This is the first post of what is likely to be a 3 part
series. My next post will likely be after Sunday (I hear the Town Talk,
the newspaper of the Alexandria/Pineville area, will publish information Sunday
morning that might require further comment). As a reminder to those who have
kept track of this ongoing issue, I have the unsigned copy of the most recently
distributed “confidentiality” document given to the Trustees. Even though I
have not signed it, I take seriously the responsibility I have as a Trustee and
to this point have not divulged any information that has been presented in our
Board’s Executive Session meetings (although I’d love to share some of that info
and may be forced to do so at a later date). The only time I will openly speak
about issues related to my Trusteeship is when I find unfair treatment or what
I perceived to be untruths being presented to the public. At this point I offer
the following: it appears to me the only reason for the recent reignition of
issues related to Louisiana
College is due to the inability
of the LC administration to move on from what was a deeply divisive and
contentious issue which had quietly retreated into the past. Clearly, some
people are more concerned with continually flaunting an ego-driven, and arguably
non-existent “exoneration” than they are seeking unity and peace for the
greater good of the Kingdom
of God. As my granny
would say, “this is what happens when people don’t leave well-enough alone.” My
hope is that certain audio recordings (which I understand to exist but have not
heard their content) would be released to the public. If that happens, many,
many questions will finally have answers and there will be an exoneration… for
me and those who have been maligned.
Today, I would like to point attention to the role of the
Executive Director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention (LBC) as it relates to
his interaction with Louisiana College (LC). This is a long post but I beg your
patience, attention and contemplation.
Part 1 – On
Power and Protection
On Monday evening, November 11th I offered the
following motion to the Louisiana Baptist Convention meeting in Alexandria, Louisiana:
Resolution Addressing the Role of the Executive
Director on the
Boards of Trustees of the Louisiana
Baptist Convention
Submitted by Jay Adkins on the floor of the LBC
November 11-12, 2013
WHEREAS
Article IV, Section Ten (10) of the Bylaws of the Louisiana Baptist Convention
state, “No salaried employee of this Convention and its boards and committees
shall be eligible for election as a voting member of boards or committees of
this Convention except as provided in the constitution of the Convention or
these bylaws,”
WHEREAS
Article III, Section Nine (9) of the Bylaws of the Louisiana Baptist Convention
state, “The Executive Director of the Executive Board of the Convention shall
serve ex officio [sic] as a member and as secretary of all standing
committees of the Convention; however, he may be assisted in this task by
members of the Executive Board staff,”
WHEREAS
Articles II and III of the Bylaws of the Louisiana Baptist Convention clearly
delineate a distinction between 1) Standing Committees of the Louisiana Baptist
Convention and 2) Boards of Trustees of the Louisiana Baptist Convention,
noting seven (7) Standing Committees and four (4) Boards of Trustees,
WHEREAS
these terms are not used interchangeably but are in reference to either the
Standing Committees (committees) or the Boards of Trustees (boards),
WHEREAS
these Bylaws bestow upon the Executive Director ex officio status (to
serve as secretary) of all Standing Committees, they do not permit the
Executive Director to be seated as a voting member of any of the four Boards of
Trustees of the Louisiana Baptist Convention;
WHEREAS
Article II of the Louisiana College Bylaws: Revised and Amended 1996, formerly
identified no position for the Executive Director, when it presented, “The
Board of Trustees shall consist of thirty-three persons elected by the
Louisiana Baptist Convention plus the President of the Louisiana Baptist
Convention. The President of the College also shall be a member of the Board of
Trustees, ex officio [sic] and without vote,”
WHEREAS
for over 100 years, from the founding of Louisiana College, the Executive
Director had no voting position on the Louisiana College Board of Trustees,
until changes were made to the Louisiana College Charter and Bylaws in 2008
when the Restated Articles of Incorporation of Louisiana College, Article IV,
4.2 was amended to read, “The Board of Trustees shall be composed of
thirty-three persons, each of whom shall be a member in good standing of a
Baptist church in Louisiana cooperating with the Louisiana Baptist Convention
and a resident of the state of Louisiana, plus the President and the
Executive Director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. The President of
Louisiana College shall be a member of the Board of Trustees, ex officio, [sic]
and without vote,” (emphasis mine)
WHEREAS
the absence of a voting member position for the Executive Director on the
Boards of Trustees could be understood to have been a deliberate action on
order to guard against 1) the clear conflict of interest arising from the
Executive Director’s influence over the convention budget, 2) a privileged
tenure due to an undefined and unexpiring term and 3) the powerful voice of the
Executive Director and his positional influence in larger Convention life,
WHEREAS
Article IV, 4.2 of the Louisiana College Restated Articles of Incorporation is
in direct contradiction with Article III, Section Nine (9) and Article IV,
