Editor’s note: Tribune-Herald staff writer Tim Woods talked with new Baylor regents chairman Howard Batson, of Amarillo, on Thursday, shortly after the board ousted President John Lilley.

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COVERAGE

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Lilley's legacy: strong will, occasional rancor

Baylor students mixed on Lilley's departure

In his own words: Quotes from Dr. John Lilley at Baylor

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Slide show: Lilley retrospective
Interactive: Baylor presidential timeline
Interactive: Timeline of Lilley's presidency

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Recent coverage

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• 08-21-08  Baylor family enthusiastic about newly appointed interim president 
• 08-20-08  News report: Truett dean to be Baylor's interim president 
• 07-27-08  Inclusiveness paramount as divided Baylor University seeks 14th president 
• 07-27-08  Q&A with Baylor regents head: Unity, vision crucial in months, years ahead 
• 07-25-08  Lilley legacy at Baylor one of focus, strong will but occasional rancor 
• 07-25-08  John Lilley's tenure at Baylor: Mission Impossible? 
• 07-25-08  In his own words: Dr. John Lilley at Baylor 
• 07-24-08  Baylor board of regents debating Lilley's future 
• 05-17-08  BU officials mum on campus president's future 
• 05-15-08  Seven BU faculty see controversial tenure denials overturned 
• 05-14-08  Lilley's future hinges on BU regents' vote, sources say 
• 05-10-08  Beleaguered BU president labels faculty senate's criticism 'false' 
• 05-07-08  BU faculty senate passes resolution critical of administration's governance 
• 05-01-08  Baylor officials back off decision to change logo on football helmets 
• 04-16-08  Some BU alums feel snubbed by leaders not at dinner 
• 04-03-08  Faculty 'massacre' blamed on Baylor's confusing tenure criteria 
• 03-24-08  Tenure denials spark steep questions about Baylor's academic aims 

Q What do you see as Dr. Lilley’s successes and failures during his tenure as Baylor president?

A Well, there’s a host of successes. We have our highest ranking in U.S. News & World Report, to date, at 75. The endowment’s increased to across the billion-dollar mark for the first time in Baylor’s history. Truett (Seminary) has got a record enrollment — more of the students are interested in church ministry than ever. Athletically, we’re doing well. We’ve got a new football coach and hope to begin a good season. (Baylor has) a new categorization as a research institution of highest research. So, the reality is, it’s hard — (and) you being in Waco, you probably understand more than other media — they’re saying, “How can this stuff be going awry?” and we are what we are and you probably know the complexities better than they do, but the reality is everything I said is true. There’s a lot of things that really are going well. We’ve got a good faculty. Dr. Lilley’s put a good team in place. And so there are many, many successes, and John has worked hard, and we appreciate his work. It is no secret that he came into a very difficult situation. All of the strains of the Baylor family are not John’s doing. Some of them were there before he got here, and we acknowledge that, and we know that.

Q Does the board have a timeline for naming an interim, then a permanent replacement?

A No, there really isn’t. We have an acting president, you understand that, with Harold (Cunningham), and Harold knows the Baylor community well and knows the Waco community well, in terms of your interests, and (is) respected there in Waco, and he’s a good guy. He didn’t want to be interim, and so we will be searching for an interim president. That will be our first task.

Q When do you see that happening?

A I hate to put a timeline on it, but as quickly as yields a good candidate. You can rush it and just put somebody— we’re not going to make a mistake, because Harold’s a good man. Harold’s first duty will be to put in someone as an interim provost. That’s important to your community there in Waco. While he’s putting in an interim provost, the board will be looking into putting in an interim president, and Harold will not vote anymore as a board member, and Harold’s really doing it as a service to Baylor. He’s been a (vice president) twice at Baylor, and we appreciate his willingness to do so. I really can’t put a timeline on it. A presidential search could be a brief thing or a long thing, but we’re going to find the right person, and we’ve got such a good team moving us forward that we’re not going to make any rash decisions.

Q How soon will he name a provost?

A You know, I can’t give you a time, but that’s his job number one. He’ll give that his immediate attention, starting Monday morning.

Q There are a number of specific names floating around. Are there any candidates you can name for either position?

A No. I mean, Harold’s starting with a blank slate, he really, honestly is. It would be my sincere hope that whoever takes any of those positions would be someone that could be embraced by as much of the Baylor and Waco communities as possible. So, we’re trying to move the Baylor family together and forward, so that’s the kind of people we would try to put in place.

Q Faculty confidence in Dr. Lilley was low, as was their morale, following this spring’s tenure denials (12 of 30 were initially denied tenure by Lilley and Provost Randall O’Brien). Was that a major factor in the decision to fire Dr. Lilley?

A There wasn’t any single factor, but obviously our faculty are very important to us, and we want our faculty morale to be high. There’s certainly some embracing of John amongst the faculty, and there’s some conflict with John amongst the faculty, and I wouldn’t say it didn’t play a role. Of course it played a role in it. It wasn’t any single factor. It was just kind of a building of factors over time, to the point where we realized progress was not being made quickly enough to unify the Baylor family. And with that light, honestly, John could do that under a transition plan, which we presented to him. That would free him to be the unifying force and he just didn’t see that at all. And that’s really where the difficulty is. He felt like it was not going to put him in a place to bring unity and we felt like it would be a great thing to do to put him in a place to bring unity. People (would know) that at some point in the future that we’d be working for the next person and we could take our time doing so because John was in office and he’d kind of agree to be the healer and builder of the community, and he didn’t see that at all. And that’s how we got where we are.

