Posted: 9/5/03

CENTER STAGE MINISTRY:
Arts camp in Fort Worth

By Kambry Bickings

Buckner News Service

FORT WORTH–Rather than offering children a week spent at camp away from home, Buckner Benevolences, Broadway Baptist Church and the Booker T. Sparks School for the Performing Arts brought a camp experience to more than 100 at-risk children.

The three-week, all-day arts camp, held in the hot summer heat, offered children ages 8 to 18 exposure to the performing arts and a chance to participate in acting, dance, music, voice and technical theater classes, all designed to impact the artistic and social development of each participant.

“There is little room left in a school educators' busy and focused learning plans for the emphasis on the arts, creativity and the development of basic social skills,” explained Scott Waller, Buckner program director for community services. Buckner and Broadway work year-round in a ministry partnership.

“Various genres of music and dance provide an excellent vehicle for encouraging and developing a cooperative spirit among participants,” he said. “This camp allows children to explore their own creative voice and develop confidence in the validity of their own self-expression.”

Broadway Baptist Church provides a place for a Buckner-sponsored after-school program for children ages 6 to 12 in the Pennsylvania Place apartment complex, located next to the church. Last year, Broadway and Buckner contracted with Booker T. Sparks to offer weekly dance and drama classes for teens from Pennsylvania Place. After last year's success, Booker T. Sparks approached Broadway this year about hosting the more comprehensive summer arts camp.

“We saw an opportunity to serve both the children of the Booker T. Sparks program as well as our own kids from Pennsylvania Place,” said Dan Freemyer, Broadway's director of community ministries.

Each morning of the arts camp, the halls of Broadway were filled with the voices and music of children rotating among four arts classes–music, drama, dance and theatrical arts.

The city of Fort Worth's free lunch program, which also sponsors the arts camp, provided lunch each day.

The afternoons featured a spiritual development class, combined with the opportunity for each child to re-visit his or her favorite arts activity.

The camp culminated with a performance featuring camp participants of excerpts from the Broadway musical “Fame.”

Artistically and spiritually, the summer arts camp provided children and youth a chance to learn more about themselves, their interests, and the way God created them, Waller said.

“Arts education helps students by initiating them into a variety of ways of perceiving and thinking. We try to connect the child and the experience, helping to bridge the gap between verbal and nonverbal, in order to gain a better understanding of the whole person.”

Children entusiastically rehearse a song at the summer arts camp sponsored by Buckner Benevolences, Broadway Baptist Church of Fort Worth and Booker T. Sparks School.

Posted: 9/5/03

Asian youth cross cultures and border

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

The gospel broke through cultural and language barriers during a recent mission trip along the Texas-Mexico border.

Fourteen people from Asian-American Baptist Church of Houston traveled to McAllen to serve about 70 youth in nearby Alton and in Reynosa, Mexico. The Houston church members provided Vacation Bible Schools at Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel in Alton and an orphanage in Mexico.

The church sought a way to make a lasting impact in a different culture, according to Pastor Long Le. Although some church members had worked on building projects in the past, most had not shared the gospel during a mission trip, he said.

“I wanted them to do more actual ministry,” Le explained. “I wanted to do something where we felt we left something behind.”

Despite language and cultural differences, volunteers communicated the gospel well with the help of members from a partnering church, Christ the Good Shepherd Baptist Church in McAllen, said Vincent Sadikin, youth shepherd of the Houston church.

The churches partnered through a connection in the Baptist General Convention of Texas intercultural initiatives office.

Several Alton and Reynosa youth made professions of faith in Christ during the church's weeklong effort that included crafts and recreational activities, Sadikin said.

“For most of these kids, it was their first experience to share the gospel,” Sadikin said. “It excited them. It renewed them spiritually.”

The opportunity to work with Asian-American Baptist Church taught leaders at Christ the Good Shepherd Baptist Church, a largely Filipino congregation, new ways to relate to the Hispanic culture around them.

Sergio Bautista, pastor of the McAllen church, said he believes the experience will help his church become more involved in his community.

The trip also gave the Houston church a vision to be a multicultural church, Le added.

Posted: 9/5/03

Associational leaders face changing
environment amid diverse churches

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Diversity, politics and ministry issues are challenging existing associational structures, according to directors of missions across the state.

In recent years, churches left some associations to form new groups because of these issues, making directors of missions' work more complex, said Lorenzo Peña, director of associational missions for the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Tom Billings, director of missions for Union Baptist Association, has seen a strictly Southern Baptists of Texas Convention-aligned association form in the Houston area as well as a largely Hispanic association form during his tenure.

Like many associational leaders, he is working to unify churches that serve different population segments. Houston is an extremely diverse area where one-third of the population in Harris Country does not speak English. Different ethnicities are less inclined to assimilate into American society but prefer a “mosaic” society where each culture retains its distinctiveness, he reported.

To accommodate their churches, Union Baptist Association leaders have designed materials in multiple languages, and several staff members are fluent in Spanish. The association tries to honor what various cultures add to its ministry, Billings said.

For Tim Randolph, director of missions for Tri-Rivers Baptist Association, diversity occurs in the form of ministries. While his area consists of many traditional congregations, he also serves contemporary, cowboy and emerging generation churches. Each must be dealt with differently.

“The monolithic approach is gone,” he reported. “We're having to assist our churches individually.”

Because of their proximity to churches, associations deal with population shifts and emerging cultures before conventions, Peña said. The association will feel the movement of an ethnic population in an area before a state or national convention.

“They're really the frontline,” Peña said. “Associations are the first ones to know how it is changing and what they need.”

While associations are the first group beyond the church to feel diversity issues, political ideologies have trickled down from the national and state levels to affect their work.

Churches are choosing sides between the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. Seven new associations are uniquely affiliated with the SBTC, while one association is uniquely aligned with the BGCT. That association has not been formally recognized or funded by the BGCT.

There also are about four SBTC fellowships within Baptist associations. Although the SBTC does not encourage churches to form new associations, one fellowship recently grew into an association, according to Casey Perry, director of the newer convention's minister-church relations office.

However, 111 associations call churches from both conventions together to cooperate in ministry, Perry said.

The BGCT continues to provide significant funding for associational missions. In 2004, the BGCT will budget $388,000 to help with associational training and development opportunities and program support. Associations also will receive a projected $500,000 through the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions. Those funds will help support associational projects statewide, with about $210,000 going to the five metropolitan associations–Tarrant Baptist Association, Union Baptist Association, Dallas Baptist Association, San Antonio Baptist Association and El Paso Baptist Association.

