WACO (ABP) — Kenneth Starr received an enthusiastic — but not unanimous — welcome to Baylor University when he arrived at the Bill Daniel Student Center to be introduced to faculty, staff and students as the school’s president-elect Feb. 16.
Starr, best known as the independent counsel whose investigation led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, drew a standing-room-only crowd and two extended ovations during the event. Outside the building, students lined the sidewalk carrying signs — some protesting his selection by the Baylor board of regents and others expressing their support.
The Baylor board of regents had unanimously elected Starr as the Baptist university’s 14th president Feb. 12.
Affirming Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana
In his initial address to the “Baylor family,” Starr voiced his support for freedom of thought, expressing his belief that “all truth is God’s truth” and his desire to build a vibrant intellectual community where “all voices are welcome” and where governance is shared with faculty.
Starr paid homage to the past, beginning by underscoring his commitment to the university’s motto — Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana ("For the Church, for Texas"). And he touched on themes important to various Baylor constituencies.
He identified himself as a fifth-generation Texan whose family arrived in 1848, just three years after the Republic of Texas chartered Baylor University. But he noted Baylor’s impact now extends far beyond the state’s borders.
“Today, Baylor’s sphere of influence truly is the world,” he said.
Starr, whose father was a Church of Christ pastor and who has been a member of a non-denominational Bible church in suburban Washington, D.C., praised Baylor’s Baptist heritage.
“Let us give thanks for all the Baptist community continues to do around the world,” he said.
Starr praised Baylor’s entrepreneurial spirit and the culture of servant leadership it engenders and nurtures in students. He noted Baylor was home to the first student Habitat for Humanity chapter, and students are engaged in service throughout the community and the world.
Regents praise president-elect
In introducing Starr, Baylor regents chairman Dary Stone of Dallas characterized his selection as “an answer to prayer” and the result of “a lot of hard work.” He praised Starr as a distinguished academician, an exemplary Christian, a servant leader and “probably one of the greatest lawyers of our time.”
Joe Armes of Dallas, chair of the presidential-search committee, pointed to the “open, honest, inclusive process” that led to Starr’s selection. The candidate’s academic vision and his personal Christian commitment made him the committee’s unanimous choice, he noted.
“He is an articulate advocate for Christian values in the public square,” Armes said.
Advisory committee commends choice
Ken Hall, chief executive officer of Buckner International and a past president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, chaired the advisory committee that provided counsel to the presidential search committee.
“I was asked to participate in this process because of my ties to the Baptist community of faith in Texas and throughout the country. Looking at the choice of Kenneth Starr through that particular prism, I can tell you that he brings to this task an uncommon and even uncanny understanding of Baylor’s unique and distinct mission as a national Christian university with historic Baptist ties,” Hall said. “He represents the very best of what it means to be an active churchman who, along with his wife, puts his belief into action through his local congregation.”
As the leader of a Christian social-service ministry, Hall also noted he was impressed by Starr’s “progressive thinking and personal action” regarding ministry to the disadvantaged.
“It is refreshing to meet someone who combines a high academic mindset with practical application of his faith,” he said.
Jaime Diaz-Granados, chairman of the Baylor psychology and neuroscience department, served as a faculty representative on the advisory committee. He assured faculty in attendance at Starr’s public introduction as president-elect that he has demonstrated commitment to academic freedom and shared governance.
“The measure of success of any president is directly related to the success of faculty,” Diaz-Granados said, adding that Starr understands that.
'Something totally unexpected'
Regent Emeritus Drayton McLane of Temple, Texas, congratulated the search committee for the leadership they demonstrated in Starr’s selection as Baylor’s next president.
“You came up with something totally unexpected,” McLane said.
Stone introduced Thomas Phillips, retired chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court, as “the guy who came up with the name” in nominating Starr.
“It’s a little nerve-racking to be the guy who came up with the name of the guy,” Phillips acknowledged.
Phillips voiced confidence, based on Starr’s track record as a law school dean at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., that he can bring unite the Baylor community and effectively lead the university.
“It’s hard to know Ken Starr and not like him,” he said.
Challenges Starr faces
Unity in the Baylor family — or lack of it — has been a hot topic for nearly a decade.
During the last two years of Robert Sloan’s 10-year presidency at the university, the Baylor Faculty Senate twice gave him “no confidence” votes, and the board of regents voted three times on Sloan’s continuing employment. Sloan stepped down as Baylor’s president in 2005.
About nine months after Sloan and the regents agreed to the terms of his departure, the board unanimously elected John Lilley as president. Lilley had earned two degrees from Baylor and had been a licensed Baptist minister, but he had been away from Texas 40 years and had become an ordained ruling elder in Presbyterian churches in recent years. The board of regents fired him in July 2008, halfway through his contract, for failing to “bring the Baylor family together.”
A key flashpoint has been the relationship between the university’s administration and regents and the Baylor Alumni Association.
About seven years ago, Baylor developed its own alumni-services office and began publishing its own magazine mailed to alumni and donors — a move viewed as direct competition by the independent Baylor Alumni Association.
Last year, the university removed the alumni association from its toll-free phone line, alumni association staff lost their university e-mail addresses, and the alumni association link disappeared from the “Alumni and Friends” page of Baylor’s website.
In mid-September, the university presented a proposal asking the alumni association to give up its independent non-profit status and come under the authority of Baylor administration. Within six weeks, Baylor withdrew its proposal to the alumni association, citing lack of a positive response to the request.
Experience in law, academia
Starr comes to the Baylor presidency after a noted career both in legal practice and academia.
Starr served as independent counsel for five investigations between 1994 and 1999, including the death of White House counsel Vince Foster, the Whitewater real estate dealings of the Clinton family and Clinton’s sex scandal involving White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The resulting Starr Report asserted Clinton lied about his relationship with Lewinsky in a sworn deposition — an allegation that led to Clinton’s impeachment.
He was solicitor general of the United States from 1989 to 1993 and argued 25 cases before the Supreme Court. He was a federal judge on the District of Columbia Circuit Court from 1981 to 1983.
Since 2004, Starr has been the Duane and Kelly Roberts Dean and Professor of Law at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. He also is affiliated with the Kirkland & Ellis law firm, where he was a partner from 1993 to 2004.
Starr, 63, was born in Vernon and grew up in San Antonio. His father was a Church of Christ pastor, and Pepperdine is a Church of Christ school. During their years in the Washington area, Starr and his wife, Alice, became active in McLean Bible Church, a non-denominational church.
He is a graduate of George Washington University, Brown University and Duke University Law School. Early in his career, he clerked for Fifth Circuit Judge David Dyer and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger.
Starr is the author of more than 25 publications, including First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life.
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Ken Camp is managing editor of the Texas Baptist Standard.
Previous ABP stories:
Starr affirms Baylor's Baptist heritage, plans to become Baptist (2/16)