Vol. 83
Friday, Oct. 16, 1970
No. 7
Our Baptist Affiliation
Determined At Forum
'We may not make it,
but we'd like to try"
Last Monday evening, Stetson
students met with representatives from the administration
and the faculty to discuss the
relationship between Stetson
University and the Florida
Baptist Convention.
A panel of administrators,
faculty members, and students
convened in the Stetson Room at
7 :00 p.m. in order to answer
questions from concerned
students. The panel was composed of the following men: Dr.
John Johns, President of Stetson
University; Mr. H. Graves Ed-
mundson, Business Manager of
Stetson University; Dr. Rollin
Armour, President of the Faculty
Senate, and President of the
Florida Baptist Historical
Commission; Dr. Earl Joiner, an
historian who has done a considerable amount of work concerning the relationship between
the Florida Baptist Convention
and Stetson University; Mr. Ric
Crosby, President of Stetson
Student Government
Association; , Mr. Larry
Arrington, Vice-President of
Stetson Student Government
Association; and Mr. John
DuPree, Chairman of the
Publications Board at Stetson.
The meeting lasted well over
two hours. It was interrupted
briefly when Mr. H. Graves
Edmundson announced that
there was a report of a bomb in
the building and advised the
audience to evacuate. The forum
was continued in Elizabeth Hall
while the police checked the
Carlton Union Building for the
reported bomb (which, incidentally, did not exist).
Among those questions asked
and answered were the
following:
EDITOR'S NOTE: The
following answers are all direct
quotes unless otherwise noted.
Because of quotations within the
answers, in order to facilitate
reading, we have omitted the
opening and closing quotation
marks around the speaker's
answers.
Q. What is the purpose of the
forum?
A. (Mr. Crosby) The purpose of
the forum is to clear up some of
the questions which have been
Seated from L. to R.: Dr. Earl Joiner; Mr. Lany Arlington; Dr. J. E. Johns: Mr. Richard
Crosby; Mr. H. Graves Edmondson,- Dr. Rollin Armour; Mr. John DuPree.
Miss Wendy Solheim, 1970 Freshman Beauty Queen and her
court. (Photo by Micheal G. Partlow)
raised in regard to the
relationship of the University to
the Board of Trustees and to the
Florida Baptist Convention. It is
also the purpose of the forum to
examine the financial commitment involved in Stetson's
relationship with the Baptist
Convention. We should like to
gain an understanding of why we
are a "church related school," or
a "Christian institution" and of
what these terms mean. We hope
to answer the questions regarding where Stetson is going and
what we are doing toward that
end. What is meant by academic
excellence and does it exist at
Stetson? What is holding us
back? We would also like to find
out who has the right or the
responsibility to govern Stetson's
campus. (Ed. Note: This has
been a paraphrasing of Mr.
Crosby's opening comments and
not a direct quote).
Q. Who "owns" Stetson
University?
A. (Dr. Johns) Stetson
University is "owned" by a self-
perpetuating Board of
Trustees...Now, under the
charter which was passed by the
laws of Florida in the Acts of
1887,...Section 3 says that "the
number of Trustees...shall never
be,less than eighteen nor more
than twenty-four, three-fourths of
. whom shall be members of the
Baptist denomination in good'
standing with their several
churches and which number shall
always include the President of
said university for the time being
as ex officio Trustee who shall
also be a member of the Baptist
denomination."
Now, it does not say "Florida
Baptist;" it does not say
"Southern Baptist;" it does not
give anything except the term
"Baptist." They do not have to be
a member of any convention.
Now, Section 4 says that the
Trustees..."shall have the power
to elect their successors and
associates in perpetuity, voting
therefore by ballot at a duly
notified meeting, and for this
purpose a majority vote only of
the Trustees shall be necessary."
Section 5 says thaf'said
Trustees shall be deemed to hold
office without expressed
limitation of time, but any
Trustee may be removed on a %
vote at any duly notified meeting
of the Trustees." That's legal
jargon for, very simply, saying
this: that the Trustees elect their
own successors...and they are
elected for life.
Q. How is it that Florida
Baptists and Stetson University
have a working agreement?
A. (Dr. Johns) For years there
was no formal agreement other
than an agreement that would be
reached at a convention where
they would say "We'll give you X
number of dollars if you'll have a
Department of Religion staffed
by Baptists.. They have tried to
formalize this thing from time to
time. And, at the present, we are
operating under an agreement
which is completely non-
enforceable at law.
Q. What is this agreement?
A. (Dr. Johns) This agreement,
very simply, is this: that a 3 man
committee of the Trustees of
Stetson University will, with a 3
man committee of the Florida
Baptist. Convention, together,
these six men will nominate a
Trustee. They cannot elect
him...By the charter, . the
Trustees of Stetson University
could refuse to elect the person
nominated and nothing could be
done about it.
Q. How many of the present
Trustees are Baptist? How many
are Florida Baptists?
A. ED. NOTE President Johns,
called the roll of the Board of
Trustees and commented on the
religious affilation of each. Let it
Continued
