Cedarville University: A Very Brief Introduction

Cedarville University Series
Part 1 - Cedarville: A Very Brief Introduction
Part 2 - The Worst are Filled with Passionate Intensity
Part 3 - Things Fall Apart
Part 4 - The Center Cannot Hold

If you read the NewYork Times on Saturday, then you might be aware, superficially at least, that there is a Christian college called Cedarville University in the state of Ohio, and that there are suspicious goings on at this college, orchestrated by a faction of Christian fundamentalists.

Perhaps you ignored the story. Perhaps you skimmed it, and thought: this is to be expected, this is why Christian colleges shouldn’t exist.

Perhaps you paid it some attention, and decided to Google the situation. If you did, you’re probably confused. Is Cedarville becoming more conservative, or is it becoming liberal? Did its administrators really fire Carl Ruby, Michael Pahl, and eliminate the philosophy major out of ideological spite? Or is the backlash evidence of a liberal campaign to erode Cedarville’s conservative identity? And how do the firings of two fundamentalist professors in 2008 factor into all of this?

But these questions are the barest introduction to the chaos that threatens to topple the administration of one of the most prominent Christian universities in the US. Recent alumni revelations portray an institution so crippled and corrupted by its on-going identity crisis that it has knowingly sheltered, at last count, five members of faculty and staff guilty of either committing sexual abuse, or of covering it up. These cover ups span decades. The victims are male and female, gay and straight. They are missionary kids, schoolchildren, and Cedarville alumni. Some suffer in public, some in silence. And I am one of them.

In so many ways, Cedarville’s story is my story too. I entered Cedarville in 2006, a scholarship student from the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Like most members of my freshman class, I came from an Evangelical family, and had spent my upbringing immersed in Evangelicalism’s infamously insular subculture. I dressed modestly, abstained from alcohol and from sex, and anticipated a university experience that would help me combine deep faith and intellectual enquiry. Unlike most of my classmates, I possessed a political perspective firmly located left of center, and I publicly identified as a feminist. If you are familiar with the political environment at America’s Christian colleges and universities, then you can likely imagine the student body’s reaction.

Even if I’d attended Cedarville during a season of calm, my ‘Cedarville experience’ (to borrow the Admissions teams’ language) would have been marked by ideologically motivated harassment from students, faculty and alumni. That’s not a particularly unusual story, by itself. The same story could be repeated by anyone who’s ever found themselves marginalized by a conservative religious community. Instead, my Cedarville experience is made truly unique by a series of controversies that began during my first semester on campus, and now threaten the integrity of the university’s national reputation.

In fall 2006, I had barely settled into my dorm room when the student body received word that Soulforce, a group of GLBT activists and their straight allies, would arrive in Cedarville to protest the university’s anti-gay admissions policies. Soulforce activists, called Equality Riders, made a national tour of the country’s Christian colleges and universities, and most denied riders access to their campuses. Cedarville, however, welcomed riders onto campus. Along with a group of other students, I acted as a campus guide for Equality riders. I also met a group of openly gay Cedarville alumni. The same alumni founded Cedarville Out, for GLBT and allied alumni, shortly after the Soulforce visit.

As an institution, Cedarville maintained its conservative identity throughout the Soulforce visit. The decision to welcome activists on campus lay primarily with Carl Ruby, the former Vice President for Student Life. If you did read that New York Times article, you’ll recognize that name. After 25 years of service to Cedarville University, Carl Ruby was forced to resign last month. Though Dr. Ruby has consistently adhered to a conservative position on sexual orientation and gay marriage, his compassion for gay students and alumni has been equally consistent. That compassion was first evident to me in his decision to permit Soulforce activists on campus. But it also invited accusations of liberalism. For many alumni, students, and parents, Ruby’s decision constituted capitulation to a radical leftist fringe, and threatened Cedarville’s historical identity as a Baptist institution.

The Soulforce visit marked the beginning of a troublesome season for Cedarville University. In my next posts, I’ll explain Cedarville’s decision to end its historic affiliation with the General Association of Baptists, the firing of two fundamentalist professors, its history of covering up sexual abuse, and the current controversy. 

From the Archives: Diversity at OBU

During the week of April 9, we took a look at diversity (such as it is) at OBU.  There's a bit of a disconnect between OBU's mission to "equip students to engage a diverse world" and the rather spectacular lack of diversity on campus.  We looked at four different categories of diversity, and commented that there is room for improvement if OBU is serious about its stated desire for its graduates to engage a diverse world.

