From: William Brown

Thursday - January 10, 2008 2:36 PM

To: FACULTY

Subject: RE: Recent Letter

Many of you have received a letter from a group calling itself the "coalition." When I heard about this group in November, I contacted them immediately and suggested we get together. I am always open to answer as much as I can for whatever questions are raised. If there are genuine concerns, I promise to address them.

I met for over three hours with this group a few weeks ago before our holiday break. Most of the concerns expressed by the members came from their interpretation of real events. Their communication to me (which is the same as the document you received) demonstrated this interpretation, since it was filled with misunderstandings, half-truths, and rumor. They acknowledged that they had only partial information and only perceptions about decisions. In addition, they communicated that they did not want to hurt Cedarville or stirs things up. I took them at their word, and now it appears to me that may have been a mistake. After our time together I told them I would be happy to meet again this semester. There were a couple of issues I promised to follow up on and was in the process of doing so.

I regret that they sent you their letter. Distributing it around campus does nothing to address their concerns. If I had known their intentions I would not have encouraged them. Now it is clear their motives were not to find understanding or resolution but to raise suspicion once again about the Cedarville administration and members of the School of Biblical and Theological Studies, and to "keep things stirred up." This group’s action violates our Community Covenant, General Workplace Standards, and Faculty Handbook. More significantly, it cuts at the heart of what it means to be a Christ-centered community. We all agree to "seek to serve Christ in an atmosphere free from personal attitudes of distrust."

Of course there are genuine concerns. Recent, very difficult personnel decisions cause concern, particularly when all the facts cannot be revealed. The best I can do is to emphasize again how hard it was to make these decisions and how deliberate we were in working through them to ensure that we followed biblical principles, University policies, and legal guidelines. For this reason we worked alongside the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees and Higher Education legal counsel.

There will always be those who disagree with difficult administrative decisions - that is a necessary burden of leadership. I am convinced that if all the information were communicated, everyone would understand why these decisions were made and most would agree with them. But, as an administrator, you take it on the chin everyday and keep going. It’s part of the job.

There are issues to confront but we are going to do so in the proper way. Let’s be as open as possible while maintaining required confidentiality and deal with these issues as brothers and sisters in Christ.

The members of the School of Biblical and Theological Studies have repeatedly answered concerns with complete candor and tremendous grace. Nevertheless, as an expression of goodwill, I have asked its members to respond to the questions about theology and philosophy raised by this group. They are glad to do so. I appreciate their openness to what has become relentless scrutiny. They will make their response available to everyone soon.

But the distribution of the type of material that we received yesterday needs to stop. The campaign to organize, criticize and destroy that began last year stops now. It cannot and will not be repeated.

The mission and vision of Cedarville University are lofty and ambitious. I am encouraged by what I see you doing day after day through your teaching and mentoring. God is working in amazing ways among our students, in large part because of you. Thanks for investing your life and ministry in God’s work at Cedarville University. Surely, the future of Cedarville is bright!

Blessings in Christ,

Dr. William E. Brown

President Cedarville University

251 N. Main Street

Cedarville, OH 45314

www.cedarville.edu/president