Accreditation warning extended for Southwestern Seminary through 2025
President David S. Dockery says the seminary is making progress.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) has extended its accreditation warning for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for another 12 months due to its failure to comply with core requirements in its Principles of Accreditation regarding financial resources and financial responsibility.
The seminary, located in Fort Worth, Texas, is owned by the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).
The accrediting agency board did not mention any failure to meet standards regarding the fiduciary responsibility of the seminary’s board of trustees. The seminary was placed on warning last summer for failing to comply with its standards regarding the fiduciary responsibility of the board of trustees and two restated issues regarding finances.
The SACSCOC Principles of Accreditation require an institution to have sound financial resources, a stable financial base, and manage its resources responsibly. Additionally, an educational institution must have a governing board of at least five members that exercises fiduciary oversight, ensures the presiding officer and a majority of voting members are free from any financial interest, is not controlled by a minority of board members, or is not presided over by the institution’s chief executive officer.
SACSCOC announced in June of 2023 that Southwestern Seminary had been placed on warning for three matters: fiduciary responsibility of the board of trustees (standard 4.1), financial resources (standard 13.1), and institutional financial responsibility (standard 13.3).
Southwestern Seminary President David S. Dockery said in a press release the exclusion of concern for standard 4.1 in this year’s report was “a positive step forward for the institution.”
Dockery said in 2023 that while a warning from the SACS was a serious matter, it was not probation and the seminary remained accredited, adding that he anticipated a two-year process to address the warning.
“The current administration and board of trustees, with support from the faculty and staff, will continue to work diligently to aggressively reduce institutional spending in the current budget year as well as in the forthcoming 2023-24 budget year, which includes (a) significant reduction in personnel costs, while prioritizing the educational mission of the seminary,” he said.
Greenway Lawsuit
Adam Greenway, former president of Southwestern, filed a lawsuit in March against the seminary and former trustee chairman Danny Roberts, seeking unspecified compensation for defamation of character that he says has left him unemployable.
Greenway was forced out as president in September 2022 for financial mismanagement, a little more than three years after assuming the presidency of the seminary.
“The defamation of Dr. Greenway has been widely publicized, resulting in severe damage to his reputation and rendering him unemployable in the professional capacity for which he is qualified,” the suit states.
Among other things, the complaint says that Greenway was forced to reside in a presidential home provided by the seminary in a state of disrepair and contaminated with mold, resulting in it being unfit for habitation. This situation is said to have arisen from the actions of Greenway’s predecessor, Paige Patterson, who allegedly left the home in poor condition.
Specific allegations regarding the condition of the president’s home when the Pattersons left it are mentioned in the suit, including the removal of the majority of furnishings and décor. The controversy over the expenditures made to repair and restore the president’s home, including the alleged purchase of an $11,000 espresso machine and more than $1.5 million in renovations to Pecan Manor, the school’s on-campus presidential residence, has been a point of contention. These details were part of a report on Southwestern’s finances, which detailed $140 million in overspending across 20 years, much of it under the leadership of Greenway’s predecessor, Patterson.
DOJ Indicts Former Provost
Matthew Queen, former interim provost and vice president for academic affairs at Southwestern, was charged in May with obstructing justice by falsifying records in connection with an ongoing federal Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into institutions affiliated with the SBC.
The charges against Queen stem from his alleged attempt to interfere with a federal grand jury investigation related to sexual abuse allegations within the denomination, according to a Southern District of New York press release.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI have been investigating sexual abuse and misconduct allegations associated with a religious denomination and its affiliated entities since 2022. As part of this investigation, a grand jury subpoena was issued to a seminary affiliated with the SBC. The subpoena required the production of all documents related to sexual abuse allegations against anyone employed by or associated with the seminary.
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