Calvin University board stands by its decision that former president had to go

“A group of Calvin alumni have reportedly asked the board of trustees for a third-party investigation into the board’s handling of the allegations against Boer.” - RNS

Discussion

"had been seen as someone who supported LGBTQ students on campus as well as faculty who dissented from denominational teaching about sexuality." - If anyone had doubts about the theological integrity of Calvin University, this statement should answer those doubts. The Calvin Board does not have any problem with supporting one type of immorality but will fire a President who engages in another type of immorality.

Wally Morris
Huntington, IN

Boer hasn’t been accused of engaging in sexual immorality. It’s a long, tangled story, but apparently he was accused of something short of that but still of concern to the board. I don’t know if he has admitted to anything. It’s hard to tell if there is anything to that piece of the story at all.

From RNS

‘The report did not include allegations of sexually explicit communication or physical contact, but the alleged conduct is concerning and inappropriate,’ the trustees said in their statement.

Edit: Well, he admitted vaguely to some wrongdoing, but denied the board’s already vague accusations… it’s all pretty useless info.

Same RNS article…

“After being notified of the report, Dr. Boer denied some of the allegations but did admit to sending communications that were inappropriate and inconsistent with the high standard of conduct and character expected of the President of Calvin University,” the board said in its statement. “Dr. Boer subsequently offered his resignation, which the Board accepted.”

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.

He admitted that what he did was wrong, involving inappropriate sexual references to someone, which is a type of sexual immorality. Always more than what people or news articles tell us. My point is the inconsistency of the Board in what it views as morally acceptable behavior.

Wally Morris
Huntington, IN

I haven’t seen where he admitted that much… Still, given that he admitted that much, he admitted to a characterization of what did. We don’t have the facts.

The whole thing looks to me like a tangled mess. We’ve all seen organizations going through power struggles latch on to some “offense” they would normally ignore—to leverage it against an opponent. I don’t know that this is what’s going on here, but it looks like a real possibility. Hence the perceived inconsistency.

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.