PINEVILLE, La. (ABP) — Trustees of Louisiana College, faced with the resignation of their chairman and the school's president, elected a new trustee leader in a closed-door, off-campus meeting July 9.
Bill Hudson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Rayne, La., announced his election as trustee chair after the meeting, which was closed to reporters and visitors, according to the Town Talk newspaper. No vote count was announced.
Hudson succeeds another pastor, Joe Nesom of First Baptist Church in Jackson, La., who resigned June 27, claiming trustees were making decisions intended to “humiliate and punish those that they despise.” A majority of the trustees already had agreed to call a special meeting to remove Nesom, who attended the meeting as a regular trustee.
The Louisiana Baptist college has been torn by controversy between the conservative majority and a moderate minority on the board. In June former President Rory Lee resigned amid controversy over new policies that require new faculty members to submit a statement outlining their “worldviews,” as well as a policy forcing faculty members to have all classroom materials approved by the academic dean.
The school also is under investigation by its accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Hudson said the investigation is “not the end of the world.”
A search committee is seeking Lee's successor. Trustee John Traylor serves as the interim president.
-30-