Raising the bar?

Education | Stories of an anti-Christian purge at Baylor may not explain the Baptist university’s sudden spike in tenure denials | Mark Bergin

News from Baylor University this spring that 12 of 30 candidates fell short of receiving tenure has sparked outrage and accusations of impropriety. Some observers of the Baptist school believe President John Lilley is out to purge the campus of professors committed to the Christian identity aspect of Vision 2012, an ambitious initiative started by Lilley's predecessor to grow Baylor into a top-tier research institution without sliding toward secularism.

But administrators at the Waco, Texas, school defend this year's 40 percent tenure denial rate as entirely aboveboard, simply the necessary albeit painful result of rising academic standards. In a form letter to denied faculty seeking explanation, Provost Randall O'Brien wrote, "Given your reduced teaching responsibilities, you have not conclusively demonstrated, in the area of research, that tenure should be awarded by Baylor University."