewarding sexual expression with discretion and respect for God and others; chastity in singleness and faithfulness in marriage; abstaining from pornography; living with integrity in congruence with one’s birth sex, including use of pronouns; refraining from same-sex romantic or sexual relationships; and avoiding behaviors inconsistent with the university’s values.”
Despite those limitations, “the university will strive to treat all people redemptively with dignity, compassion and love. Such love reflects the grace of Jesus Christ, who offers forgiveness for all sins and calls us to follow him,” the statement says.
While many Baptist-affiliated universities have official statements on human sexuality that are similar, few require faculty and staff to sign those statements. Baylor University, for example, has a “Statement on Human Sexuality” and a “Sexual Conduct Policy” that set expectations for students, faculty and staff (expecting sexual intimacy to be confined to traditional marriage between a man and a woman), rather than requiring a signed doctrinal pledge.
So does the other OBU in Baptist life — Oklahoma Baptist University — which also is supported by conservative Southern Baptists. The Oklahoma school has a “Human Sexuality Policy” outlined in its “Faculty Handbook” that faculty and staff must abide by but are not required to sign.
Rex Nelson
Rex Nelson, senior editor and columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, is a conservative with close ties to Ouachita. He challenged the new policy in a Facebook post Oct. 20: “Sad times at my alma mater right now with these ‘loyalty oaths.’ It is time for the Ouachita board of trustees to make a course correction. I urge all friends of Ouachita to share this and contact the board members they know.”
Nelson quoted an unnamed Ouachita employee whom he said told him: “For those who think the requirement of signing a faith statement seems normal for a Christian university, please know that we already have one. We are all aware of it when we are hired. The requirement to sign this statement on an annual basis is new. The major issue is that for 140 years, Ouachita’s pattern has been to hire professing Christians who are active church members in their denominations and then trust them. Trust is in short supply under Dr. Sells.”
Last year when the faculty voted no confidence in the president, Arkansas TV station KATV cited a “culture of fear” that makes faculty members afraid of publicly speaking out.
One told the station: “If we’re teaching about issues related to gender and sexuality, which are in our curriculum and have to be in our curriculum, are we going to get in trouble for talking about the data that exists on those issues?”
A former university employee told Fox 16 television Sells has an “extremely anti-queer agenda.”
“Anybody who was supportive in any way of our students on campus who were lesbian, gay, transgender he immediately disliked,” the former employee said. “He also implemented anti-queer policies into the student handbook that would make it an offense that could get you expelled.”
In December 2025, President Sells made a report to Arkansas Baptists assuring them of the doctrinal orthodoxy of the school: “Drawing upon our Arkansas Baptist relationship, our university’s rich Christian tradition and the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, last year we added a Statement of Faith that’s clear and concise in articulating the foundational biblical beliefs of Ouachita to students, faculty and staff. …
“We’ve spoken more directly on our long-standing commitment to biblical marriage, gender and sexuality. Much in the world has changed in my 60-plus years, but the truth doesn’t change when the world says it does. And my commitment is stronger than ever for Ouachita to be a place where we do not conform to the ways of the world but are transformed by the renewing of our minds.”
To symbolize this commitment, trustees “approved the construction of a cross in the heart of campus,” he said. “This cross will serve as a symbol reminding all who walk our campus of God’s love and grace, of our calling to be a Christ-centered learning community, and of the free gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ.”
An online petition has been launched to urge the university to reconsider its requirement of faculty and staff.