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Longtime discussion on faculty Christian requirement reignited

This is the second in a four-part series on faculty requirements, focusing on the requirement that says professors must send their children to Christian schools. Last week’s article gave a historical backdrop for the issue; this week’s focuses on how the requirement influences faculty recruitment and retention.

Whatever the discipline, the professors at Calvin have a few things in common. First, they shape the educational quality of students. Second, they must adhere to three requirements for faculty at Calvin College. One of these requirements, which states that faculty must provide their children with a Christian education, is causing at least one professor to leave Calvin.

Because the cause of problems with the recruitment and retention of faculty, it in turn affects the education of students.

Professor Justin Barrett of the psychology department is leaving Calvin because of the requirement. Barrett, who is currently in the second year of a three year appointment, is opposed to the policy because it conflicts with his and his wife’s calling to evangelism.

“Most have to take a salary cut [to teach at Calvin], plus take on the added financial burden of Christian education for their family,” Clark said.

“When you spend more than forty hours a week at Calvin and time being involved in your church, there isn’t a lot of time left to develop relationships with non-Christians,” he said, noting that most parents of young children, like he and his wife, form friendships with the parents of their children’s classmates.

He is also opposed to the policy because he feels the administration, which grants exemptions from the policy, doesn’t have a right to tell him and his wife (who is not a Calvin employee) where to educate their children. “President Byker doesn’t know my kids well enough to decide where they should get their education. It would be unreasonable for him to know all of the faculty’ children,” said Barrett, who also is the mentor of the Mosaic Community.

While Barrett was granted an exemption when he applied, exemptions have to be reissued every year; in addition, the reasons for Barrett’s exemption were not because of the his family’s call to evangelism. “We were open to sending our kids to Christian schools, but we’re not going to do it just because of the administration,” said Barrett.

Others in the Calvin community have concerns about the requirement, how it is affecting Calvin’s goal of becoming a more multicultural campus.

History Professor Randall Jelks said that the requirement hinders the recruitment of minority faculty. “My child is at [Grand Rapids] Christian High,” said Jelks, who is African American. “If an individual family wants to [send their kids to Christian schools], that’s cool.” But Jelks stress that the decision should be the choice of the family, not the college.

Furthermore, Jelks calls the requirement a “bad way to introduce people to the Christian Reformed Church,” which is largely white.

Provost Joel Carpenter stresses that the administration is aware of these needs.

“One of the considerations [for exemptions] that can be taken into account is a desire for a diverse faculty, within a Reformed confessional commitment,” said Carpenter.

“The president and the board are willing to weigh such factors in making exceptions,” he said.

Sociology professor Michelle Loyd-Paige, whose husband is the Director of Pupil Services for the Muskegon Heights Public School system, is one of the few professors to have an exemption. “My husband and I are committed to the community we live in. We feel that part of the work of reclaiming our world for Christ, is to live and be an effective witness in the community you want to change,” she said. “We are lights in our community, our children are lights in their schools.”

Loyd-Paige thinks that the requirement not only obstructs the recruitment of minority professors like herself, but other professors as well.

Philosophy Professor Kelly Clark, a visible opponent of the requirement, agrees. He said the Christian schooling requirement is making it difficult for the philosophy department to find professors.

“Most have to take a salary cut [to teach at Calvin], plus take on the added financial burden of Christian education for their family,” Clark said. According to Clark, the philosophy department had so much trouble recruiting last year because of this issue, they canceled the search.

Department chairs have varying opinions on the difficulty of recruitment because of this policy.

Some recall qualified applicants turning down positions because of the requirements, others are unclear if there is a direct correlation. Many claim they have no problems finding faculty because of the requirement.

Uko Zylstra, chair of the biology department, calls the requirement a “significant factor” in the hiring process. “I generally ask candidates whether they have any problems complying with the policy, not whether they agree with the policy,” he said.

Zylstra also questions if those who disagree with the policy are a good fit for Calvin.

“If parents are really convinced that non-Christian schooling is the best for their children, then why are they interested in teaching at Calvin? Is it simply because Calvin affords a good academic environment and provides a good job? Or is the faculty member really committed to the mission of the college? If it is the former, then I fear for the future of Calvin as a reformed Christian college.”

History Department Chair Jim Bratt said the issue was significant only once in recruitment and retention in his department. In several more cases the availability of Christian school in Grand Rapids has been a neutral or even positive factor.

Music Department Chair Cal Stapert points out that “the fewer the requirements, the easier the recruiting.” However, even though Calvin’s Christian school requirement makes recruiting more difficult, “that is not the same as saying the requirement is detrimental,” said Stapert.

“I am convinced that even though the requirement has made my department’s recruiting more difficult, it has not made for a weaker department,” he said. He noted that Calvin’s stance demonstrates the commitment to Christian education “in a concrete and sacrificial way has been a source of great strength over the years.”

Stapert added: “If on occasion it has meant settling for a candidate with lower credentials ... that has been more than compensated for by greater unity of purpose and commitment to the cause.”

Provost Carpenter points out that the schooling requirement might point to other objections about Calvin’s mission. “Despite the fact that some candidates for teaching positions here balk at the schooling requirement, or at the church membership requirement, we continue to recruit an outstanding faculty,” said Carpenter.

“People who are worried about the Christian schooling requirement have other objections to the college’s Reformed Christian commitments as well,” he said.