The dual convention system makes associational work more convoluted, according to leaders. Choosing speakers and materials for conferences is more difficult because associations do not want to exclude churches. Directors of missions also must remember convention affiliation when supplying resources to congregations.

“You have some associations that are 50/50,” Randolph said. “That complicates everything we do. It's just more complex than it ought to be.”

Wayne Keller, director of missions for Midland-Odessa Baptist Area, said the formation of an SBTC association in the Permian Basin has not changed the way he approaches his work.

“I just do business like I've always done–try to care for them as much as I can,” he said.

Politics also can be a divisive issue in some associations, and each director must make personal choices on how to handle it, Peña said. While some directors are trying to remain neutral, he advocates taking a stand for personal beliefs.

“I personally don't think you need to maintain neutrality,” he asserted. “Just because you take a stand doesn't mean you can't help all your churches.”

A newer development is the emergence of non-geographic associations. The BGCT has recognized and started funding the efforts of Asociacion Bautista Norte Centro. A group of largely Hispanic churches started the Asociacion Bautista Latino Americano.

Most recently, a group of South Texas churches formed the Borderlands Baptist Association, a BGCT-only group. Director of Missions Eliud Guzman indicated the group emerged from a desire to focus on church starting.

The emergence of non-geographic associations caused the State Missions Commission to further define its funding channels. A BGCT church can receive State Missions Commission funds only through one association. If a church believes its association is unable to meet the congregation's financial needs, it can apply directly to the BGCT for funding.

Rather than focusing on the differences churches have within an association, leaders should seek to find the purpose of their organization, according to Peña. In today's rapidly changing world, knowing the association's mission is vitally important.

“Associations are constantly having to define their purpose,” Peña said. “The big question is why do associations exist? I think where the association answers that question they'll find their purpose and God-given mission.”

Billings agreed that with a mission field as big as Texas, Baptists must unite around reaching the non-believers, not dividing among themselves.

“What we need is a commonly shared vision we can be bound around,” he said.

“The monolithic approach is gone. We're having to assist our churches individually.”

Posted: 9/5/03

Around the State

Seminary extension classes will be offered on the Sweetwater campus of Texas State Technical College as a ministry of First Church in Sweetwater and the seminaries of the Southern Baptist Convention. The classes offered will be New Testament Survey Part 1 and Old Testament Survey, Part 1 with Tuesday and Thursday meeting times.

Anniversaries

Doug Holtzclaw, 25th, as pastor of First Church in Goldthwaite July 7. A luncheon and program will be held in his honor at the Mills County Civic Center at noon Sept. 21. For more information, call (325) 648-3369.

Jo Batson, fifth, as minister of family life at South Main Church in Pasadena Aug. 24.

First Church in Schulenburg held a dedication service for its new playground earlier this summer. Site preparation and assembly of the equipment for the 5,000-square-foot playground was done by church members. Pictured are Pastor Jeff Atchison; Keith Hansen, building and grounds committee; Minister of Music and Youth Kari Ginn; Carla Romine, playground committee chairperson; Robert Gall, playground committee; and Vernon Zimmermann, building and grounds committee.

Michael Blackburn, 10th, as pastor of Trinity Church in Dayton Sept. 13.

First Church in Harker Heights, 40th, Sept. 14. For more information, call (254) 699-9184. Jay Thomas is pastor.

Larry Venable, 20th, as pastor of Freeman Heights Church in Garland Sept. 14. In addition to a special recognition in both morning services, a luncheon will be held, followed by a 1:30 p.m. celebration service. He formerly was pastor of Arlington Heights Church in Fort Worth.

Liberty-Eylau Church in Texarkana, 55th, Sept. 14. A meal will be provided following the morning service. An afternoon service will include singing, recognitions and testimonies. To make reservations for the lunch, call (903) 823-7526. Dwight Lowrie is pastor.

Nolan River Road Church in Cleburne, 15th, Sept. 14. A barbecue dinner and celebration service will follow the morning service. Larry York is pastor.

Eastern Hills Church in Garland, 50th, Sept. 20-21. Homecoming festivities will begin at 4:30 p.m. with a display of church history memorabilia and fellowship. Dinner and a program featuring preacher and humorist Lou Brown will begin at 6 p.m. Former pastor Billy Joe Tate will preach in the Sunday morning service. For more information, call (972) 240-2946. David Hall is pastor.

First Church of Urbandale in Dallas, 70th, Sept. 21. A celebration service will begin at 10 a.m. in which former ministers Josh Guajardo and David Burcham will participate. A luncheon and fellowship will follow. For more information, call (214) 381-2137. Bill Lundy is pastor.

Live Oak First Church in San Antonio, 25th, Sept. 21. The celebration will include a luncheon and an afternoon program featuring a bluegrass gospel group, Blue Creek, and former staff member Steve Branson. Country gospel artist Clifton Jansky will sing and speak during the morning service. For more information, call (210) 656-8200. Donald Valenta is pastor.

Gahlen Warren, fifth, as pastor of Fellowship Missionary Church in Sherman Sept. 27.

James Collins, fifth, as music minister at First Church in Palacios.

College Heights Church in Cleburne, 50th, Oct. 12. Mark Ely is pastor.

Hayden Church in Wills Point, 125th, Oct. 18-19. Former staff and members are asked to contact the church at (903) 873-3420. Toby Irwin is pastor.

Betty Meeks and Clara Kinamon were two of many on hand for the unveiling of a historical marker from the Texas Historical Commission at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Farmersville this summer. The church was established in 1854, but dwindled to just Meeks and Kinamon before a resurgence in recent years saw hundreds attending again. Billy Harris is pastor.

Rittenhouse Church in Houston, 50th, Oct. 18-19. Several former pastors have confirmed they will be in attendance. Former members are asked to provide contact information at (713) 695-3463 or maxine@rittenhousebc.org. Clay Bowers is pastor.

Events

Alex and Janice Powell were commissioned as Mission Service Corps volunteers at First Church in Canyon Lake.

First Church in Sugar Land held a groundbreaking and dedication service at the new property Sept. 7. Scott Rambo is pastor.

