The American Spectator

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p> SHOWDOWN CITY br> Re: Hunter Baker's Considering the Unthinkable : /p>

As a direct descendant of Baylor's founder, Henry Lee Graves, I am shocked and saddened to see that this institution, which was founded on Christian theology, is facing this kind of tumult. Mr. Sloan has worked hard to bring this University back to it's roots, and in the process has increased it's place in academia.

p>I too hope that the Regents remember that they endorsed this vision for transforming Baylor, and continue to let Mr. Sloan do his job. br> -- K. Stearns br> Salt Lake City, Utah /p>

Excellent, if depressing, report from inside the "Baylor bubble" by Hunter Baker.

People ask me, "What is the deal with Baylor?" My feeling is that most of the faculty senators are of an age where they'd like back the go-along, get-along days of Uncle Herb (Herbert Reynolds, the former president), with pretend controversies and tempests in teapots, instead of the current regime of research, national attention, and WORK. Of course, Waco tends to have stupor-inducing warmth and humidity, even worse than D.C., so perhaps an executive who really wants ideas and results is a bit too much anyway.

By firing Dr. Sloan, the "Baylor community" will demonstrate that what's most important is, if you'll allow the phrase, high-quality mediocrity. Let's be good -- just not too good. The "ethos of the Bubble," if you will. Baylor has long been a high-enough-quality liberal-arts school, so why go spoiling all that in pursuit so some unknown unknowable called "excellence"? Really.

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