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The university has also decided not to renew political science professor David Meyer's contract in his sixth year on the tenure track. Meyer was told he was not needed for his extra classes. He supports a position of that the Bible is true and is knowable with certainty. Meyer said many in the college have vocally supported authors like Shane Claiborne, who is often associated with the Emergent church. Cedarville invited Claiborne to speak at an event in February but cancelled it to protect the university's reputation after concerned bloggers criticized the invitation.

In the 90s, female students at Cedarville were required to wear skirts, and students were not allowed to go to the movies.

"That's long time before I got here. Now guys have to wear skirts when they go to the movies so it's a little different," Brown said and laughed.

The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (GARBC) voted in 2006 to end ties to the university because Cedarville had a public relationship with Southern Baptists. "Southern Baptists are inclusivists and permit the presence and ministry of liberals within the convention," the council said.

"We change every year as most schools do," Brown said. "We have the same commitments to truth in doctrinal statement that we've always had."

The two terminated professors, Hoffeditz and Mappes, filed grievances, but only Hoffeditz carried it through with the grievance panel.

"We have suspended our grievance in hope and prayers of an amicable separation," Mappes said, but he declined to talk more about the situation.

Hoffeditz declined to speak to Christianity Today, but he said in a public statement in late February, "My seven-month pregnant wife and I have had our lives on hold for over half a year and my reputation has been soiled. I have spent countless hours, several sleepless nights, many tears, and thousands of dollars to clear my name and return to a place I so dearly love."

Hoffeditz later pulled the public statement from the Internet, writing that he has been threatened with legal action. President Brown said it was not by the university:

"He was never ever threatened with litigation," Brown said. "We don't sue other believers."

The grievance panel stated that Cedarville did not issue Hoffeditz written reprimands, warnings, or plans of correction before he was terminated.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, the panel wrote that both professor and university were guilty of acting "uncharitably and unprofessionally." It stated that Hoffeditz is just one example of a "unique period of turbulence" at Cedarville, "given root by a Bible department unable to resolve its longstanding interpersonal and philosophical differences … In this particular case, a Christ-centered community we are not."

A group of 15 current and emeritus faculty members calling themselves the "Coalition of the Concerned" wrote an open letter this January to the faculty, administration, and trustees of Cedarville.

That letter referred to Mappes, Hoffeditz, and three other professors who either resigned or were denied tenure in the 2006–2007 academic year as "theologically conservative" members of the Bible department. The letter states that there is a lack of confidence in the administrative governance, a perception that tenure is meaningless, and a perception that Cedarville is drifting from its theological position and identity.

"There is a general reluctance on the part of faculty to disagree with administrative policies and decisions, for fear of retribution," the letter states.

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April (Web-only) 2008, Vol. 52