Culture

Yesterday, a Louisiana College official laughed at students and one of their parents when they stated that people on campus are afraid. When I wrote my open letter in 2011 I included a couple of statements about the fear on campus:

There is a spirit of fear among the faculty and students which is wholly inconsistent with our God who does not give a spirit of fear.

The level of fear at LC is such that students are told by their family to not raise health concerns related to facilities out of concern that they may not actually be granted their degrees. Meanwhile, faculty members shake their heads silently for fear of losing their jobs, many choosing to leave quietly after just a year or two.

I was charged by the college for lying about these statements. The defense that the was used yesterday against the students on these issues was all too familiar to me. “You can’t say there is a spirit of fear on campus because I’m not afraid.” The truth is there is a spirit of fear at Louisiana College and it has existed for many years. As bad as it was when I was there, I am told by several sources that it is worse now. I’ve been told by some that the oppression is “palpable.” I’ve been told that it feels like summer because there is so little life on campus.

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Recently,  Dr. Joe Aguillard, President of Louisiana College, sent out an e-mail (Joe Aguillard’s Request for Faculty and Staff) inviting LC Faculty and Staff to a meeting where they would be briefed about the recent “attacks” against the College. Essentially the message was, “Satan is working hard. Stand with Joe.”

It has been rough recently for Aguillard.

First, recordings of Aguillard condescending to an employee with provocative statements such as:

The employee was “here to serve the President and show 1000% loyalty to whatever he does.”

“I am the employer and I sign your contract. You don’t work for the College. The College is not an employer. It’s a place of work. The employer is me and the employee is you.”

“Every office on campus is mine.  (pause for effect) Every office on campus is mine.”

“There is no freedom of speech here. I didn’t make that up. That’s the law. When a student says, “I have freedom of speech…” We have three attorneys who will laugh them into the ground because there is no such thing here.”

“I’ll put loyalty over competency with everybody that I allow to voluntarily work here, including student workers.”

“I’m going to make it very clear before people re-sign up. Don’t sign up here if you aren’t on board with Joe Aguillard. Cause it ain’t going work, it’s just not gonna work. That’s the way it is. Like my Momma and Daddy, you gonna live under my roof and eat my food and wear my clothes you will live by my rules.”

This story was picked up by the nationally followed Podcast Pulpit & Pen which has been interested in the issues at LC since Aguillard got rid of three Calvinist faculty last year.

For some reason Aguillard then decided to release a press release where he dishonestly claimed full exoneration of every accusation against him and publicly drew the integrity of Dr. Chuck Quarles into question.

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