“Christ, Our Single Focus” will be the theme for a singles conference to be held from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. Sept. 13 at First Church in Baytown. Speakers include Don Piper, John Redmond, John Sherrill, Linda Boone, Mike Schumacher, Becky Bridges, Larry Collison, Gary Peil, Bill Sicloa, Tina Wash and Gale Yandell. Topics include “Grieving and Growing Through Divorce,” “Single Parenting,” “Dating Today” and others. The cost is $30. To register call (281) 422-3604.

Brentwood Church in Houston will hold special services and a picnic to celebrate the church's 38 years of service to the community Sept. 21. Joe Samuel Ratliff is pastor.

Vance Greek, “The Golden Voice of Branson,” will perform in concert at First Church in Wimberley Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. Bill Jones is pastor.

New Hope Church in Cleburne will hold a camp meeting Oct. 19 at 10 a.m. A trail ride beginning at 8 a.m. will precede the morning service. Dennis Swanberg will be the guest speaker for the event and No Turning Back the guest musicians. For more information, call (817) 645-8765. David Marchbanks is pastor.

Retiring

Merle Blado, as pastor of First Church in Sealy, Aug. 31. He was the church's pastor 33 years.

Deaths

Dorothy Green, 82, Aug. 3 in Lubbock. She was the wife of retired pastor Lomer Green, who served in Louisiana, El Paso, Fort Hancock, Ashland, Big Spring, Kermit and Odessa. She is survived by her husband; brother, Joe Welzel; daughters, Beverly Vincent and Marie Vaughn; sons, Fred and L.D.; and eight grandchildren.

Era Skaggs, 97, Aug. 18 in Plainview. She was a graduate and also a biology instructor at Simmons College, now Hardin-Simmons University. The newly renovated HSU faculty-staff lounge in the Moody Student Center is dedicated to Skaggs and her sisters, Euna and Eva. Her sisters were long-time professors at HSU. A long time resident of Abilene before moving to a hospice in her last days, she was a member of First Church in Abilene. She was preceded in death by her husband, Roy; brothers, J.W. and John Paul Rudd; and her sisters. She is survived by her son, Skipper Skaggs; daughter, Lannie Cook; five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Vivian Reagan, 79, Aug. 20 in San Angelo. A missionary to Colombia and Ecuador from 1949 to 1954, her first husband, Julius Hickerson, died in a plane crash in the Andes Mountains in 1951 on the way home from planning a new seminary in Cali, Colombia. After completing a term in Cartagena and Cali, and another in Guayaquil, Ecuador, she taught in public schools across Texas. She moved to Baptist Memorials Center upon retirement. She was preceded in death by her second husband, Jake Reagan, in 1996. She is survived by her daughter, Julianne Williams; brothers, Lindsay and J.W. Dunn; and three grandchildren.

George Sill, 56, Sept. 2 in Waxahachie. He was a member of First Church in Waxahachie. He is survived by his wife, Becky; son, George Jr.; and one grandson.

Licensed

Bill Spriggs and D. Lowrie to the ministry at Liberty-Eylau Church in Texarkana.

Ordained

David Jackson to the ministry at Lexington Church in Corpus Christi.

Terry Burnett to the ministry at Brighton Park Church in Corpus Christi.

Rayford Smith to the ministry at San Patricio Church in San Patricio.

Terry Whitmire and John Dix Jr. as deacons at Mount Sinai Church in Corpus Christi.

Andy McCormick, William Moroz and Derrell Smith as deacons at Chalk Bluff Church in Waco.

Mike Lonigro and Jason Nichols as deacons at First Church in Canyon Lake.

Randy Epps, Doyle Landers, Harlan Midriff, Ray Miller, Raymond Patton, Jim Shaw and Robert Wagoner as deacons at Holly Brook Church in Hawkins.

Colin Bailey, Philip Crawford, Newman Lloyd, Bruce Pescshel and Milton Smith as deacons at First Church in Hillsboro.

Richard Pafford and Darrel Wallace as deacons at Turnersville Church in Gatesville.

Revivals

First Church, Hughes Springs; Sept. 7-10; evangelist, Paul Burleson; music, Michael Bridges; pastor, Mickey Rorex.

Black Jack Church, Rockdale; Sept. 12-14; evangelist, Billy Don Klinglesmith; pastor, Jimmy Haile.

Indian Hills Church, Grand Prairie; Sept. 14-17; evangelist, Clark Bosher; music, Jim Cash; pastor, Doug Simon.

First Church, Harker Heights; Sept. 17-21; evangelist, Wes Massey; music, Don Thornton; pastor, Jay Thomas.

Second Church, Abilene; Sept. 17-21; evangelist, John Prim; music, Jack Staples; pastor, Joe Prim.

Ivanhoe Church, Ivanhoe; Sept. 21-24; evangelists, Cody and Laurie Deevers; pastor, Craig Ludwig.

vocational evangelist

Posted: 9/5/03

Cosby visits Baylor, but critics still aren't laughing

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

WACO–Comedian Bill Cosby came to Waco Sept. 4 to cheer up the Baylor University community, but critics of the athletic department, president and the university's 10-year vision continued to find little to laugh about.

Cobsy, who spoke in the university's Ferrell Center last year, volunteered to donate his time to help console Baylor students in the wake of basketball player Patrick Dennehy's summer murder.

Meanwhile, both critics and supporters of the administration remained busy beating the drum for their causes.

A group called Friends of Baylor University held a pep rally Aug. 29 to show their support for the university and President Robert Sloan. The group was formed by Waco businessman Clifton Robinson, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald.

“One thing is crystal clear: Issues of personality cannot dictate the future of Baylor University,” he told the crowd of about 100 supporters. “It is imperative that all voices be heard and public opinion not be swayed by a small vocal minority with a different agenda.”

To refute the assertion of critics that donations to Baylor are decreasing, the group presented Sloan with a check for $1 million to be added to the university's endowment.

A group called the Committee to Restore Integrity to Baylor countered the next day with an advertisement in the Tribune-Herald expressing “no confidence” in Sloan's leadership.

Spokesman for that group was Gale Galloway, an Austin businessman who was chairman of the Baylor board of regents when Sloan was elected president in 1995.

“We did a great disservice in putting Robert in that job, because he didn't have a single day's experience running an organization,” Galloway told the Waco newspaper.

Faculty groups continued to express both support and criticism for Sloan as well.

One day after a member of the Faculty Senate announced plans to call for a vote of no confidence in the president, he was removed from the elected body on a technicality.

