Monday, February 12, 2007

Sheri Klouda: "'Tis a Puzzlement"

In today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram, there is an article by former Southwestern Seminary professor Sheri Klouda in which she discusses some of the feelings and questions she still has about her departure from Southwestern. In the article she says that, while not "brittle and full of malice," she is still "puzzled" about the chain of events that culminated in her forced [my word, not hers] departure from the seminary.

Here are some of the questions Dr. Klouda still has [all material in quotes comes directly from the article]:

  1. How could Southwestern's trustees (many of whom are still serving) and then-president elect her to the seminary's faculty if they did not believe her election to be in line with the BFM 2000 (which she "proudly and publicly" signed)?
  2. "Is it not fair and right to allow a female professor, hired under the same terms as other faculty members, to undergo the same tenure evaluation process and receive objective affirmation or denial on the basis of her teaching abilities, professional development, scholarly achievements and publications, collegiality and service to the students?"
  3. If hiring her was a momentary lapse in judgment or a relaxation of "well defined parameters of objective truth" (as at least one trustee has stated), why did they want her to leave "unobtrusively" and give the impression that the departure were her own idea?
  4. "Why didn't someone acknowledge the tremendous financial and emotional burden placed on my family through no fault of my own? Why not, as the Scriptures teach, make right the wrong? After seven years of dedicated service, shouldn't I at least receive an apology?"
Dr. Klouda is not the only one who is puzzled and has questions.

(HT: Ben Cole)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tim,

Dude, I did almost the exact same thing with my post on this article, then I find yours.

What shall we say to this? Plagiarism? Let's just say that great minds think alike, shall we?

Alyce said...

I'm glad you and others are keeping this on the forefront.
I watched her interview on the news. She was honest, graceful and I wish everyone would go to that link and listen to her. It's not just something that happened. It happened to Somebody and it shouldn't have.
Thanks Tim.