Baylor interim president fires provost who held opposing view

WACO, Texas (BP) - 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.

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 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 of 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.

Last October, Underwood - then serving as a Baylor law school professor - initiated a public debate with Jeffrey over whether academic and religious freedom could coexist at Baylor. Underwood said June 1 his decision to replace Jeffrey was not brought on by the debate, and added that the debate was "one of the most positive moments" of Jeffrey's term.

Jeffrey, whose time as provost ended two years to the day after it began, will return to his position as distinguished professor of literature and humanities at Baylor.

"I do share some apprehension for Baylor," he told the Tribune-Herald. "This could be a time of perceived contradiction. And I am particularly concerned that the process of bringing Baylor together not be derailed, that we do anything to minimize divisions here."