Ben Kelley, dean of engineering and computer science, the area in which Faculty Senate member Henry Walbesser teaches, drew attention to a previously overlooked rule in the senate's governing documents. Walbesser was ousted from the senate because he had missed four meetings during the academic year.

Ironically, Walbesser missed the meetings because he was on sabbatical doing research, a fulfillment of the new demands on Baylor professors for which some have criticized Sloan.

The Faculty Senate is to meet Sept. 9, and some faculty said they still would call for a vote of no confidence in the president, even if Walbesser is not allowed to participate.

However, some professors reported they felt pressured by their deans not to speak out against the president or to vote against him in the Faculty Senate.

While as many as 100 faculty members rallied behind the president in a formal event kicking off the new school year and flooded regents with e-mails and faxes supportive of Sloan, an alumni critic said she thinks the effort was coordinated.

Bette Miller, daughter of former Baylor President Abner McCall, cited an email sent Aug. 21 from a Baylor administrator to all tenure-track faculty. That e-mail urged the newer faculty members to “send an e-mail titled: VOTE OF CONFIDENCE” and copy a short message: “As a Baylor family member, I would like to take this opportunity to voice my 'vote of confidence' for President Robert Sloan and his administration.”

The administrator's solicitation provided e-mail addresses for regents and urged faculty to “highlight these e-mail addresses and paste them into the 'To' section of your e-mail.”

This “explains why the regents are receiving 'hundreds' of faxes/e-mails in support of Sloan,” Miller charged. “Of course, we also ask our loyal opposition members to write the regents, but there's an important difference–we're not their employers, with control over their job security, raises, tenure, assignments, etc.; and we don't have the capability of checking their outgoing e-mail to see if they've complied with our requests.”

Sloan supporters within the faculty and administration have said privately for several months that they believe former Baylor President Herbert Reynolds has been a driving force behind criticism of Sloan, although Reynolds has kept publicly silent on the matter.

Reynolds broke that silence in a late-August interview with the Tribune-Herald, however.

The newspaper asked Reynolds if he is behind the persistent criticism of Sloan from alumni and faculty. He acknowledged that over the past eight years he has been contacted by “hundreds of individuals concerning Baylor's leadership and direction.”

He did not become actively involved in the cause until last fall, he said, when “I decided I was not going to sit by and watch Baylor undergo a transformation engineered by a small coterie of individuals who, in my opinion, want to impose their own particular worldview on Baylor.” This worldview, he charged, “will lead to a more autocratic milieu, a violation of individual soul competency that has been the bedrock of Baptist principles for centuries, and a general loss of freedom and personal volition in both religious and academic matters.”

While fending off criticism of the athletic program, the president and the 10-year vision, Baylor regents faced criticism on yet another front as the new school began.

Some Baylor alumni and Sloan critics charged the self-perpetuating board stood on the brink of electing former Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Young to the board. The speculation reached such a pitch that one of Baylor's biggest benefactors, John Baugh, wrote a letter to regents Chairman Drayton McLane expressing his concern.

Although not naming Young, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Houston, Baugh wrote that he had “information from several credible sources” that the board's nominating committee intended to recommend “one or more prominent fundamentalist preachers” to become regents.

Young has been a leader of the fundamentalist movement within the SBC, the movement that a decade ago caused the Baylor board to declare itself self-perpetuating. Then-President Reynolds and the board leadership feared a takeover of the university akin to the changes then happening at SBC seminaries.

The story appeared in the Tribune-Herald and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and was picked up by the Baptist website EthicsDaily.com. Young did not comment to any of the media outlets.

Sloan and Baylor spokesman Larry Brumley both denied Young was being considered for the board.

“I have never heard Ed Young's name mentioned by any of our regents in connection with a place on Baylor's board,” Sloan told EthicsDaily.com. “I don't know how some of these rumors get started. I'm kind of amazed at these things.”

Brumley called the story a “malicious rumor” that is “totally baseless.”

On the legal front, Dennehy's father filed a lawsuit against the university, alleging his son intended to expose improprieties in the Baylor basketball program, leading to “violent threats” against him and a cover-up that resulted in his murder.

Patrick Dennehy Sr. seeks unspecified damages against the university, Sloan, McLane, former Athletic Director Tom Stanton, former Coach Dave Bliss, assistant coaches Doug Ash and Rodney Belcher, Assistant Athletic Director Paul Bradshaw and Baylor booster William Stevens.

Posted: 9/5/03

Baylor team assesses needs for educational aid in Iraq

By Judy Long

Baylor University

WACO–A Baylor University team hopes to help Iraqis chart a new course for higher education.

Three Baylor professors and an alumnus recently returned from a nine-day assessment trip to two Iraqi universities.

Bill Mitchell, director of Baylor's Center for International Education, Bill Baker, Arabic language professor, and Mark Long, director of Baylor's Middle East studies program; were accompanied by Dick Hurst, a medical doctor and Baylor graduate from Tyler.

They traveled to northern Iraq in response to a request from the president of Dohuk University. Baylor and Dohuk signed an exchange agreement in 1996, but no activity followed during Saddam Hussein's years in power.

Mitchell, Baker and Long all are retired U.S. Air Force officers. With Hurst they made the five-hour drive to Dohuk from Diyarbakir, Turkey, through remote areas of southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq, crossing through the Habur Gate checkpoint. The professors have a command of a variety of the region's languages, including Turkish, Arabic and Hebrew.

A robust city of 250,000, Dohuk lies in the Kurdish sector of Iraq and claims Dohuk University, a school of 3,000 predominantly Kurdish undergraduate and graduate students. The school organized initially with medical and agricultural faculties in the 1960s, then expanded to liberal arts.

The Baylor team conducted needs assessments for Dohuk and Mosul universities and made initial contact with the presidents of Salahaddin University in Irbil and Sulaimani University in Sulaimani, a city named for King Solomon.

At each of the universities, the team met professors, often American-trained, who were limited by a lack of books, journals and other educational materials.

Baylor is looking at how it can make a humanitarian educational contribution to the reconstruction effort in Iraq, Mitchell said. “The higher education system was essentially destroyed by events preceding and following the war. Saddam allowed it to become politicized and corrupt, then campuses were physically destroyed by vandalism after the war by the Iraqi criminal element.

The group at a checkpoint entering Kurdistan.

“They need support in curriculum development and facilities, equipment, library support, infrastructural support–virtually every area,” he added.

One telling sign of dictatorial rule could be seen in the university's libraries, which the team noted were smaller than many educated Americans keep in their homes.

