If I’d just been a bit more patient, I could have saved myself the time and trouble of writing my own response to Liberty University president Jerry Falwell, Jr. and just let Eastern Mennonite University president Loren Swartzendruber talk. (H/T Scot McKnight) Mine ended by reflecting on the season of Advent; that’s where Loren’s starts: … More From One Christian College President in Virginia to Another…
Inside Higher Ed reports that Bluffton University has become the latest Christian college to allow for the hiring of gay and lesbian employees, after it added sexual orientation to its anti-bias policy. At the same time, Bluffton announced that it was leaving the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), which currently has a task force reviewing its membership categories after Goshen … More Another Mennonite School Leaves the CCCU Over Sexuality
Calling out Christian college presidents isn’t really how I wanted to spend Advent, but then I didn’t expect one such leader to devote part of a chapel talk to encouraging his students to carry concealed weapons. But that’s just what Liberty University president Jerry Falwell, Jr. did on Friday, two days after the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. In a … More The Shadow of Death: A Response to Jerry Falwell, Jr.
When it was first posted last month, I had little desire to respond to a blog post in which Oklahoma Wesleyan University president Everett Piper railed against “victimization” culture on American college campuses. To an anonymous OKWU student who was apparently upset that a recent chapel talk about love (1 Cor 13) “made him feel bad for not … More This is Not Leadership: A Response to Everett Piper’s “Day Care” Post
For a long time, it was considered unseemly for American presidential candidates to campaign actively in their own behalf. While that ship has long since sailed, I’m not sure that it’s any more appropriate for authors to clamor for year-end book awards. However, if you wanted to cast a vote for The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education… Well, I … More The Pietist Vision a Finalist for an IVP Readers’ Choice Award!
Cross-posted from AC 2nd At last night’s GOP presidential debate several candidates used our friends in the discipline of philosophy as a punch line. Most memorably, Sen. Marco Rubio (FL) claimed that “Welders make more than philosophers. We need more welders and less philosophers.” Or as he put it today at an event in Iowa: “You deserve … More How about Historians and Welders?
In recognition of Veterans/Remembrance Day, Fletcher Warren and I are proud today to unveil the final version of Bethel at War, 1914-2014: A Digital History of a Christian College in a Century of Warfare. Whether you’re a Bethel alumnus, student, or employee, a member of its denomination, someone who’s interested in the histories of higher education, Christianity (especially … More At Long Last, the Official Debut of Bethel at War, 1914-2014!
This blog was quiet much of last week because I was busy attending the 2015 Symposium on Faith and Culture at Baylor University, on the theme of The Spirit of Sports. I won’t try to review every session that I attended — and I wasn’t there for the third and final day — but I thought I’d share a … More The Spirit of Sports
I don’t think I have any wisdom to offer on the controversy brewing at Yale University, where some students are outraged at what they perceive to be the lack of institutional response to racism on campus. But I think it raises some important questions about the nature of college education, particularly at schools that advertise themselves … More Is College a “Home”?
Troubling news from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, where twelve faculty spots are at risk of disappearing, including tenure-track positions in art, English, and ethics and open positions in French, philosophy, and theater. While a college spokesman pointed to a $3.7 million budget deficit and persistent decline in enrollment (down from over 1800 four years … More When Does a Liberal Arts College Cease to Be a Liberal Arts College?
The Pietist Schoolman 