October 15, 2001

Midwestern trustees affirm Roberts
___By Bob Allen
___Associated Baptist Press
___KANSAS CITY, Mo. (ABP) --Trustees of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary rallied around their new president amid charges of mismanagement and approved a severance package for a vice president on administrative leave since Oct. 8.
___Terms of severance for Michael Whitehead, vice president for business affairs since 1995, were not disclosed.
___The action took place behind closed doors at a special meeting requested by 13 of the school's 34 trustees to investigate allegations of irregularities by Phil Roberts, president of the Southern Baptist Convention seminary in Kansas City, Mo., since February.
___Those charges, circulated among board members this summer in an e-mail from Mississippi trustee Gary Peek, involved improper use of seminary funds for personal travel and a lack of communication between the president and trustees.
___A trustee leader said issues brought to the table in the called meeting were "resolved," according to Baptist Press. A statement released after the meeting said trustees "affirmed support" of Roberts and looked forward to his official inauguration in late October.
___Roberts told Associated Baptist Press that Peek apologized in the meeting and withdrew his charges. Peek declined to comment.
___An informed source requesting anonymity, however, said Peek apologized only for the manner of airing his concerns but believed it was his responsibility to ask for information.
___The source said concerns remain about administration of the seminary, including turnover in the business office that has left no one in place with an accounting degree or experience.
___Trustees reportedly enlisted a mentoring committee to help Roberts with administrative and leadership decisions. The three members of that committee are Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Paige Patterson, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; and SBC President James Merritt.
___Roberts told ABP he pledged better communication with trustees. Some of the trustees critical of Roberts prior to the meeting said they were less concerned about the seriousness of charges leveled against him than with frustration from being unable to get questions answered.
___Trustees did not disclose the reasons behind Whitehead's administrative leave or severance but instead issued a statement expressing "gratitude and appreciation" for his service.
___Whitehead served as interim president of the seminary for nearly two years.
___Whitehead did not return a reporter's phone call, but sources told ABP Whitehead and Roberts were unable to work together. These sources said the impetus for the called meeting was a confrontation between the two men over Whitehead's refusal to reimburse travel funds to Roberts that Whitehead said were unjustified.
___According to Baptist Press, Malcolm Yarnell, Midwestern's vice president for academic affairs, was prepared to deliver a statement to trustees about the faculty's commitment to the mission of the seminary. Yarnell, along with two other administrators, expressed confidence in Roberts' leadership.

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