Q How much money is Dr. Lilley owed?

A I can’t give you the numbers of what he’s owed. He does have a contract that’s something over five years. It started Jan. 1, 2006, and there’s a committee that will look at that. But we appreciate John and Gerrie Lilley, and we will be fair and appropriate with them and what they will receive.

Q It’s been a tough few years for Baylor, despite the aforementioned successes. What will the board look for in the next president to try to unify Baylor and bring peace to campus?

A First of all, I’ll say it’s a very difficult job for anybody to do. It’s not like the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, where you come in and you’re just in charge. It’s just different in university leadership. You’re dealing with various parts of the Baylor family, the Baylor body, all who have unique relationships with the administration and a unique relationship with each other. So it’s hard to — it’s not a direct line of command like it is in the corporate world. So I would say number one, we’re looking for somebody who’s a great listener. Someone who can really begin to understand the concerns of the various constituencies of Baylor and try to bring those constituencies together as we move forward with (Baylor) 2012, which is going to, hopefully, put Baylor in the unique position of being a tier-one university that also embraces faith along with learning, which would make us completely unique in the nation. And we’re certainly having success and part of what we’re having is growing pains, an identity crisis, in some regards, as to what kind of university Baylor’s going to be. In regard to identity, the board sees no crisis and is completely behind Vision 2012.

Q Do you feel like reaching the goals of the 12 imperatives of Baylor 2012 by 2012 is realistic?

A I don’t think anybody ever thought that all those would be accomplished by 2012. At least I never did, personally. I’m speaking personally now. That was a very large goal, and it gave us a direction. The problem is, if you never put a timetable on your goal, you’re sure never to reach it. But we do not want to lose momentum, and we do not want to slow the ship. But the reality is, it never was about, ‘It has to happen by 2012.’ There are some of those things that are uncontrollable, but it is the direction we want to head as quickly as we can possibly get there.

Q How important do you think it is for the next permanent president to be familiar with Baylor’s traditions, history, heritage and constituents?

A I think it would certainly be a plus for someone that had a history with the Baylor family. But I wouldn’t say that we should necessarily limit our search to someone who has a history with the Baylor family. A university has a story, and each person has a story. And leadership happens best when the story of the body of the institution somehow uniquely meshes at just the right time with the story of that individual. I don’t mean to be mystical, but Baylor has its own great story, and we’ve got to find the person who his or her life, their story, allows them to embrace and understand your story. The worst thing anybody could do would be to come in here and not understand the Baylor story and just force something new onto the Baylor family. We want them to know who we are and appreciate who we are before they go ahead with any tweaking of the vision.

Q How unified was the board on this decision?

A The board is functioning with more unity than I’ve ever seen. Yesterday, as you know — and you know more than anybody, you were outside the room — we didn’t have a lot of motions and official discussions. We just sat down and shared our hearts and our heads and asked the question, ‘How can we best make progress toward the unity of Baylor University?’ and I’ll honestly tell you, yesterday there were no motions. We were just sharing. Nobody felt threatened, everybody shared. Our intentions that were going to be made in that room, at the end of the day they were going to be the board’s business. And that’s where we ended up.

Q Was it a unanimous vote?

A You know, the reality is I don’t know. You’re going to think that’s crazy, (but) we took the vote by secret ballot, and the parliamentarian looked at me and said, “The motion passed.” I never stopped to ask by what the vote passed or didn’t pass. I went and informed John that he’d been relieved of his duties as president.

Q How did Dr. Lilley receive the news?

A John wasn’t surprised. John was a gracious man and accepted it as the consummate professional, as I thought he would.

Q Many on the board wanted to do this in May. Why wait until now, as opposed to May?

A The reality is that there were many of us on the board who hoped we could come up with a transition plan that would be embraced by both the board and by John. And so we were working on that plan for two months, trying to come up with one that everybody could embrace, and we didn’t get there.

Q What are your hopes for Baylor in both the short and long term?

A I hope there can be confidence in the immediate future, starting Monday morning, that Baylor is healthy and Baylor’s going to move forward and do what Baylor does best, which is educate students in a way that integrates faith and learning by the best faculty. We’re just going to move forward with that and then begin a football season with a new coach, and we’re going to move forward as the Baylor family. And we’ll all see that the loyalty of the Baylor family is to Baylor and not to an individual, and so, in the immediate future, we’re just going to keep moving forward. In the long-term future, securing a leader who can bring together the various constituencies in a way that helps us accomplish what’s very best for Baylor.

Q You mentioned the football team. Who is going to be the starting quarterback this year?

A [Laughing and leaning toward the recorder] I have absolutely no idea. I have never served on the athletic committee, never desired to do so. I have the greatest confidence in (athletic director) Ian (McCaw).

twoods@wacotrib.com

757-5721