Thus far, the powers-that-be in the Episcopal Church have refused to
intervene in the controversy at General Theological Seminary, though the
future of the oldest seminary in the church looks bleak, indeed.
After worldwide publicity and further protests, several students left
at midyear, and the board provisionally reinstated the faculty only for
the rest of the academic year, while canceling their academic tenure. No
new hires have been announced and several top librarians
have left. Only one entering student has paid a deposit for admission
next fall. The seminary’s accreditation by the Association of
Theological Schools is under review; if there’s no faculty, no library,
no accreditation and no students, there’s no seminary.
How can the church speak out on justice for workers when one of its own
institutions treats employees with such disrespect? For church leaders
to wash their hands of a controversy that has been destructive to the
church's oldest and own seminary is nearly beyond belief.
Perhaps NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will take up the cause. The refusal of
the seminary Board of Trustees and President and Dean Kurt Dunkle to address
the concerns of the faculty and the subsequent acceptance of
resignations that were never offered were and are the
business of the leadership of the church. How sad that no statement of concern or compassion was
forthcoming from the leaders, and an appeal for justice had to be made outside the
church. Just today, I learned that another GTS faculty member has resigned.
Of the GTS8 faculty, only five remain at the seminary now.
From President and Dean Dunkle's latest communication on the website of the seminary:
Let me open with a transparent recognition: the past six months at
General have been challenging for everyone. Our recent upheaval has been
painful and revealing. General faces many challenges–financial,
missional and cultural–and all of them have been highlighted over this
past year.
...to say the least. But do not despair:
Despite the snapshot of conflict, the portrait of General’s fundamental
goal of “educating and forming future leaders for a changing church in a
changing world” remains unaltered. Our work to create financial,
missional, and cultural sustainability in order to maintain relevance to the 21st century church is now more important than ever.
Good luck with that. The positioning of the three major challenges facing the seminary caught my attention, with finances in first place, which may or may not represent the priorities of the dean and the trustees. Dean Dunkle goes on to say:
We are also proactively addressing our financial challenges. Last year,
General suffered a $3.0 million cash deficit; this year, we anticipate
it to be half that. Next year, we are working hard to cut it in half
again.
The seminary will save money with the departures of the faculty, but the question remains, is it possible for the seminary to carry out it's mission of
“educating and forming future leaders for a changing church in a
changing world
” with the remaining faculty, or are new hires waiting in the wings who will accept lower wages without tenure? Perhaps adjuncts? Also, as is stated in the letter to the NY attorney general:
The seminary’s accreditation by the Association of Theological Schools
is under review; if there’s no faculty, no library, no accreditation and
no students, there’s no seminary.
If there is no seminary, the trustees will save a bundle of money, and then what? Who will answer the question posed in the letter?
Was this alleged egregious conduct by the administration calculated
to force the seminary to close? It appears to have been groomed
for failure. The High Line is one of the hottest places in the city
right now, and General Seminary sits right on it.
Only deafening silence from Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and the central office of the Episcopal Church. If the intention was to close the seminary, then it most certainly should and could have been done with more compassion and dignity.
Since GTS is the one Episcopal seminary under the authority of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, I wonder if GC15 will address the dire situation at its meeting later this year.
UPDATE: There are now four entering students who have paid deposits.
