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The first two days of the regents' "summer retreat" was spent with faculty, students, and others about progress on the 2012 program. The Friday session, where the vote to oust Sloan was to occur, lasted less than one hour. The atmosphere outside the regents meeting was tense as about 50 Baylor students, alumni, and others gathered in front of the building.

This summer, Baylor has completed a $100 million building program, including a major science facility and new residence halls. The science building is a four-story structure with 508,000 square feet.

Davis said he would not speculate on why the regents took no vote. He said that the message from the regents is that they would "stick with the [2012] plan."

Clifton Robinson, head of the Friends of Baylor, told Christianity Today that the dispute was "a family fight, but not a war." He said many of Sloan's critics should now "come on board before they get left behind." Robinson said one sign of healthy support is that there are 3,500 new donors to Baylor.

The next Baylor regents meeting is scheduled for September. Classes for the fall semester begin August 23.

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Baylor offers a 14-minute video of the post-meeting news conference with board chairman Will Davis and Baylor president Robert Sloan.

"CRIB and I stand by the statement that there are enough votes to remove Robert Sloan as president," Bill Carden told the San Antonio Express-News after today's meeting. But Carden also said that "the group will take a step back from its efforts so that the regents can resolve their conflicts," according to the paper.

The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram reports that Baylor provost David Jeffrey addressed a group of about 30 Sloan supporters after the meeting. "We have passed through a very dark time," he said. "Thank you for your prayers."

More coverage of the regents' decision not to vote on Sloan's job includes:

Baylor regents decline to take vote on firing Sloan (The Dallas Morning News)

Baylor regents wrap up meetings, vote on Sloan's future not taken (KWTX)

Baylor regents don't vote on Sloan, reaffirm 2012 plan (The Baptist Standard)

"Personally, I am wholeheartedly in favor of his staying, and am greatly relieved by today's news," says Dallas Morning News columnist Rod Dreher on the newspaper's blog. His colleague Henry Tatum disagrees, saying, "Why does a school president want to stick around when such a significant number of people want him gone?"

"The real issue at Baylor is whether the price of academic respectability is the surrender of Christian identity," Charles Colson said in his Breakpoint commentary earlier this week.

More Christianity Today coverage of the battle for Baylor includes:

2012: A School Odyssey | Baylor strives to go where no Christian university has gone before—in ten years (Nov. 22, 2002)

Weblog: Sloan Opponents Say They Have Enough Regents' Votes to Oust Baylor President | Group: He'll be ousted this week (second item) (July 20, 2004)

Weblog: Baylor Regents to Assess Expansive Vision | Will Baylor University regents vote on Sloan again? (July 19, 2004)

God and Man at Baylor | Even if Robert Sloan fails, what he has set in motion is irreversible. (June 24, 2004)

Weblog: Baylor President Narrowly Survives Regent Vote | Baylor's president keeps post, but barely (May 19, 2004)

Baylor Reaps the Enlightenment Whirlwind | Ultimately, the challenge to creating a top-level Christian research university lies in combating individualism gone awry. (Oct. 07, 2003)

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July (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48