Proponents Of Critical Race Theory Need Not Apply At This Christian College

Proponents of Critical Race Theory need not apply at one Christian college.

Bill Barker, the president of Southern Wesleyan University in South Carolina, said in an interview this week that he will not hire teachers or administrators who support CRT. Barker, who is entering his eighth year as head of the private four-year college, said that he wants to teach against CRT, and is intent on hiring faculty and staff who share that mission.

“I made it very clear where SWU stands on critical race theory, and we made it very clear in our hiring processes,” Barker told The College Fix in an interview. “Personnel is policy.”

“We’re not hiring people — and I’ve been clear since I came here and the Board of Trustees has supported this — who endorse critical race theory. We will have the courage to let faculty or staff go if they are teaching critical race theory.”

Barker, who was hired as president of the college in July, said that his education policy takes a critical approach to teaching CRT. He will not support a policy which uncritically promotes the core tenets of CRT — that racism is embedded into every structure and institution of American society in order to discriminate against people of color.

Instead, the college will educate against CRT, allowing students to think critically and for themselves. “We want to teach what it is, we want to teach how it’s being used in society, why it’s being used in society, but we also want to teach a biblical and philosophical response and critique of it,” said Barker. “We will hear from speakers who have different ideas and welcome students to engage in that discourse. But we will also guide students through that from a biblical and intellectually rigorous fashion.”

As with all other areas of study at the Christian college, teaching around CRT will be rooted in the teachings of Scripture. “The Bible speaks to us being reconciled with one another across races, across languages, across experiences through Jesus,” Barker told the outlet. “When we come together without reconciliation through Christ, we may be at odds.”

Barker concluded that Southern Weselyan University could become a model for other schools to follow. “What we need to do is hunker down against critical race theory and live by example,” he said. But when people cannot be reasoned with, Barker said he resorts to the power of prayer and human charity. “That’s when we pray for them, when we treat them kindly,” he said. “But we live by example rather than by evangelism.”

The policy of challenging CRT at a Christian college comes as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis launched an anti-woke offensive at a public university in his state.

In January, DeSantis nominated six new members to the Board of Trustees at the New College of Florida, including anti-CRT journalist Christopher Rufo; Claremont Institute senior fellow and Claremont McKenna College professor Charles Kesler; Hillsdale College professor Matthew Spalding; Emory University professor Mark Bauerlein; attorney Debra Jenks; and Inspiration Academy chairman Jason “Eddie” Speir. DeSantis also ordered state colleges to turn over financial records showing expenditures of state resources on programs and initiatives related to diversity, equity and inclusion, and CRT. The move prompted Florida’s public colleges and universities to issue a statement promising to back off of DEI and CRT policies.