“If Texans just took duplicate books off their shelves and sent them to Iraqi schools, it would be a wealth to the institutions,” said Baker, who grew up as the son of Baptist missionaries to northern Israel.

“Any help we could give them would be welcomed and greatly appreciated,” he noted. “We have so much, and they have so little.”

Officials at Dohuk were proud to claim being the first Iraqi university to have an exchange agreement with a U.S. university.

Of the universities the team visited, Mosul University, 50 miles southeast of Dohuk, suffered the most from vandalism attacks. During the unrest, vandals looted and set fire to the school's computer lab, a tactic Long said was used to destroy records of Saddam's supporters. The university owned more than 4,000 computers before the war, but because of looting, they lost all but 500, including everything in the computer center. Fewer than 25 home computers donated by professors now comprise the computer lab.

The professors talked with the lab's director, who told them he watched 25 years of his life perish the night looters set fire to the computer center.

“For the Baylor team, the trip was both heartbreaking and energizing,” Long said. “The devastation and poverty broke our hearts. But we found the resilience of the Iraqi people and their desire to partner with Baylor University in helping rebuild higher education in the country to be extraordinarily encouraging.”

The group saw active Christian churches throughout the region meeting with missionaries supported by Texas Baptists. In one village, an impromptu outdoor worship service evolved as Kurdish villagers gathered around the team and began to pray and sing.

When they returned to the U.S., the team met with key administrators at Baylor to discuss ways to help Iraqi schools.

The needs are so extensive the first task for Baylor is to prioritize them, Mitchell said. “We are working with the administration to determine what should be addressed first, and we are communicating with the various deans and department heads to determine exactly what kind of support we can offer in various academic areas.”

“There is, unquestionably, a difficult road ahead, but I am confident Baylor and other American universities will be part of a remarkable transformation in Iraq,” Long said.

Baylor will have a chance to get the word out to other American universities about Iraq's educational needs this fall. On Sept. 23 and 24, Mitchell will report to the Mid-America Universities International Conference, an annual meeting of directors of international education and coordinators of international programs, to be held at Baylor this year.

He also will report to the Consortium for Global Education, an association of private colleges and universities, in Abilene Sept. 25-26.

Posted: 9/5/03

Sloan welcomes students, vows to stay put

By Jenny Hartgraves

Special to the Standard

WACO–Robert Sloan has no intention to resign as Baylor University's president, despite the desire of some Faculty Senate members to seek a vote of “no-confidence” in his leadership, he told reporters Aug. 21.

Even if the Faculty Senate passes such a vote at its Sept. 9 meeting, the decision ultimately rests with the university's board of regents, he said.

As controversy has mounted at Baylor over the summer–ranging from discontent over the university's direction, faculty hiring and tenure decisions, the disappearance and death of a basketball player and revelations of misconduct by the men's basketball coach–Sloan repeatedly has noted that he serves at the pleasure of the regents and plans to keep pursuing his vision for Baylor as long as they want him to lead.

At a media conference scheduled before Sloan welcomed new students to campus, more than 100 faculty members attended to show support of the president and his policies. Baylor has about 560 tenured or tenure-track faculty members.

“I've heard and felt the overwhelming support of the majority,” Sloan said, adding that the reported call for a vote of no confidence was “only representative of a small group.”

Sloan also announced the launch of an online alumni-support network, www.friendsofbaylor.net, founded by an independent group desiring to highlight positive aspects of Baylor's Vision 2012, the Sloan administration's long-range plan for the university.

After Sloan addressed the media, he met with new students and their families at the President's Picnic on the campus quadrangle.

“These have been difficult days for our nation and campus,” he told the incoming students. “But today we're celebrating what I think is the first of the greatest years of your life.”

Sloan praised the faculty and pledged his commitment to make Baylor the “finest possible education you can receive.” He encouraged students to grow both personally and spiritually.

“Think about your faith,” he urged, “and discover God's calling on your life.”

Julie Naugher, 18, said she was thankful to arrive at Baylor despite the controversy.

“People in the dorms were talking about Dr. Sloan and everything that's happened,” Naugher said. “But for the most part, everyone's excited to be here and ready for school to start.”

Jenny Hartgraves is a Baylor senior majoring in journalism. She served this summer as an intern with the Baptist Standard.

9/5/03

BRAIN TRUST:
Survivor returns to children's home

By Miranda Bradley

Texas Baptist Children's Home

ROUND ROCK–Kip Osborne thinks he's lucky to be the new campus life supervisor at Texas Baptist Children's Home in Round Rock.

But he also thinks he's lucky to be anywhere at all.

Osborne previously worked for the Baptist General Convention of Texas agency from 1991 to 1994 as a specialist with at-risk and runaway youth. He left to pursue a master's degree at Baylor University.

His life flipped upside down in 1995, however, while working as an elementary school music teacher. A persistent headache forced him to ring the front office from his classroom. But as he reached for the call button, he collapsed, knocking out his front two teeth and leaving a room of third graders afraid he was dead.

When he woke up in the hospital, he was told he had a brain tumor.

Osborne recently had become engaged to his girlfriend, Lisa, and they were planning a wedding the next month. But Osborne wondered if he would live to walk to the altar.

An initial surgery revealed a colloid cyst that was immoveable through suction. The next step was major brain surgery–including the possibilities of either dying on the table or being left in a vegetative state the rest of his life.

“Just then, Lisa came in and said she didn't want to go through another surgery without being my wife,” he recalled. He warned her of the risks ahead, but she was undaunted.

The hospital staff agreed on a short reprieve, and the courthouse waived the normal 48-hour waiting period for a marriage license. The couple were married four hours later.

“God called me to marry you,” Mrs. Obsborne had said, and it turned out God had much bigger plans ahead for the couple.

The surgery went beautifully. As Osborne awoke from the anesthesia, he began singing “If I Only had a Brain” from “The Wizard of Oz.”

The Osborne family today includes Kip and Lisa, Victoria, Heath and Emilie.

He was released just before Thanksgiving, arranging to stay with his in-laws until he fully recuperated. On the way to Thanksgiving dinner, however, Osborne collapsed in the hallway. He was rushed to the hospital again, this time with a 107-degree fever. He had contracted bacterial meningitis during his surgery.

His church family at Bosqueville Baptist Church in Waco, where he was music minister, was allowed rare access into the hospital's Intensive Care Unit, where they prayed steadfastly around Osborne's hospital bed that night until he began to recover.

