In his first day on the job as Baylor University’s interim president, Bill Underwood replaced two members of the senior administration, including Provost David Jeffrey, who Underwood once challenged to a public debate over academic freedom.
Underwood, who assumed presidential responsibilities June 1, named religion department Chairman Randall O’Brien as interim provost, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald.
“I appreciate Dr. Jeffrey’s contributions to Baylor but at this particular point in our history, I thought what the university needed was a person with Dr. O’Brien’s unique ability to bring people together,” Underwood said. “He has shown his abilities to do that again and again. I thought his particular talents fit Baylor’s needs at this critical point in its history.”
A ‘healing event’?
Underwood succeeds outgoing President Robert B. Sloan Jr., who has taken the role of chancellor after a long battle with opposing factions over the future of the Waco, Texas, university, which is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
In addition to O’Brien, Underwood tapped Baylor law professor and former Waco Mayor Michael Morrison to replace Tommye Lou Davis as his chief to staff. Davis will continue to serve as Sloan’s chief of staff in the chancellor’s office.
Baylor’s vice president for student life, Eileen Hulme, announced May 31 she would resign her post, and Underwood said he will soon name her successor. Will Davis, chairman of the Baylor regents, told the Tribune-Herald that Jeffrey’s termination likely took many of the regents by surprise when Underwood informed them via e-mail.
“I think there were regents who were very supportive for Dr. Jeffrey and the job he did as [provost],” Davis said, noting that such action should be done with the consultation of regents. “It’s hard to see this as a healing event.”
(BP)
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