Section Ten (10) of the Bylaws of Louisiana Baptist Convention,
WHEREAS
Louisiana College does not have the authority to
supersede the Constitution and Bylaws of the Louisiana Baptist Convention by
placing on its Board of Trustees a salaried employee of the Convention;
WHEREAS
Comprehensive Standard 3.2.4 of the Council on Colleges of the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) states: “The governing board is free
from undue influence from political, religious, or other external bodies and
protects the institution from such influence,”
WHEREAS
being found out of compliance with such Comprehensive Standards might result in
further sanctions or even denial of reaffirmation by the accrediting body;
THEREFORE
BE IT RESOLVED the Louisiana Baptist Convention meeting in Alexandria on
November 11-12, 2013 clarify that the Executive Director of the Executive Board
of the Convention is not a voting member of any the four (4) Boards of Trustees
of the Louisiana Baptist Convention,
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED, regarding Louisiana College, the Louisiana Baptist
Convention meeting in Alexandria on November 11-12, 2013 formally requests the
Board of Trustees of Louisiana College to amend their Restated Articles of
Incorporation to comply with the Louisiana Baptist Convention’s Bylaws by
removing “and the Executive Director” from Article IV, 4.2 of the Restated
Articles of Incorporation,
BE
IT FINALLY RESOLVED this action does not prohibit the Executive Director from
interacting with Louisiana College in his role as Executive Director of the
Executive Board of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, who may be invited to
attend any open meeting of the Board of Trustees for purposes of information
and encouragement.
Yup, that’s a mouthful. It is cumbersome and a bit tedious
but the verbiage was important in order to cover all the bases I hoped to
address. Granted the last two “Whereas” statements are not necessary as to the
flow and purpose of the resolution
in toto, but I felt it was important
to express my concern about how this relationship (specifically between the
Executive Director and
Louisiana
College) could be misconstrued by our governing body (SACS).
Another
Louisiana
pastor, Lewis Richerson, expressed similar concerns. He too presented a motion at
the LBC meeting. His motion dealt with the definition of
ex officio and
whether or not the Executive Director’s position should be voting or
non-voting. This is an important question (and one that needs to be addressed)
regarding whether or not the Executive Director should be a voting member of
the Standing Committees, however, my contention is that the question is moot in
regard to the four Boards of Trustees, since according to our constitution, the
Executive Director has no seat thereon.
After my motion, and during a time of discussion and a point
of order that I offered, Dr. David Hankins, the current Executive Director of
the LBC, was allowed to speak to the matter. The following is a direct
transcript of his address:
Thank you Mr. President,
Ah, the point of orders are
raised is that this convention has been, for some number of years, in violation
of its own bylaws, ah, when it has adopted all of the charters, which it’s done
so recently, of all of its entities, as well as sustaining the rules under
which the Executive Board operates. The bylaw under reference says that no
salaried official of the convention is eligible for election. That means
that the nominating committee or the committee on committees may not put forth
the name of a salaried person, ah to serve on one of the committees or boards
of this convention. However, ex officio members are not under that rule. The
President that’s elected each year and the Executive Director by name, serve on
the boards according to the charters of, that have been approved by this
convention. This convention is not in violation of its own rules.
I would further demonstrate that
in that Mr. Richarson’s motion, tried to change the language from election to
service, which then would put the convention’s rules in conflict with the
current charters. And so I would encourage the messengers to sustain the motion
to refer this very complex motion, ah, some of which is out of order on other
rules. And so I hope that the body would allow the Executive Board to study
this and bring you a report at a future convention. (David Hankins
addressing the Louisiana Baptist Convention, November 12, 2013.)
Ironically, and in what can only be looked at as comedic
relief, my motion, about the influence of the Executive Director, was referred
to the committee that is under the direction of… wait for it… the Executive
Director. The fact remains, the Convention is violating its own rules and here
is why.
Clearly, the Executive Director has been serving on the
Boards of Trustees (and it does seem as though the Board charters have been
changed to allow for this) but the LBC Constitution has not been changed to
allow for this. Further, the Executive Director has been a voting and very
vocal member of at least one of the Boards. I rarely heard the Executive Director
speak up in years past. In fact, I seem to recall whole meetings that passed
where he didn’t say a word. That has not been the case over the last two years.
Although the Executive Director has apparently been serving on each of the four
Boards of Trustees, I only have experience with his interaction with the Board
on which I serve, the Board of Trustees of Louisiana College. Thus, the motion I
offered was specifically in relationship to Louisiana College
and therefore I will only address what I have experienced.
