Investigation
Team Gives Iliff Seminary
"public warning"
November 3, 2004
A UMNS Report
By Joretta Purdue*
An investigation of leadership problems and cultural
insensitivity related to the retirement of a former
president of Iliff School of Theology has led to the United Methodist-related
institution
being placed on "immediate listing with public warning" by
a denominational review team.
The designation was part of a Nov. 2 report prepared
by an eight-member team from the denomination’s University Senate
and Commission on Religion and Race. The report contains a series of
recommendations that the trustees of the Denver school have begun implementing,
said the Rev. J. Philip Wogaman, Iliff’s interim president.
Iliff is one of 13 theological schools affiliated with
the United Methodist Church. The University Senate,
an elected church body of higher education professionals, determines
which schools, colleges,
universities and seminaries meet the criteria for affiliation
with the denomination. The commission, which provided part of the team,
is the
church’s racial advocacy and monitoring agency.
The Rev. David Maldonado Jr., who was president of
Iliff for four years, was not treated "with fairness, justice and
care" by the school’s trustees, the report states. The investigation
team also noted that Maldonado came into a "difficult situation" and
succeeded in stabilizing Iliff’s finances, increased student enrollment,
brought institutional mission and purpose, and increased
Hispanic/Latino representation at the school.
He was the first Hispanic to lead a United Methodist
seminary, taking over as president in June 2000 and abruptly retiring
last May 26.
In a letter to trustees at the time, Maldonado said
the faculty resisted his leadership. Some faculty leaders
accused him of being too theologically conservative or moderate and said
that he
did "not fit" or was "culturally different," he wrote.
In addition, Maldonado said, he felt pressured to leave
by faculty leadership and some trustees.
The review team addressed those charges in its report.
"
The review team found that failures to assert appropriate
leadership by the board of trustees, the unwillingness of some faculty
members to recognize and respect different leadership styles, as well
as not letting go of traditional norms and behaviors to allow for an
inclusive institutional transformation, contributed to the problems that
President Maldonado and the institution faced," the report said.
In investigating the situation, the review team interviewed
90 people in 54 sessions over a three-day period, and
engaged in extensive reading and discussion. The report includes the
recommendation that the
University Senate and Commission on Religion and Race
send a team to Iliff within six months to determine the school’s
progress toward implementing the recommendations.
"
The board is working diligently with the Iliff community
as we move forward in resolving these issues," Wogaman said. "We
look forward to working with United Methodist Church
as we progress."
In a letter to the Iliff community and supporters,
he said most of the problems cited in the report relate
to "patterns
of institutional governance and perceived racial and
cultural insensitivities."
The University Senate’s warning serves notice "that if the
problems are not corrected, Iliff’s support from the United Methodist
Ministerial Education Fund can be withdrawn." The fund contributed
$900,000 to the school’s $5.14 million budget last year.
In a statement, board Chairman Wes Brown said the report
was "a very tough letter to read." He said the problems related
to governance and inclusivity needed to be fixed and were "very
solvable."
In a special session Oct. 23, Iliff trustees adopted
many of the report’s recommendations and created several task forces
to work on issues named in the report. As a result,
the school has:
-
Started
defining the president’s roles and responsibilities,
including creating a policy that the president,
as the board’s
chief executive, may not be excluded from any
committee or from access to relevant documents and that the president
is to
participate in decisions
concerning faculty
status.
-
Sought
the guidance of the Association of Governing Boards to
assist with training trustees and
revised the board’s
composition so that a trustee is not simultaneously
serving as the institution’s
legal counsel.
-
Committed
to work on racial diversity, including seeking assistance
from the Commission on Religion
and Race.
-
Agreed
to create more intentional preparation for ministry in
multi-racial-cultural settings for
students studying for ordained ministry.
-
Authorized
creation of an ombudsperson’s
office and a grievance program for faculty, staff, students
and administrators.
-
Begun
revising the faculty handbook.
-
Agreed
to improve the academic culture to ensure respectful
hearing of alternative
views.
-
Revised
faculty and student representation on the board of trustees
to one-year
terms, with the possibility of returning after five years.
-
Agreed
to an external search for a new dean after the appointment
of a new president.
-
Initiated
revision of the school’s mission
statement with the help of its constituencies.
The
board directed the president
to
establish a task force to work with Maldonado
on
creating a celebration
of his presidency. Separately,
the
president
was instructed to explore with Maldonado
his
preferences about continued
service
within or beyond the
United
Methodist Church.
The team
comprised
the Rev. Ted Campbell,
president
of Garrett-Evangelical Theological
Seminary;
Bishop
Marion Edwards, retired,
North
Carolina Annual (regional)
Conference;
Bill Haden, president,
West
Virginia Wesleyan College; Mark Nerio,
trustee,
St.
Paul School
of
Theology and Southern
Methodist
University; the Rev.
Yolanda
Pupo-Ortiz, associate general
secretary,
Commission
on
Religion and Race; the Rev.
Vicki
Woods, pastor
and
member of the
commission;
and Ken Yamada, associate
general
secretary,
Division
of
Higher Education, Board of
Higher
Education and Ministry.
*Purdue
is
a freelance writer and
former
United
Methodist
News Service news writer
residing
in
Colorado
Springs,
Colo.
News
media contact:
Tim
Tanton, Nashville, Tenn.,
(615)
742-5470
or
newsdesk@umcom.org
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