Trustees of Louisiana College announced Sept. 30 that conservative seminary scholar Malcolm Yarnell will be the school’s eighth president.
Yarnell, assistant dean of theological studies and associate professor of systemic theology at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, was offered the job after a closed-door session of trustees Sept. 24.
“Today is a great day for the college,” emphasized Ed Tarpley of Pineville, who headed the presidential search committee.
“Malcolm Yarnell is an outstanding theologian and teacher. He has a love for students and faculty, and he is truly a man that all Louisiana Baptists can be proud of.”
The college’s trustee board has been divided and the school is now under investigation by its accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Trustee chair Joe Nesom resigned June 27 as fellow trustees prepared to remove him from office. Nesom denounced “unwise unilateral actions taken by certain board members.”
At a news conference announcing Yarnell’s decision to accept the post, Tarpley was asked if he had confidence in the new president’s ability to heal tensions at the school.
“Dr. Yarnell is a peacemaker,” Tarpley responded. “He’s a consensus builder. He’s going to be someone who’s going to come in and listen to everyone and do what is best for the students, the faculty and the entire Louisiana College community.
“And I think, with all those characteristics, he’ll be able to come in and start the healing process and move Louisiana College forward,” Tarpley said.
Yarnell, a Louisiana native, previously was academic dean and vice president for academic affairs at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo. — like Southwestern, a Southern Baptist Convention seminary.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University, master’s degrees from Southwestern Seminary and Duke University and a doctor of philosophy from Oxford University. He has been pastor of churches in North Carolina and Louisiana. (ABP)
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