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The school says Huffman was demoted after a "disagreement" among him, Cureton, and provost Al Ottley, and that Cureton "humbly admits that the situation should have been handled better the first time—and is grateful for the second chance to make things right." Cureton wrote that he was pursuing reconciliation with Huffman and Smith by establishing an independent faculty committee—whose members he will select—to investigate the demotions.

Call says he became particularly concerned over the integrity of the college's leadership due to the recent revelation that Cureton had for years declined to sign the college's doctrinal statement because of its premillenial eschatology.

The school says Cureton "initially had a personal struggle" with the premillennial position and "needed time to wrestle and study the biblical basis for it" before signing the doctrinal statement. The school says the trustees were removed not for theological differences or loyalty issues, but for their "persistent disregard for board governance and bylaws."

The school was founded in 1902 by fundamentalist Baptist William Bell Riley. The school partially closed in the 1950s due to financial difficulties, and gained accreditation as a liberal arts college in 1978.

"Let me state it emphatically: Northwestern's mission is not changing," said Cureton in an open letter posted online. "Northwestern is not wavering from its historic, conservative, evangelical position."

Call disagrees. "Our goal, our prayer, is that Northwestern would return to its vision, its values, its beliefs that have historically been held," he said. "We as a team of people are not arguing for the removal of the president or the board, nor asking that we ourselves be returned; we simply want to see the college return to its roots."

"The ongoing fight against theological drift is a very healthy part of almost every conservative Christian institution—[as] well it should be," said Berry. "Frankly, we wish more colleges were as concerned about theological drift as Northwestern."

The concern may last for some time. "I appreciate that the administration seems to be taking steps towards reconciliation, but I hope they understand that this goes deeper than a few incidents that need closure," said Jenkins. "There's still a long way to go towards clarity for the Northwestern College family."

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November (Web-only) 2008, Vol. 52