Moisés Rodriguez named acting president at BUA

SAN ANTONIO—Trustees of Baptist University of the Américas named Moisés Rodriguez acting president of the San Antonio school. 

Moises RodriguezRodriguez, executive vice president of BUA since 2013, will serve as acting president until a successor can be named for René Maciel, who resigned as president, effective Oct. 14, to become community life pastor at First Baptist Church of Woodway in Waco.

“The trustees do not believe that bringing in an external interim president is in the best interest of the university,” said Van Christian, chair of the board of trustees and pastor of First Baptist Church in Comanche. “We have full faith and confidence in our vice presidents.” 

In the past year, Maciel’s responsibilities as president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas required him to travel extensively, Christian noted. 

“In his absence, the executive team of vice presidents, with Dr. Rodriguez as their head, has seamlessly led the university during this critical year of transition to the new campus. Naming Dr. Rodriguez as acting president provides clarity as to the structure and authority of the university,” he said.

“The trustees also hope that the presidential search will not be a long, drawn-out process. We believe that the process of effectively finding and installing an external interim would only delay the search and be in place for a short time. Again, we believe our internal structure is perfectly poised to handle this transition,” Christian said.

BUA, a BGCT-affiliated school located at 7838 Barlite Blvd. in San Antonio, trains about 300 students from more than 20 countries, offering five bachelor’s degrees, as well as an associate’s degree in cross-cultural studies.