Baptist Educator Stands Firm on Revised Textbook Policy
by Jim Brown and Jody Brown
December 10, 2003
(AgapePress) - The president of a Southern Baptist college in Louisiana is being criticized for banning books that contain profane language and sexual content.The board of trustees for Louisiana College in Pineville recently adopted a new textbook policy that requires all teaching materials to be reviewed and approved by the department chair and the vice president for academic affairs. In the past, textbooks were selected by the individual faculty member. Some professors and students at the school say the new policy violates their academic freedom.
But school president Dr. Rory Lee says the revised policy, which was developed in response to questions about the content of textbooks and class materials in several Louisiana College courses, is needed to ensure faculty abide by the "Baptist Faith and Message" statement, the longstanding doctrinal statement the four-year school.
That statement includes the following: "In Christian education there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility. Freedom in any orderly relationship of human life is always limited and never absolute. The freedom of a teacher in a Christian school, college, or seminary is limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, by the authoritative nature of the Scriptures, and by the distinct purpose for which the school exists."
According to Lee, the new policy does not dictate the type of materials that are acceptable or unacceptable, but merely offers guidelines to consider. "Implementation of this policy has been left to the college administration," he explains. "So regardless of who the faculty member is or what the textbook is, all of them will go through the same process in the future."
Lee says two books that were removed from the school bookstore -- A Road Less Traveled and A Lesson Before Dying -- do not reflect the college's Christian values. In addition, he contends the rights of teachers and students are not being trampled on campus.
"Academic freedom was not infringed upon because the textbooks were not being used during this semester," Lee says. "I've made that clear with every media outlet with which I've talked and it has not been reported as of yet." In fact, the school administrator says, the books were in storage and not even on the shelves of the bookstore.
Opponents of the policy claim it was approved because members of the Louisiana Baptist Convention appointed more conservatives to the school's board of trustees.
