Arkansas's Ouachita Baptist University Requires Faculty to Sign a Faith Loyalty Pledge: Theatre Department Chair Announces Departure as a Petition Circulates
Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, has introduced a requirement that all current and incoming faculty and staff sign a loyalty pledge, The Arkadelphian reported on October 20. The pledge affirms the signer's belief in and support of the university's mission, values, and statement of faith, and commits the signer to uphold and not act in ways that undermine the university's statement on sexuality, gender, and marriage and its statement on race and Christian community. It also affirms the university's historic relationship with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, which established Ouachita in 1886.
The mandate was introduced by President Ben Sells and the university's board of trustees. According to the report, Eric Phillips, who chairs the university's Theatre Arts department and has taught at Ouachita for more than three decades, announced after reviewing the pledge that he will not seek contract renewal. An online petition asking the university to stop the signing requirement is circulating, and other faculty members are rumored to be considering following Phillips in leaving.
Ouachita Baptist University is a private Christian liberal arts university affiliated with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. How the university and the petition's organizers proceed remains to be seen.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Ouachita 浸会大学校园（资料图）。照片：Brandonrush 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经维基共享资源。 / The campus of Ouachita Baptist University (file photo). Photo by Brandonrush, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