“Doctors couldn't explain what happened,” he reported. “They were sure I was a goner. When I went to thank the doctor who cared for me, he said he wasn't the one to thank. 'God did this,' he said, and I believe him.”

Eight years later, the Osbornes have come full circle. They are parents to three healthy children–Victoria, 4, Heath, 2, and Emilie, 19 months.

He continued working in music at several churches in the Waco area. When the position at Texas Baptist Children's Home opened, he had just received a promotion through the McClennan County juvenile probation office as director of training.

“When I told my wife about the position at the children's home, she said, 'I've always known you would want to go back to TBCH because of the way you look when you talk about it.”

Along with his new position, Osborne continues to minister to others through music and his story of survival. Others with brain tumors call him for encouragement and advice.

What he tells them is simple.

“I tell them to have people pray for them. What that experience taught me is God is with us, and there is nothing beyond his control. With him, there is nothing too big for you to handle.”

Posted: 9/5/03

Baptist Briefs

Georgia convention moving. The Georgia Baptist Convention has sold its building and property in northeast Atlanta to Mercer University for $12 million. The five-story building sits on a 25-acre site adjoining the Atlanta campus of Mercer, which has its main campus in Macon. The 200,000-square-foot building is about 40 years old. The convention plans to move to a new facility in suburban Gwinnett County.

New Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary professor Dorothy Patterson signs the faculty roster in an Aug. 26 chapel service, signifying her agreement with the 2000 Baptist & Faith Message. Looking on are her husband, President Paige Patterson, left, and Provost Craig Blaising.( Richard McCormack/SWBTS Photo)

Dixons return to Spain. David and Susie Dixon, former International Mission Board missionaries to Spain, are returning to Spain in a new role. The Dixons, who have Texas roots, were among 14 missionaries fired by the IMB for refusing to sign the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message. In an Aug. 21 letter to friends and supporters, the Dixons announced David Dixon has been called as pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Madrid. The part-time pastorate will allow Dixon to continue teaching at the Spanish Baptist Seminary, where he previously served under IMB appointment.

CBF aids burned-out Gypsies. After an accidental cooking fire led to a Banjara Gypsy community disaster in Hyderabad, India, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship mission workers James and Robbi Francovich used $2,300 in economic development funds to aid the Banjara in a unique way. They offered to pay half the cost of a new bicycle or bicycle rickshaw for anyone who could sign a contract to pay the remaining half within four months. The bicycles are a key source of the Banjara's daily income. The venture provided 26 bicycles and 30 bicycle rickshaws. Banjara pastors have worked as rickshaw drivers for several years as an outreach opportunity.

Country Crossroads goes satellite. FamilyNet Radio's syndicated weekly program "Country Crossroads" will debut on XM Satellite Radio this month. The program will air Sundays at 11:02 p.m. and 7:02 p.m. during the Bill Mack Sunday Show on Channel 171, the Open Road Channel. The XM delivery system enables listeners to tune in all over the country. XM currently has more than 692,000 subscribers and is on pace to have 1.2 million by 2004. FamilyNet is a ministry of the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board.

FamilyNet wins award. The FamilyNet Radio Christmas special, "Our Country Christmas," has won a Gabriel Award under the category of religious radio program in national release. The one-hour holiday special is available to radio stations for airing this year. Hosted by legendary country and bluegrass artist Charlie Daniels, "Our Country Christmas" features music from popular country artists such as Aaron Tippin, Martina McBride, Joe Diffie, Lonestar, Mark Chesnutt, Randy Travis, George Strait, Lee Ann Womack, Alan Jackson and Alison Krauss.

CBF medical rates to rise. The Church Benefits Board of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has announced a 28 percent increase in medical insurance rates due to rising health-care costs and claims experience. CBF endorses PremierHealth through CIGNA HealthCare for medical and dental care.

Liberian aid given. Baptists around the world have been responding to pleas for help from Liberian Baptists. Baptist World Aid, the relief and development arm of the Baptist World Alliance, has received monetary donations from many parts of the world and is working with Baptist groups sending practical relief. These supplies will be used at the Liberian Baptist Convention compound and seminary, where hundreds of homeless people are living, and at Baptist churches in rural areas throughout Liberia. The Baptist convention has about 250 churches and 60,000 members. Donations to support Baptist relief work in Liberia may be sent to Baptist World Aid at 405 N. Washington St., Falls Church, Va. 22046.

Posted: 9/5/03

Bush affirms faith in interview

WASHINGTON (RNS)–President Bush reaffirmed his reliance on his faith in an interview with Ladies' Home Journal and attributed his concern about AIDS policy to his reading of the Bible.

“Just living this life–when you realize that there is an Almighty God on whom you can rely–it provides a great comfort,” the president told former White House speechwriter Peggy Noonan in a Q-and-A interview for the magazine's October issue.

“That's why I read every morning, the Bible and Scriptures and Charles Stanley devotionals. It matters a lot to me personally.”

Stanley is pastor of First Baptist Church of Atlanta and a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Bush told Noonan he thinks those who are not particularly religious should not fear those who are.

“The Bible talks about love and compassion and to whom much has been given, much is required,” he said. “That's really a lot behind my passion on AIDS policy, for example.”

The president went on to declare his belief in a pluralistic society. “I believe people can choose whatever religion they choose,” he said.

“It's not my job–nor the government's–to dictate religion. On the other hand, I would hope it would give people great comfort to know there's a religious person holding the office.”

Bush also said he thinks there probably have been and probably will be presidents who do not share his viewpoint on faith.

“From my perspective, however, I know that belief in God and prayer, and prayers of people on our behalf, make a huge difference,” he said.

Posted: 9/9/03

Five Baylor regents call on board to fire Sloan

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

Five regents of Baylor University have called on the board to terminate the service of President Robert Sloan.

The request was issued in a letter made public Sept. 8. The five regents reportedly informed Sloan of their plan earlier in the day.

As he has throughout a summer of controversy, Sloan showed no sign of bowing to his critics. Baylor spokesman Larry Brumley told the Waco Tribune-Herald Sloan has no plans to step down.

The letter is signed by former board Chairman John Wilkerson, chairman of the board of Wilkerson Storage in Lubbock; Carl Bell, a financial adviser from Dallas; Mary Chavanne-Martin, a businesswoman from Houston; Toby Druin, editor emeritus of the Baptist Standard who now lives in Waxahachie; and Jaclanel McFarland, an attorney from Houston.

