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Does there come a tipping point in the process of change? A point at which so much change has already been accomplished that it is futile to resist the change and pointless to attack the leader?

Baylor's Vision 2012 is a ten-year program, which still has eight years to go. But with the opening of two new buildings this month, including a $103 million science building, the tide of change becomes increasingly difficult to turn back. Perhaps such construction projects mark the tipping point. Or perhaps a reported resurgence in applications or the acquisition of 3,500 new donors mark the tipping point.

Or perhaps the Board of Regents' unanimous reaffirmation of support for Vision 2012 on July 23 marks the tipping point. In a matter of hours or even minutes, that Regents meeting went from being President Sloan's widely expected doomsday to being an occasion for unanimous affirmation of adaptive change. Earlier in the week, antagonistic regents had claimed that they finally had the votes to oust Sloan—and that they would use them. But prayer and Providence (and perhaps negotiation) avoided the showdown and kept hope alive. Provost David Jeffrey called it "a quasi-miracle," and said "nobody is cocky; nobody can cease to be but prayerful."

The Baylor dustup may or may not continue. The changes, however, will likely keep on apace. In gospel terms, knowing how to move forward constructively is called not looking back once one has put one's hand to the plow. What everyone now owes Baylor is a shift of focus: from the midwife of change to the continued challenges of change.

David Neff is editor of Christianity Today.

Copyright © 2004 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

More Christianity Today coverage of the battle for Baylor includes:

Baylor's Sloan Keeps His Job—Again | Regents steer clear of vote on president; unanimously reaffirm Vision 2012. (July 23, 2004)

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)

Christian History Corner: Breaking Down the Faith/Learning Wall | How the history of Christians in higher education has stacked the deck against Robert Sloan's "new Baylor" (Sept. 19, 2003)

Weblog: Baylor Regents Overwhelmingly Support President | After a very bad week at Baylor, good news for Sloan's vision of Christian higher education (Sept. 12, 2003)

Weblog: Showdown at Baylor, Continued | Baylor U.'s sports troubles leak into school's religion debate (Aug. 01, 2003)

Weblog: Showdown at Baylor | Baylor's president faces off against critics this week amid multiple controversies (July 18, 2003)

Design Interference | William Dembski fired from Baylor's Intelligent Design center (Nov. 28, 2000)

Unintelligent Designs | Baylor's dismissal of Polyani Center director Dembski was not a smart move (Oct. 23, 2000)

Books & Culture Corner: Defending Faith and Learning | Baylor University's Polanyi Center comes under fire from the university's faculty (April 24, 2000)

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July (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48