On the theology front, OBU obviously has a commitment to its Baptist heritage.  But that theological heritage is wider and deeper than what passes for orthodoxy in chapel, campus ministry, and OBU religion classrooms.  I went a little off-message during Holy Week with some of my personal theological perspectives.  But Veronica made a strong argument on Easter Monday that OBU should not only tolerate but actually encourage theological diversity, since diversity so clearly characterizes the Protestant theological tradition -- yes, even among Southern Baptists (particularly before the Fundamentalist Takeover).  It's hard to seem serious about "equipping students to engage a diverse world" when you push moderates out, reject brilliant female scholars, hire religion faculty exclusively from the ever more insular world of SBC seminaries, and attempt to enforce rigid fundamentalist doctrinal requirements on faculty hires throughout the rest of the university -- all things Provost Norman has forced, to our detriment, on OBU in the past few years.  I would also submit for his consideration that bringing "Christian apologetics" and "worldview classes" to OBU only makes our own school more insular (if that's even possible) and less able to "equip students to engage a diverse world."

With respect to chapel speakers, Veronica's post speaks for itself.  If you're a SBC or BGCO political climber with a penis and a doctorate from a SBC seminary, your odds of being invited to speak in Raley Chapel are pretty decent.  There are obviously a lot of political considerations involved.  OBU seems to have an interesting little identity politics/affirmative action system in place with Women's Day, Native American Heritage Day, and African American Heritage Day to make sure that students hear from more than just middle-aged white male SBC seminary professors and middle-aged white male SBC seminary-educated large church pastors.  Of course, making chapel compulsory guarantees an audience for our visiting dignitaries.  And I'm sure it pleases the Lord, who according to the Scriptures delights in compelled worship... or something.

Save OBU steers clear of politics and social issues.  But on April 11, Veronica took a look at Soulforce's visit to OBU's campus a street corner near OBU's campus.  Soulforce is an organization committed to ending spiritual violence against God's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered children.  It periodically visits colleges that enforce compulsory heterosexuality, as OBU does.

I contributed a post on race at OBU and in the SBC generally.  This was one of my favorites to research and write.  Take heart, white Baptists.  Sometimes you just have to be able to laugh at yourselves.

Diversity at OBU: Theology
Diversity at OBU: Chapel
Diversity at OBU: Social Issues
Diversity at OBU: Race

Maybe OBU should just drop the line from its mission about "equipping students to engage a diverse world."  But if we're serious about it, we have a long way to go on several fronts.

Diversity at OBU: Soulforce Denied Access to Campus

Before I say anything, let me acknowledge the elephant in the room. This is an issue over which our readership is greatly divided. I know that, and I know that probably most of you can guess where I stand. I'm not ashamed of that.

But that's not the point.

It doesn't matter what you think about the LGBT issue, some things will still be true. Those are the things I want to talk about today.

First, in a world where women can hardly get a fair shake, the LGBT community doesn't stand a chance. We may argue over the moral value of such a truth, but it's still the truth. At least I was allowed to be a woman at OBU.

Second, there are LGBT students at OBU. There are not very many of them and they are quiet, but they are there. And so whenever we talk about these things we need to remember what we are doing to some of our own. Because the problem is that too often this issue is framed in terms of politics instead of real peoples' lives.

There is also something else very important to be said. I have heard from all accounts that this visit from soulforce to OBU a couple of weeks ago went very well. And that is to be commended. So do not read this looking for terrible things that happened. They didn't. And I am very glad.

But the truth is this: Soulforce asked permission to come on campus and was denied. They still came and remained on public grounds within and close to campus.

I have been told that students responded to this presence very well. Administration actually also responded to this presence very well-- even if they were there only to explain what areas were public ground.

But why was Soulforce denied access?

It must also be said that OBU and Soulforce have history. Although their previous visits were before my time at OBU, we have all heard the stories. I think it is fair to say OBU was wronged after a past visit.

So perhaps that's why they were not allowed. And that might be fair, although I think I would argue that an institution looking to "live worthy of the high calling of God in Christ"should be the first to extend the hand of forgiveness.

But in a letter to the student body explaining why Soulforce was denied access to campus, Pres. Whitlock said, "Our decision to not permit Equality Ride on our campus is based on our policy of not coordinating campus meetings or events with organizations seeking to challenge our biblically based policies and practices."

So for an institution also claiming to equip students to "engage a diverse world" it seems like an interesting policy which would deny access to anyone who disagrees with how we interpret the bible.

I'm not asking for OBU to change any policies with regards to this issue. But I am asking that we all entertain the conversation. Because as long as we put up barriers between ourselves and anyone who interprets the bible differently from us, the only way we can "engage a diverse world" is in terms of viewing people who are not like us as the other.

Why is this matter important?

Other universities have broken with their convention over this very issue. And if I have to choose between being faithful to OBU's mission statement or partnering with the BGCO-- I'm going to choose against the BGCO every time.