The Executive Director mentioned the following in his
response:
“The bylaw under reference says
that no salaried official of the convention is eligible for election.
That means that the nominating committee or the committee on committees may not
put forth the name of a salaried person, ah to serve on one of the committees
or boards of this convention. However, ex officio members are not under that
rule. The President that’s elected each year and the Executive Director by
name, serve on the boards according to the charters, of, that have been
approved by this convention.” (his emphasis)
Clearly, in this statement the Executive Director is
pointing to a particular word as the basis for that office to have a seat on
the Boards. He is specifically emphasizing one word which he apparently assumes
allows him a seated position on the Boards. He even vocally emphasized that
word during his response. The word in question is “election” (anyone want to
chase down the irony here… ;) sorry, inside joke).
On the Changing of a Word
Here is what you might not know… before 2007 the article in
question said the following…
Article IV, Section 10 (pre
2007) – Bylaws of the Louisiana
Baptist Convention
“No salaried employee of this Convention
and its boards and committees shall be eligible for service as a
voting member of boards or committees of this Convention except as provided in
the constitution of the Convention or these bylaws,” (emphasis mine)
During the 2007 LBC meeting a change was proposed to that
article… a change of one word. I can not find where a floor discussion took
place regarding this change, but the amended language was apparently adopted
(however, conspicuously and unlike all the other Book of Reports which I
possess, the Constitution and Bylaws were not included in the 2008 LBC Book of
Reports). After 2007 the article now reads…
Article IV, Section 10 (post
2007) – Bylaws of the Louisiana
Baptist Convention
“No salaried employee of this
Convention and its boards and committees shall be eligible for election
as a voting member of boards or committees of this Convention except as
provided in the constitution of the Convention or these bylaws,” (emphasis
mine)
In other words, from the time the article was first adopted the
idea was that “no salaried employees could serve on the boards or committees of
the convention.” Why was this word change made? I am admittedly assuming that
the Executive Director had something to do with this change. Clearly by his own
statement he thinks simply changing one word in the constitution would grant
the office such a seat (in fact, the Executive Director acknowledged as much
when he noted that if the language was “service” rather than “election” then
the convention’s rules would be in conflict with the current charters).
However, to suggest that any one-word-change now allows a spot for the
Executive Director on the Boards of Trustees could not be further from the
truth. In fact, it is quite naïve.
Let’s examine why…
On the Spirit of the Rule:
As already noted, Article IV, Section Ten (10) (found on
page 78 of the 2013 Book of Reports) articulates, “No salaried employee of this
Convention and its boards and committees shall be eligible for election as a
voting member of boards or committees of this Convention except as provided in
the constitution of the Convention or these bylaws.” Clearly, the idea of
improper or undue influence and/or conflict of interest is the implicit concern
of this passage. In fact, most of the sections of Article IV deal with the very
issue of guarding the entities against this type of influence citing areas of
term limits, rotating trusteeships, etc (Sections, 1-4, 8-10). Inasmuch, the
use of the term “elected” (changed from “service”) in this article, is irrelevant
to the question of who should or should not be seated. In his statement the
Executive Director admitted that only these two ex officio positions are
in question and I would posit that this particular section (10) is really only dealing
with the office of Executive Director since the Convention President is not a
Convention employee. Furthermore, who wields more authority in Baptist in
Convention life than the Executive Director? What is implicitly being espoused
by the Executive Director in arguing for a spot for that office is that the
Executive Director should have an on-going, term-limit free, permanent vocal
and voting position on the very boards that receive monies from the Convention
budget, of which he has oversight. In light of Section One (1) of the same
article (Article IV), which declares, “The Convention affirms its adherence to
the policy of periodic rotation of the membership of its committees and boards,”
to argue that the Executive Director should hold a permanent position, ad
infinitum, is a serious breach of this particular rule as well as
transgresses the sprit of the rule from Section Ten (10).
On Ex Officio Positions:
Now, let’s compare the two ex officio offices and
what our guiding documents actually allow…
The service of the LBC President: On Both Standing
Committees and Boards.
The yearly elected President of the Convention DOES INDEED,
upon election, have a spot on both the Convention committees and boards. Note
Article VIII, Section Four (4) of the Articles of Incorporation of the
Louisiana Baptist Convention (found on page 71 of the 2013 Book of Reports).
This article identifies that the President of the LBC, “shall, by his election,
become an ex officio [sic] member of all Convention committees and
boards.” Thus, upon election, the President of the Convention does serve on
both the Convention Standing Committees and the Boards of Trustees. That’s the
President. Now let’s look at what is allowed for the Executive Director. (emphasis
mine)
The service of the LBC Executive Director: Only on
Standing Committees.
