Intelligent design affirmed, but Polanyi head removed
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___WACO--The report of a peer review committee studying the Michael Polanyi Center at Baylor University offered hope to both critics and defenders of the troubled unit that advocates research on intelligent design theories.
___However, an e-mail from the center's director one day later in which he boasted of victory over his critics apparently cost him his job. William Dembski was relieved of duties as director of the Polanyi Center Oct. 19 because his actions "compromised his ability to serve as director," said Michael Beaty, director of the Institute for Faith and Learning, which houses the Polanyi Center.
___The eight-member peer review committee, comprised of academics from both inside and outside Baylor, affirmed the Polanyi Center's mission of fostering dialogue between the disciplines of science and religion.
___The committee also affirmed the work of Baylor's professors in the scientific disciplines, some of whom had been strong critics of the Polanyi Center, an entity not accountable to any academic department.
___The committee made four recommendations:
___ That research on the interaction of science and religion be encouraged, but that such work focus on various perspectives rather than just one perspective.
___ That professional work related to intelligent design theories should be a legitimate part of such research.
___ That an advisory committee of Baylor faculty be appointed to assist in planning and reviewing the ongoing dialogue between science and religion.
___ That such research be conducted under the auspices of the Institute for Faith and Learning, and the Polanyi Center be discontinued as a separate unit within the institute.
___Baylor President Robert Sloan said the committee's recommendations will be implemented "as soon as possible." He lauded the committee for presenting a "thoughtful" report and for affirming that "support of academic freedom includes protecting controversial ideas."
___Sloan acknowledged mistakes in how the program was implemented and said he hopes to correct those shortcomings through appointment of the faculty advisory committee.
___Dembski also applauded the committee's report in an e-mail statement released the next day.
___"The report marks the triumph of intelligent design as a legitimate form of academic inquiry," he wrote. "... My work on intelligent design will continue unabated. Dogmatic opponents of design who demanded the center be shut down have met their Waterloo."
___The tone and content of Dembski's statement generated additional concern among faculty, acknowledged Beaty.
___"The theme of the report emphasized the need for the individuals associated with the center to work in a collegial manner with other members of the Baylor faculty," he explained. "Dr. Dembski's actions after the release of the report compromised his ability to serve as director."
___Beaty said Dembski will continue to work as associate research professor in conceptual foundations of science within the university's Institute of Faith and Learning, where he will devote himself to the research of intelligent design and serve the rest of his five-year contract.

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