rmiller1959 wrote: ↑September 15th, 2021, 9:14 am
Two random thoughts:
Would our fortunes change once they've settled on a new president?
BYU is theologically conservative as we are and they were targeted by progressive groups the last time the Big 12 considered expansion. This time, those groups were either quiet or things moved too quickly for them to interfere. What lessons could we learn from them?
I kind of think we have at least three things that other schools have a hard time with:
1) Christian Conservatism.
2) Academics / alleged Diploma Mill
3) The Jerry crap-show.
If it was just #1, I think LU probably gets a nice conference invite (just like BYU did) soon. Deep down, I think most folks can get over the fact that culturally LU isn't going to align with secular teachings and behavior.
Every time I hear the diploma mill argument, it obviously hurts. I have two daughters at LU and I think they are getting a fine education. Both girls had nice SAT scores and both were accepted at FSU and USF here in FL. I think there are a ton of kids on campus that fit that same mold. I think the biggest problem is likely that LU does no have separate accreditation for the online product. So, the residential students SAT scores, graduation rates, etc get lumped in with online students scores. And, there is no question that the online product is not as academically vigorous as the residential instruction. Contrary to LU's combined accreditation - schools like Purdue and Penn State have separate accreditation for their online products (thus protecting their on-campus standards and ratings). Honestly, this is something that needs to be considered at LU. LU academic rankings would immediately jump if the residential and online were separated. Now, if this happens, somebody would probably need to do some creative accounting to get the online money back to the mothership.
Then there is the crap show we just all lived through and the whole country saw. Its still fresh. And even though we are desperately ready to move on, others aren't. I still think that the board is purposely keeping Prevo in place just to allow some "quiet time". And honestly, I have enjoyed our sports teams being the main LU story lately. When they took the "Acting" name off of Prevo, some were very upset at this. I was not (even though I'm not much of a Prevo fan). I think it is a smart move. LU has quietly had its first non-Falwell president. And the next president will replace Prevo, not Falwell. The more distance, the better in my book. Again, I'm enjoying the quiet and I know my daughters (and their LU friends) are.
I obviously hope that LU remains true to #1. I think there should be an action plan to fix #2. And some distance is needed for #3.