Compare the previous allowance of the elected President’s
responsibility (and the clear and distinct language used there) to the
limitation placed on the Executive Director in Article III, Section Nine (9) of
the Louisiana Baptist Convention Bylaws (found on page 77 of the 2013 Book of
Reports). This article states, “The Executive Director of the Executive Board
of the Convention shall serve ex officio [sic] as a member and as
secretary of all standing committees of the Convention; however, he may
be assisted in this task by members of the Executive Board staff.” (emphasis
mine)
I’m not sure how much more clear this can be. The Executive
Director IS NOT GIVEN MEMBERSHIP ON THE BOARDS OF TRUSTEES.
Let’s look into this a bit more closely, shall we…
The terms “committees” and “boards” are not used
interchangeably in our guiding documents. They are in reference to either the
Standing Committees (committees) or the Boards of Trustees (boards). The
distinction in the language is noted throughout all the articles of both the
Bylaws and Incorporation. This taxonomy is most precisely articulated in
Article II of the Bylaws of the Louisiana Baptist Convention (found on page 75
of the 2013 Book of Reports). There is a sharp and unquestionable distinction
between 1) Standing Committees of the Louisiana Baptist Convention and 2)
Boards of Trustees of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. This article lists the
following:
(7) Standing Committees
1. Committee on Committees
2. Committee on Nominations
3. Committee on Order of Business
4. Committee on Credentials
5. Committee on Resolutions
6. Committee on Moral and Social Concerns
7. Committee on Louisiana
Baptist History
...and the following:
(4) Boards of Trustees
1. Louisiana
College
2. Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home
3. Louisiana
Baptist Foundation
4. The Baptist Message
It is quite clear that these Bylaws bestow upon the
Executive Director ex officio status (to serve as secretary) of all
Standing Committees… but they certainly do not permit the Executive Director to
be seated as any type of member (ex officio, voting or not) of any of
the four Boards of Trustees of the Louisiana Baptist Convention.
Furthermore, since he is to serve as a secretary only, he is arguably not even
explicitly given a vote on the Standing Committees. In the end, one cannot
identify a place in either the Bylaws, or Articles of Incorporation of the
Louisiana Baptist Convention where the Executive Director is allowed to be
seated on the Boards of Trustees of the Convention. Thus, and in light of the
spirit of Article IV, he is, I would argue, in actuality, prohibited from
serving on anything other than the Standing Committees. There should be no
question on this matter. Our Bylaws are clear.
The crux of the overarching issue may be broken down into
the following simple questions and answers:
1. Where in the Constitution and or Articles of Incorporation is the
Executive Director given ex officio membership? Article III, Section
9 of the Bylaws.
2. In that bylaw, what allowance is afforded him? He “shall serve ex
officio [sic] as a member and as secretary of all standing committees
of the Convention;…”
3. Where in the Bylaws is the elected Convention President given ex
officio membership? Article VIII, Section 4 of the Articles of
Incorporation.
4. In that bylaw, what allowance is afforded him? He “shall, by his
election, become an ex officio [sic] member of all Convention
committees and boards.”
5. The Executive Director is given ex officio membership on the 7
standing committees in Article III, Section 9 but where in the Constitution or
Articles of Incorporation is the Executive Director given a position on the
Boards of Trustees of the Louisiana Baptist Convention as is made available to
the President of the Convention in Article VIII, Section 4 of the Articles of
Incorporation? He is not given such a role and is in fact prohibited from
such as seat from a concise reading of Article IV, Section 10 - “No salaried
employee of this Convention and its boards and committees shall be eligible for
election as a voting member of boards or committees of this Convention except
as provided in the constitution of the Convention or these bylaws.” As we
have noted there is no provision for such a seat bestowed upon the Executive
Director.
6. What is the spirit and purpose of the rule in Article IV, Sections 1
and 10 of the Bylaws? Clearly, to keep at bay the possibility of undue
influence.
7. What person has more influence in Convention life than the Executive
Director? No One.
8. Finally, is it even appropriate for the Executive Director, who
arguably has an inordinate amount of influence over the Convention budget, to
be given what amounts to a permanent, voting position on the Boards that
subsequently receive monies from that very budget? I argue that it is not…
but although pertinent, that is discussion for another time.
On Undue Influence by the Executive Director:
So why this motion at this time? Simply stated… Because I have
witnessed, first hand, what I and others believe to be undue influence of the Executive
Director on the Board of Trustees of Louisiana College in regard to the President
of LC.
