Embattled Louisiana College President, Dr. Joe Aguillard, commenting on the college’s accreditation status said, “I feel a great relief and pride and very optimistic about the ability to go forward…it removes all the question marks.” Unfortunately for Dr. Aguillard, a new blog post written by a former LC professor, Rondall Reynoso, raises serious questions about what appears to be Dr. Aguillard’s iron-fisted rule over the college and the refusal of LBC Executive Director, Dr. David Hankins and a small majority of the LC Board of Trustees to deal with these matters. Reynoso writes:
Last Spring after Aguillard had decided to get rid of four faculty members from the Department of Christian Studies one of those faculty members, Ryan Lister, was voted by the student body as the Professor of the Year. This was an embarrassment to Aguillard so he cancelled the award. Some students found out about the cancelled award and distributed flyers exposing it. To Aguillard this was a tremendous violation and he set about finding out who had done such a thing. In the course of this, he called an employee into his office who he thought may be able to help him narrow his search. This employee had seen a great deal of concerning behavior at the college and chose to record the meeting for protection. What, to me, was interesting is how explicit Aguillard was about attitudes that many of us knew he held but which he rarely stated explicitly.
This recorded conversation, which must shock even the casual observer of the situation at Louisiana College, is very damaging, not only to Dr. Aguillard, but to those persons who continue to defend him. Apparently, Dr. Hankins and a small majority on the LC board have either ignored or dismissed the following:
- The contract non-renewals of alleged Calvinist professors at the Caskey School of Divinity.
- The report of an independent law-firm stating that more that enough evidence exists to dismiss president Aguillard.
- The misappropriation of $60,000 from the Cason Foundation to fund LC Tanzania which resulted in the loss of the largest donor in the history of Louisiana College. Estimates are that the Cason Foundation was prepared to give an additional $55 million in addition to the $5 million already donated to the school.
- The suppression of freedom of speech at LC.
- The threatening of a student by a LC professor.
- And now, the confirmation of the strong-arm tactics employed by Dr. Aguillard to suppress dissent.
Far from “removing all the question marks,” many questions remain about the future of Louisiana College and the leadership of Dr. Joe Aguillard. Louisiana Baptists and Southern Baptists are waiting to see if the LC Board of Trustees will deal with these latest revelations, or choose to ignore them like so many others. Let us hope that it is the former.