All five are Baylor alumni.

Regents Chairman Drayton McLane, owner of the Houston Astros, released a brief statement in response to the letter: "The right way to handle this issue is through regular board meetings. So I'm extremely disappointed that this letter was delivered first to the news media and then to the Baylor board of regents. All of this will be reviewed and debated carefully later this week at the board meeting. Board members will be able to convey their concerns, then look at the true facts and make a decision. This is the correct and right process as opposed to trying to spin stories in the media. I look forward to our board meeting on Friday."

The letter was released one day before Baylor's Faculty Senate was considered likely to entertain a motion to vote no confidence in Sloan's leadership. The results of the Faculty Senate vote, if any, are to be reported at a 6 p.m. news conference in Waco Tuesday.

The board of regents is scheduled to meet Thursday and Friday of this week.

Druin said the five announced their intentions publicly prior to the regents' meeting "to get it out so that it's not kept under the cloak of an executive session."

Some regents, particularly those opposed to Sloan's leadership, have complained in the past that the board does too much of its work in executive session and that too much control is exerted over what regents can talk about publicly.

"All of us are concerned about the inviolability of the executive session, and we want to honor that," Druin said. "But we want the regents and the public to know that we are trying to address this issue. We think it's the Baylor family's business."

The five expressed "sincere regret" in asking for Sloan's immediate termination and noted, "We have not come to this decision lightly."

The two-page letter references the summer scandal involving the death of Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy and alleged cover-up of NCAA violations by former Coach Dave Bliss. But it points to other issues as more fundamental concerns about Sloan's leadership.

"There is a great and unrelenting unrest among the Baylor family over the implementation of Vision 2012," they stated. "As regents, we voted for and have continued to support Vision 2012, including its goal that Baylor achieve tier one status as a patently obvious Christian institution."

The problem, the letter explains, is in the implementation of the vision. Specific concerns cited include:

Creating a two-track system for faculty, distinguishing those who will pursue the new imperative of research from those who will focus on classroom teaching. They report some people have perceived this to emphasize "research to the detriment of teaching."

"Heavy and uneven-handed methods in seeking a particular kind of Christian professor." Critics among regents, alumni and faculty have complained that a narrow, unwritten litmus test is being applied to faculty hiring and promotions and that Baylor is increasingly hiring professors with ultra-conservative ideologies.

"A shift to bonded indebtedness rather than a pay-as-we-go plan of campus construction." Baylor 2012 calls for a more than $200 million in new construction, much of which already is under way on the Waco campus.

"Exorbitant tuition increases." To implement Baylor 2012, the university moved to a flat-rate tuition that started off with a 29 percent jump and is projected to increase about 8 percent per year until 2012.

These issues "have alienated a broad spectrum of Baylor alumni, who were already reeling from a lack of support of an independent Baylor Alumni Association," the five regents declared.

The Sloan administration angered loyal supporters of the independent alumni association last year by creating its own internal alumni service unit, taking over some of the former duties of the alumni association and drastically reducing funding for the alumni association. The move was necessary to communicate regularly with all Baylor alumni, not just the 25 percent who are members of the alumni association, the administration said.

The five also cite "many other questions about President Sloan's leadership style, which we discussed at the previous meeting in July."

Any part of that meeting that involved discussions of Sloan's leadership was held in executive session. At that meeting, regents declined to proceed further with an investigation of McFarland, on allegations reportedly brought by the administration that she had interfered with an on-campus drug sting.

After the July meeting, regents issued a brief statement saying the initial inquiry had been warranted but that insufficient evidence existed for formal charges to be filed.

McFarland contended at the time that the charges against here were trumped up because she had become a vocal critic of Sloan's leadership.

In this week's letter, the five regents said Baylor "has been given a black eye that will require a long time to heal. We feel a major step in the process of healing would be a change of leadership at the top."

In recent weeks, other groups publicly have expressed both support and criticism for Sloan. One pro-Sloan group pledged $1 million as a show of support. Three former board chairmen called for Sloan's resignation.

Supporters say Sloan has the backing of a majority of the faculty and alumni, while critics say the opposite is true. No reliable data exists to prove either point.

The Baylor board has 36 members, one-fourth elected by the Baptist General Convention of Texas and three-fourths elected by the board itself.

How many of those board members would vote for Sloan's dismissal could not be ascertained. However, in the past Sloan has enjoyed strong support from a majority of the board.

Nor is it clear what kind of majority would be required to remove the president, since Baylor officials have refused requests to provide copies of their governing documents.

"The 31 other regents are extremely capable people who have heard the same things we have heard, and we just want them to examine their consciences and feelings and their love for Baylor and act accordingly," Druin said.

A vote against Sloan should not be construed as a vote against Baylor 2012, he emphasized. "Each of the signees of this motion is for 2012. We are also firmly behind Baylor's designation as a Christian institution."

Despite current challenges, Baylor will survive, Druin predicted. "I believe firmly in the resiliency of the university. It's endured a lot in the past–I'm not sure anything quite of this nature. But Baylor will go on."

This story will be updated throughout the day as new information becomes available.

Posted: 9/16/03

Baylor conflict of interest
charges 'baseless' auditor says

By Mark Wingfield

Managing Editor

WACO–Charges that some members of the Baylor University board of regents have conflicts of interest are "completely baseless and unjustified," according to the university's internal auditor.

The assessment was delivered to reporters at the conclusion of a news conference Sept. 12 related to the board meeting.

Prior to that meeting, amid calls for President Robert Sloan's termination from the Faculty Senate, some regents and some alumni, two media outlets raised questions about the objectivity of the board to make such a decision.

Some board members, the reports suggested, might have conflicts of interest that could color their action.

The Dallas Morning News first raised the issue in an article published Sunday, Sept. 7. Potential conflicts of interest also were discussed in an editorial published on the Baptist website EthicsDaily.com two days later.

The Morning News article, written by staff writer Linda Wertheimer, noted, "Some Sloan critics contend that the deck is stacked in the president's favor because of what they consider conflicts that impair the impartiality of some of the 36 regents."