Be assured, I have not said anything about the role of the
Executive Director in public that I have not said to him face to face. In fact,
I actually drafted a resolution to censure the Executive Director after
witnessing what I believed to be moments of undue influence and political maneuvering
in Board matters. I prayerfully held that resolution through three meetings and
ultimately did not present it (although I did tell him about it). A few other
board members knew I had such a motion however I chose not to offer it to the
body after I saw the clear lines that were drawn and where the numbers were (at
that point there was no need in exacerbating an already divided Board). I
expressed my extreme disappointment with him and his action. Presently I do not
feel it is appropriate to share the text of my resolution to censure since it
deals with a number of things that happened in Executive Session during Board meetings.
Let me also take a moment to be transparent here. I was
angry with what I saw. So much so that I am ashamed to admit that it was anger
to the point of sin. Sitting in my office one day another pastor in the state
(who also had been dealing with similar feelings) called to challenge me. He
noted his frustration and told me that God had convicted him over his anger. He
confronted me by asking me if I had prayed for the Executive Director. With
tears in my eyes I admitted I had not. I repented at that very moment and asked
God to help me with those untoward feelings. I am so thankful for a fellow
pastor who cared enough about me to call me out on the subject. You know who
you are and you’re a blessing to me, friend. Although I can admit my bad attitude
and have long gotten over my anger regarding these issues, the fact remains I
still have a fiduciary responsibility to Louisiana Baptists (until November of
this year when I rotate off the Board) and to myself (as a Pastor and man who
tries to function in integrity) to point out where I see a large and looming
problem in our Convention.
Regarding the last two years of turmoil at Louisiana College…
the fact of the matter is that the Executive Director has had all of the
information that the Board has had. All of this information that is now being
leaked, the vast majority of which the Board had been given (whether or not
they looked at it or investigated for themselves is questionable), was also
available to the Executive Director. Further, the Executive Director had even
more information than the rest of us since he was appointed to the small
committee of Board members who “looked into” the whistleblower allegations (who
as I understand, interviewed no one). So as you come in contact with more and
more leaked information, take note that it was known and it was steamrolled-over.
The following is my opinion (although some would agree and
some would disagree) and I take responsibility for it without offering it in
malice or anger. I firmly believe that the current President of Louisiana
College would no longer be in that capacity were it not for the protection of
the Executive Director of the LBC. As is now finally being proved, there was
never a “Calvinist Conspiracy” that demanded attention… Not from the faculty
nor from the Board (this allegation, which I continue to hear paraded around to
engender support from the anti-Calvinist lot, is absolutely laughable
considering that there were only two of us on the board who identify with
Reformed Soteriology… TWO of 35 members). The only reason the issue was
directed at Calvinism was so that the Executive Director could rid the school
of reformed leaning professors. If he could identify Calvinism as the strawman
and then extol the LC President as protecting the school from such a “takeover”
then numerous uninformed and uneducated people (including some board members
who much like the President couldn’t articulate a definition of Calvinism if
you made them) would be misdirected enough to rally around the President and subsequently
disregard the preponderance of information regarding the clear lack of
leadership or at least the bungled nature of so many things coming out of
Louisiana College… exempli gratia: Facilities in disrepair, SACS issues,
failed Law School, failed Medical School, failed film school, loss of donors,
unreasonably high turnover of Vice President’s of Academic Affairs, high legal
fees from litigation, etc.
There you have it friends. I welcome anyone who would rise
to challenge me on what I have said here. I have audio recordings to back me up
and would be more than happy to comment if provoked.
Semper Reformanda…
Soli Deo Gloria!
-Jay Adkins
Part Two will look further into the conflict between the LBC
bylaws and the Restated Articles of Incorporation of Louisiana College. Part
Three will likely be a bit of commentary on the role of the Trustee and the
current topics being leaked to various media outlets (But that will depend of
the stories that are coming out over the weekend).
I am appreciative that Kelly Boggs of the Baptist Message
has finally engaged some of the Board members to investigate one of the
particular stories that have been leaked (its only one aspect, but it’s a
start). My hope is that he does a thorough and actual investigation on the
subject. However, and this is no reflection on him at all, I remain unconvinced
that such a probe will come to fruition.
Guess who sits on the Board of Trustees of
the Baptist Message… well, I’ll let you figure out that one yourself.
Amendment: I earlier had posted what I now know to be a misstatement. I was under the impression that the Baptist Message was under the office of the Executive Branch of the LBC. I have since, found out that is not the case. Although it was something that Dr. Hankins tried to bring about after becoming the Executive Director (which is why I thought it had happened), that movement failed. My apologies to Kelly Boggs and those at the Baptist Message.