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Embattled Baylor president Robert B. Sloan Jr. will leave the post to become the university's chancellor on June 1, Baylor Regents Chairman Will D. Davis and Sloan announced in a news conference today.

"My role as president has become a distraction from the main goal of fulfilling the vision," Sloan said. "Now that the voyage is well underway, it is time for someone new to navigate these sometimes choppy waters, while continuing to aim for the carefully charted destination ahead."

In 2001 Sloan spearheaded an ambitious and costly 10-year campaign, known as Vision 2012, to bring the Baptist institution into "the top tier of American universities while reaffirming and deepening its distinctive Christian mission."

As chancellor, Sloan will have no CEO-level administrative responsibilities, Davis said during an on-campus press conference late Friday morning. Sloan described his new job as fundraising, student recruitment, and promoting and representing Baylor locally and nationally.

At the press conference, Sloan said, "The focus should always be on the vision, not on the president. … The vision is more important than any one person. No one is indispensable. Changing situations often require new leaders with different gifts and the benefit of a clean slate."

Davis said that he expects the Regents at their February 2-3 meeting to discuss naming an interim president.

The announcement did not satisfy former Baylor Regent Gracie Hilton, whose concerns with Sloan's changes in the university's academic and financial direction moved her to help found the Committee to Restore Integrity to Baylor (CRIB), which opposed Sloan's administration.

"I'm glad to hear that, but I am not leading any excitement parade," she told Christianity Today prior to the press conference. "We are not going to be pleased that he's been rewarded with a chancellorship. I do not believe Baylor is going to heal and rebuild when he is in the chancellorship."

Sloan, however, has hopes for such healing. "I am convinced that the Board of Regents and the Baylor family will welcome the new president and give their all to achieve both unity and continued progress."

CRIB member Hal Wingo, who served as a Baylor Regent when Sloan was hired 1995, told Christianity Today, "It is not in anyone's interest for him to remain as president."

Wingo opposed Sloan's moves that brought Baylor significant debt to finance new construction. Wingo said that the increased debt has in part raised tuition beyond some students' ability to pay. Wingo opposed Sloan's emphasis on making Baylor a research university, fearing a loss of focus on strong professor-student relationships.

But Baylor officials believe grant and scholarship aid has increased significantly, their new residence halls provide strong opportunities for faculty-student interaction, and their level of debt is manageable.

Provost David Jeffrey told Christianity Today, "There are no budget cuts for this current year. The 05-06 budget is a more stringent budget in some aspects than was anticipated.

"We've been hiring at a good clip. We've been hiring as many as 40 to 50 people a year. This year we'll search for only 20 positions. That means some positions that have been requested will be deferred until next year. I wouldn't describe this as anything more serious than budget adjustments."

Last summer, a widely anticipated move to oust Sloan failed to materialize during the Board of Regents' July meeting. Instead, Regents unanimously restated their support of Baylor 2012.

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January (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49