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With the resignation of Robert Sloan from the presidency at Baylor, some observers of Christian higher education bemoan that all hopes of a major research university maintaining and providing a distinctively Christian education are lost.

While this view is a tempting observation, it is an incomplete one at best. The recent happenings at Baylor form a complex case study, where some lessons are transferable across Christian higher education and others are unique to the players and situation at hand.

George Marsden's Soul of the American University and James Burtchaell's Dying of the Light have shaped the foundation of the recent thinking and understanding of the historical trajectory of American higher education founded from a Christian perspective.

These authors and others have demonstrated, quite convincingly, that as institutions move into the mainstream of higher learning, a predictable course of secularization is likely to occur. The factors for this decline in commitment to a Christian mission are the subject of much dialogue and debate, but the end result is nearly always the same: an institution where faith is marginalized at best and disdained at worst.

But the lessons to come from what has happened at Baylor do not fall so clearly along the lines suggested by historians of higher education. They are as much about managing change, the dynamics of relationships, and the importance of theology as they are about the secularization of the academy.

It would certainly be premature to conclude from these recent happenings in Waco that Baylor's attempt to stem the steady march toward secularization has been overcome by the inevitable forces that have pulled other institutions away from their moorings.

Baylor provides a critical contemporary case study for re-examining the key principles put forth by Marsden, Burtchaell, and others. It also provides important lessons for those seeking to advance the work of Christian higher education. While a much more extensive examination is warranted, a few early observations are worth noting.

Sucked into the Baptist wars of Texas
For example, much of the Baylor conflict centers itself in the Baptist wars of Texas, battles fought around personalities, power, politics, and occasionally, theology. When it does come to theology, as Baylor professor Ralph Wood has pointed out, many Texas Baptists have been co-opted by expressions of the Christian faith that are more influenced by the Enlightenment than they often realize. Wood suggests that those sometimes characterized as "liberal" or "moderate" often defend a faith whose main tenets are a self-referential individualism, coercive tolerance, and atmospheric religiosity. Others ascribe to a version of faith that has bought into a rigid fundamentalism preoccupied with doctrinal purity defined more by the religious culture than by the Bible. Parties on both sides often "miss" each other in any attempts at dialogue because of the camps associated with these positions.

The result is that rather than engaging in serious theological and philosophical conversation about the nature of truth, the substance of the teaching/learning enterprise, and the role of faith engaging the culture, the institutional debate around Baylor often got reduced to attacks on persons, manipulation of constituency groups, and public relations campaigns.

2012: Too soon?
The complexity of Texas Baptist politics aside, there is much to be learned from what has transpired at Baylor. The "Baylor 2012" vision document has gradually worked its way into the ongoing priorities and plans of the institution. This vision statement provides a compelling model for addressing systemically the formative factors that can help move an institution to new levels of effectiveness in fulfilling its mission while also raising its "status" in categories that get reflected in national rating guides. For example, the document sets goals for promoting faculty scholarship, providing outstanding facilities for teaching and research, and enriching the educational experience inside and outside the classroom.

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February (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49