Over half of Southern Baptist universities have DEI infrastructures

Culture & Religion

At least twenty-seven of the fifty-two colleges associated with the Southern Baptist Convention or one of its state conventions have some form of official diversity, equity, and inclusion infrastructure, according to an analysis by The Sentinel.

Many of the colleges that do not have DEI infrastructures have other ways of showing that the ideology, which posits that diversity on the basis of characteristics such as race and sex are positive goods, are priorities at their campuses. File Image.

Twenty of the colleges have a chief diversity officer, vice president for diversity, or some other form of diversity director, liaison, or coordinator. Nineteen of the institutions have a DEI office, department, center, committee, or council.

Many of the colleges with DEI infrastructures have official statements on diversity or entire pages devoted to diversity on their websites. Baylor University, Bluefield University, and Missouri Baptist University have dedicated bias reporting webpages where students, faculty, and staff can report incidents related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Several of the other institutions had phone numbers or email addresses for this purpose.

Baylor University is the only university examined by The Sentinel whose website contained the use of preferred pronouns. Several webpages profiling Baylor faculty, staff, and students include pronoun preferences such as “she/her” or “he/him.”

Wingate University’s chief diversity officer released an official statement expressing disappointment in the Supreme Court’s decision to end racial preferences in college admissions.

“In this moment, it is essential that Wingate University speaks with a clear voice. We will continue to value and cultivate a diverse and interconnected campus community where everyone can thrive. While Wingate’s admission process does not consider race, we continue to work hard to make our campus an ideal and highly coveted destination for individuals from diverse backgrounds.”

Chowan University offers a minor in “Diversity Studies.” The program is composed of history courses for various minority groups in the United States, as well as criminal justice, psychology, English, and religion courses.

Many of the Southern Baptist Convention colleges that do not have official DEI infrastructures have other ways of showing that the ideology, which posits that diversity on the basis of characteristics such as race and sex are positive goods, are high priorities at their campuses. Several of them list diversity, equity, and inclusion in their mission statements or their university values. Others have diversity symposiums, lectures, discussion groups, scholarships, or future plans to implement diversity initiatives.

At least three of the Southern Baptist Convention’s six seminaries also have DEI infrastructures. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s website includes a document which charts policies regarding the inclusion of race and gender-based preferences in hiring faculty and awarding scholarships. The provost of the institution has asked the deans for the Graduate Program and Leavell College to hire “at least one minority adjunct teacher per semester” in addition to those already employed in “minority-focused program locations.”

The Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary’s webpage for its Kingdom Diversity Initiative says that the school is “committed to equipping groups who have been historically underrepresented on our campus to serve the church and fulfill the Great Commission.” Financial aid resources accordingly “represent part of a holistic effort to support current and future students in an attempt to make our campus look more like the kingdom.”

One of the Kingdom Diversity Initiative’s objectives is raising “historically underrepresented demographics on campus” such that 20% of the overall staff, faculty, and student populations are “culturally diverse,” while another one of the objectives is ensuring that 35% of the population is female. It is unclear whether Southeastern met these goals last year.

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has a webpage devoted to its position on diversity, though it is uncertain whether there are any policies or personnel dedicated to executing this position.

Other entities within the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest association of Protestant churches, advance the diversity, equity, and inclusion movement through programs and resource allocations. B&H Academic Books, an imprint of the Southern Baptist Convention media publishing and distribution division Lifeway Christian Resources, advertised a scholarship opportunity with two slots, one reserved for “female students” and the other reserved for “ethnic minority students,” as previously reported by The Sentinel.

The Southern Baptist Convention mentions diversity early in its about page on its website.

“Southern Baptists are as varied and diverse as the cities, towns, neighborhoods, and rural communities where they live. Each Southern Baptist church is autonomous and unique; only when viewed together can one grasp the diversity that is the Southern Baptist Convention.”

The Southern Baptist Convention made headlines in June when messengers assembled at an annual meeting voted to uphold a decision made earlier this year to remove Saddleback Church and several other churches from friendly cooperation status with the denomination for having women pastors, which violates the denomination’s statement of faith.