The article cited four examples, including regent Duane Brooks, pastor of Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston, who is the brother of Baylor Chief Financial Officer David Brooks; regent Wes Bailey, who owns a Waco insurance company that underwrites Baylor insurance policies; regent Jim Turner, president of the Dr Pepper/Seven Up Bottling Co. in Dallas, which has an exclusive contract with the school; and regent Brian Harbour, pastor of First Baptist Church of Richardson, who teaches adjunctively in Baylor's Truett Seminary.

The EthicsDaily.com editorial mentioned "a number of conflicts of interest on the board," including those referenced by the Morning News and others. One regent "attends the school's seminary," author Robert Parham wrote. "Other regents allegedly have adult children on the school payroll. Still others have significant financial interests in the school."

Both the Morning News and EthicsDaily.com indicated attempts to contact the regents with potential conflicts of interest. However, both reported that only Turner responded. Both quoted him as saying his company gives back to Baylor in donations more than his company makes off its contract with the university.

Parham's editorial criticized a "culture of denial and deception" at Baylor. "The administration's attitude about conflicts of interest is to deny the problem with the deflective reasoning that the regents disclose their conflicts annually and are good people who do the right thing," he wrote. "If this is the case, the school's leadership deceives itself about how relational and financial pressures can cause morally good people to make morally compromised decisions."

Three-fourths of the Baylor board is selected by the board itself, and one-fourth is selected by the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Baylor spokesman Larry Brumley provided a copy of the five-page policy to the Standard. It was given with a requirement that the Standard not share it with any other media outlets.

Brumley said the regents are required to disclose annually any conflicts of interest they may have. Those reports are given only to the board, he said, and are held as confidential information.

This practice is spelled out in the regents' policy, which says the annual declarations of conflicts of interest are to be given to the board's audit committee.

The policy provides two "general rules." The first is that Baylor will seek competitive bids in business transactions.

The second is that the university "shall refrain from entering into any financial, business or other transaction with a regent or a member of his or her immediate family or with any entity or individual in which any such person has a financial interest or management responsibility, inasmuch as such transaction might involve a potential conflict of interest."

The policy also allows the audit committee to make exceptions to these two rules in cases where the committee believes such a transaction would be in the university's best interest. The policy does not require public disclosure of cases where exceptions are made.

However, the policy warns regents that they "should follow the biblical admonition to avoid even the appearance of impropriety" because "the results of a perceived impropriety may become, over time, more disruptive or damaging than an actual transgression."

The BGCT policy regarding conflicts of interest and eligibility for service on BGCT-elected boards states: "Trustees must not be related in the third degree by birth, adoption or marriage to each other or to the chief administrators of the institutions on which board they serve." Chief administrators, the policy says, include the chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief accounting officer and chief operating officer.

The policy statement adds a definition of third-degree relations, noting exclusion of parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents, nieces, nephews, great-grandchildren.

That BGCT policy would impact regent Duane Brooks, who is the brother of Baylor Chief Financial Officer David Brooks.

According to published accounts in the Baptist Standard, Duane Brooks was elected to the Baylor board by BGCT messengers in November 1999 and began serving on the board June 1, 2000. In November 2002, he was elected to a new full term that will expire in 2006. According to information on Baylor's website, David Brooks began work as the university's chief financial officer Oct. 1, 2000.

Duane Brooks, contacted by the Standard for comment, said he would prefer to comment after the current storm of events at Baylor has died down.

David Brooks told the Morning News he thinks critics of Sloan are raising such issues now because they've been unable to remove the president. "This group of dissidents is attacking regents individually. Where was the concern three years ago?" he asked.

Allegations of regents' conflicts of interest are among a variety of issues to be investigated by a newly appointed committee of the regents. It will be chaired by Dale Jones, a retired director and vice president of Halliburton in Dallas. Other members are Bill Brian, an attorney from Amarillo; Bobby Dagnel, pastor of First Baptist Church of Lubbock and a doctor of ministry student in Baylor's Truett Seminary; Sue Getterman of Waco; David Sibley, a former Republican state senator from Waco; and Harold Cunningham, Baylor's retired chief financial officer, who lives in Crawford.

The news release issued Sept. 12 declared there are no conflicts of interest on the board.

"It is not a conflict of interest to care about Baylor, have children or friends at Baylor, make charitable donations or to be involved in community activities that touch the university," said Juan Alejandro, director of internal audit and management.

He cited several examples:

Regent Joe Coleman has two children who work for Baylor, and he may represent the university in a future lawsuit, Alejandro noted.

"We looked at the pay records, and Mr. Coleman's children are being paid wages comparable to others in their positions," he added. On the issue of representing Baylor in the lawsuit, Alejandro said, Coleman will not participate in regents' discussion of it, and he did not participate in the decision to hire the firm.

Regent Turner has a exclusive contract to distribute soft drinks on campus.

"That contract was awarded in August 1997 through a competitive bid process, three years before Mr. Turner came on the Baylor board," Alejandro said. "Their bid providing revenue to Baylor was several million dollars higher than the other bid. In late 2000, the athletic department recommended an extension of the exclusive vending-rights contract, which was executed in December of that year."

Regent Bailey is president of a family-run company that has the university's insurance contract. He also teaches adjunctively in the business school.

"Mr. Bailey's insurance agency has served as the university's broker since the late 1960s, well before he came on the board," Alejandro explained. "Furthermore, the university has historically employed an independent insurance consultant every three to four years to evaluate Baylor's total insurance program–both coverage and pricing–and the work his firm performs on behalf of the university. Regarding the class being taught, he is being paid the same as other similar positions, and Mr. Bailey plans to donate his after-tax income to the endowment."

Bailey released his own one-page statement, asserting that he is "in compliance" with Baylor's conflict-of-interest policy. Bailey also noted that his father, who is chairman of the insurance company, served on the Baylor board for 18 years. During that time, he not only sold insurance coverage to Baylor, but he was appointed by then-President Herbert Reynolds as the university's adjunct risk manager.

Regent Harbour also teaches adjunctively at Baylor, within Truett Seminary. He has taught there since 1994, the year before he was elected to the board, the news release said. "His salary is consistent with other adjunct faculty at Truett, so there is no conflict of interest."

Regent Brooks, brother of the university's chief financial officer, presents "no violation of the university's conflict of interest policy," Alejandro reported. However, he added: "We understand that there may be an issue regarding compliance with the (BGCT's) own conflict of interest policy in this case, and the university will be working the BGCT to resolve that matter."

Alejandro's internal audit department, according to the university's organizational chart, reports directly to President Sloan but also carries a dotted-line relationship under the supervision of David Brooks.