Now Turmoil at Bryan College

Jerome · Feb 16, 2013

Dayton, Tenn. college named for Fundamentalist William Jennings Bryan shuts down the Bryan Institute and the school's creationism department:

Student newspaper interview of dismissed Bryan Institute director Dr. J. Daryl Charles (PhD, Westminster Seminary):

http://www.bryantriangle.com/news/dr-daryl-charles-discusses-leaving-bc/

Why will you not be returning next school year?

I was summarily informed – without prior discussion, intimation or input — that (1) the Bryan Institute was being eliminated and (2) the number of “Christian Thought” majors did not justify extending my part-time teaching position (part-time because of my BI [Bryan Institute] responsibilities) into a full-time position.

How were you approached about your contract?

I was informed by the President (Dr. Stephen Livesay), in a meeting with the President and the VPAA, on the first day of the Spring semester classes that (1) the BI was being eliminated and (2) I would not have my contract as a faculty member retained beyond the present academic year (which officially ends June 30)
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http://toddcwood.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-future-of-core.html

On January 11, 2013, I had a meeting with Stephen Livesay, president of Bryan College. He informed me that due to a significant budget shortfall, the college would be discontinuing support for the Center for Origins Research effective June 30. He has offered to continue housing the CORE facilities, but there will no longer be any salary support for CORE faculty or staff. Since we have very little regular donation support, his decision basically means the end of CORE as we know it.
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Martin · Feb 17, 2013

I'm not sure I see a controversy. The school's budget requires closing non-essential or non-profitable departments. I understand why Dr. Charles is upset but this is the nature of higher education. It is as much of a business as it is anything else.

Greektim · Feb 18, 2013

Martin said: ↑

I'm not sure I see a controversy. The school's budget requires closing non-essential or non-profitable departments. I understand why Dr. Charles is upset but this is the nature of higher education. It is as much of a business as it is anything else.
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And it was not the creation department so much as the research department of that subject. It was amazing a school like that had such a department geared solely toward research and housing 2 faculty that had a very light teaching load to enable that research.

Jerome · Feb 18, 2013

http://www.chattanoogan.com/2013/1/23/242777/Bryan-College-President-Taking-50.aspx

The president of Bryan College said he is taking a 50 percent salary cut to help with budget woes at the Dayton, Tn., Christian College. Other top administrators are taking five percent cuts. Dr. Stephen Livesay said the budget crisis was brought on by declining student enrollment.
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“After the budget was created in May and approved by the board of trustees, we experienced quite a significant meltdown in July and August in numbers of both returning students and new students who had made enrollment deposits."
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Jerome · Mar 8, 2013

President of Bryan Apologizes

http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/1966548...gizes-for-suppressing-child-molestation-story

DAYTON, TN. (Times Free Press) -- The president of Bryan College now admits he may have made a mistake by suppressing a student newspaper story about a professor who resigned after being arrested. . . .Biblical studies professor David Morgan, who was arrested during an FBI child molestation sting. Authorities say he was trying to meet underage girls for --- at a Fort Oglethorpe gas station.
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Mug shot here:

http://georgia.arrests.org/Arrests/David_Morgan_8097601/

Bryan College President Stephen Livesay had initially announced that Morgan had left "to pursue other opportunities".

Morgan was Associate Director of the now shuttered Bryan Institute:

David Morgan, Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies and Associate Director of the Bryan Institute, started a class this year that is unlike any other Bryan class. Not only will this class be academic, but it will also focus on missions.
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Coincidentally, Morgan had beat out fellow SBTS grad Ryan Lister [see Louisiana College thread] for the job:

bryantriangle.com/news/candidates-for-new-bible-professor-try-out

The candidates, Ryan Lister and David Morgan, are both graduates of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. Lister has formerly attended The Citadel, a military college in Charleston, S. C., is married and is the father of two children, Silas and Jude.

“My desire to teach at Bryan is because of the real desire of the students to know the Lord and to live it out,” Lister said in an interview on Dec. 9. “I grew up in a Christian home, but my biggest area of growth came in college. It’s where God grabbed my heart for ministry and for teaching in the college setting. I’d like to able to help these students impact the world for Christ.

Morgan also grew up in a Christian home, planning to be a lawyer before God called him into missions. He is married and spent several years teaching abroad before applying for this position.

“I heard a lot about Bryan before I came here, and I’m most impressed with the way the faculty engages with the student body and the world. I’ve been in education for a while overseas, and I’ve found that there are very few schools who can do something like this well,” he said. “I wanted to be involved in missions, and I love academics, so I’ve made a strong pursuit wherever I am to do both.”
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Jerome · Mar 3, 2014

Creationism Crackdown Stuns Faculty, Students, Alumni

Bryan’s statement of faith, more than 80 years old, isn’t allowed to be amended or changed, according to its charter. So the clarification, announced by President Stephen Livesay in a Feb. 23 news release, shocked the Bryan community. Even those who agree with the clarification say they think the administration has misstepped and that the change is unnecessary.
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Students say professors have seemed visibly depressed and upset since the announcement was made. Some staff, who wouldn’t give their names out of fear of retaliation, said their consciences may not allow them to sign the clarified statement, and they are unsure what action the administration might take against them. They have a few weeks to decide whether to sign.
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Nearly 300 of the school’s 800 students signed a petition within a few days asking the trustees to reconsider the change. Joseph Murphy, in a Student Government Association letter to the administration, said the decision was made without faculty input and that the president and trustees were threatening academic freedom.
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Greektim · Mar 3, 2014

This is why I don't like charters that are so rigid that as the times change, the school cannot.

go2church · Mar 3, 2014

Sounds like the school closing would actually be a good thing.

Jerome · Mar 12, 2014

Faculty Passes Overwhelming Vote of No Confidence in President Stephen Livesay

In a secret ballot Feb. 25, 30 professors voted no confidence in the president, 2 voiced confidence and 6 abstained, according to meeting minutes obtained by the Times Free Press.
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Minutes from that meeting point to deeper issues than the administration's recent stance on creation. Faculty had many concerns over Livesay's leadership:

"... lack of institutional control, budget was secret, decreases in enrollment, top heavy in administration, neglect for body, poor financial management ... authoritarian leadership style -- alienated faculty, students, cabinet members. Morale on campus is at all-time low -- broken, hurting people.
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