Removing the question mark ? on NIU: We’re Evangelical

In a previous article I posed the question, Is NIU Fundamental? While the article went on to lay out some activities at NIU that I believe exposed the drift away from fundamentalism and into evangelicalism, now we have NIU making its own statement as to where they are in this spectrum. Howard Patz (son of Paul Patz founder of Northland camp and the college/university) is stepping down from the chairmanship of the board of directors and the mantle has been offered to Daniel Patz a grandson of the founder, alumnus of NIU, and pastor of an Evangelical Free Church in America (EFCA) which is part of the NAE (National Association of Evangelicals). Daniel Patz is clearly a self-identified Evangelical and he’s been offered the chairmanship of the board of NIU. Would a fundamentalist institution of higher learning extend the offer of chairmanship of the board of directors to an evangelical? Answer: No!

NIU also has dropped their current statement of faith and adopted the New Hampshire Confession of Faith of 1853. While they state that this adoption is provisionally pending a review, they have noted, “Our president, the Board of Directors, and our Bible faculty have all signed the New Hampshire Confession in support of what it affirms.” One must ask the question, why did they drop their existing statement of faith? One conjecture would be that they needed to bring their statement of faith into line with their new practice and rather than doing the obvious and remove portions of their current statement they instead adopt a new one, provisionally, of course, and thus, rather quickly and quietly have eliminated those portions which needed to be “adjusted.” Now as they adopt, change, revise this new confession of faith, they will have their “doctrine” in line with their new found “practice.” Their now “old” statement of faith put them squarely violating their own statements. Something had to be done, they couldn’t just continue to ignore their own statement, too many of us have called them out on this. But I digress somewhat.

Should we be surprised by the events of the past two weeks? In one sense, yes. On April 29^th the board had a meeting in which Matt Olson was called in and for all intents and purposes was fired. He was given notice that his termination as president was effective graduation day, May 11^th. Matt Olson was given the nod to make his termination known to the school on the following Monday in chapel. He did so in a gracious manner. Now move forward one week from that chapel announcement and according to Daniel Patz on his facebook page, the Patz family was meeting on Monday, May 6^th at 7pm and he was requesting prayer for that meeting. Two days later on May 8^th another board meeting takes place. While the events of this board meeting aren’t very public at this point, it is quite clear that there was a power struggle within the board and the Patz family board members made their desires known. It is known that four non-Patz family board members resigned at the May 8^th meeting. It looks like this restructured board then voted to reinstate Matt Olson as president to which he accepted and this was announced the following day in chapel along with the announcement that Howard Patz was stepping down as chairman and the offer of the chairmanship was being extended to Daniel Patz who has yet to give his official acceptance. Here is a link to NIU’s May 11^th announcement about the May 8^th board meeting (found here). Notice nothing was said of the resignation of 4 board members even though they apologize for their lack of communication in the past they continue with a lack of communication about what took place. Another point of a lack of communication is the financial concerns which were mentioned which caused Matt Olson to be released at the April 25^th board meeting. What about those financial concerns? Did they disappear over the course of a week and a half, so that Matt Olson could be re-hired? It is rumored about that the endowment that the Patz family set up for NIU is depleted. NIU has been running in the red and seemingly relying on the principal of that endowment rather than just the interest. I understand, this is a bit of speculation on my part, because there has been a lack of communication on the part of NIU concerning their financial viability, so much for transparency.

Matt Olson a while ago in one of his articles mentioned “transparency.” The goings on at NIU have been anything but “transparent.” Instead, some secrecy, some cover up has been the modus operandi of NIU. A rock band is initiated in January of this year but is not made public until April 2^nd only to be removed from the home page of NIU’s website two days later and left buried within their website pages. This begs the question, why wait some three months before announcing this recruiting tool? This same band was on stage with Big Daddy Weave in concerts in Oshkosh, and Wausau, WI in February. At the Oshkosh event some 40 students from NIU and Matt Olson were present “recruiting” for NIU. As the presence of the students and Matt Olson  became public knowledge, no mention of the band was given and NIU quickly downplayed their presence by insisting they just had a booth there for recruiting and Matt Olson just happened to be given the opportunity to speak to the crowd. Instead, this event was put on by Lamplight Productions which has strong ties to NIU and NIU’s own band was part of the event. The band was never mentioned in all this kerfuffle back in February, so much for “transparency.”

Then there’s the NIU chapel speaker, Guy Conn, pastor of Fox River Christian Church, and the video link of his church service which initially was open for public viewing and then suddenly that one video (link here) became members only accessible and cannot be found on the church’s webpage for sermons (link here) hmmm…

“Transparency” and “stonewalling” are not synonyms. Instead, they are more like antonyms, yet Matt Olson and crew would try to have us believe that they are synonyms by the actions that they have taken this past semester with the direction change that has been going on for quite some time at NIU. Even with the change Matt Olson and even Les Ollila initially told us that there were no changes going on at NIU. I am thankful that that “no change change” has been dropped. That makes for a little glimmer of transparency along the lines of being, say, translucent instead of stonewalling. But in the end, the change that has been ongoing has brought NIU clearly, squarely into full-orbed evangelicalism and away from any version or strain of fundamentalism.

Where does this leave us? As fundamentalists, with one less college to send our young people to for higher education; for evangelicals, it gives them a college in the north woods of WI, where they use a dog sled team to take you from Green Bay to Dunbar. Surely there will be standing room only for young people flocking to NIU to enjoy their winters instead of the balmier places available say, in Illinois, Ohio, or California. The future looks bleak for a once fine institution. This is tragic.

 Addendum:

Just today, May 13th, Matt Olson at his blog writes and notes that four board members stepped resigned at the May 8^th board meeting (link here). In this article, Matt Olson says nothing of the Patz family of the evening of May 6^th two days prior to the board meeting in question. Matt Olson states,

On the evening of May 8, the chairman of the board, Howard Patz, clarified for the rest of the board the history of Northland, as well as the direction he believed it should now take. After some discussion, four members of the board graciously and respectfully resigned. Nothing was forced, and it was a grace-filled meeting.

Right, the Patz family meets one week after Matt Olson publicly announces his termination and two days after the family meeting the board meets, Howard Patz reviews the history of NIU and four board members (all non-Patz family members) resigned. All this after constantly being reminded this past year or so by Matt Olson at his blog and NIU’s vidcasts that he and the Patz family are together with what Matt Olson is doing.

The sane ones have left the Titanic.

What does the future hold for NIU?

Jay- If this story is true, I hope that all the people who were antagonistic to Olson and the direction of NIU are now satisfied.  Not that I expect that they will be, but they got their wish.  Congrats, guys...you forced a man out of his job.  Nice going! 

 

David O- Yes, a few internet miscreants steer the ship of a whole university.  If that's the case, they have bigger problems than the ones their critics have been alleging. 

 

GregH- If it was not the rabid bloggers that made the difference, what did make the difference? So let them pat themselves on the back for a while. They won a battle though I don't think there is much evidence they are winning the war.

 
Such is the nonsense being spewed at SI of late. Do these guys really think that a couple of bloggers really brought down Matt Olson? Really? You guys don’t think very highly of the current board members by such foolish statements. You make the board out to be some kind of marionette puppets with the bloggers pulling the strings behind the scenes. No NIU board of director ever contacted this blogger and I haven’t contact any board member. As a matter of fact, I don’t even know who is on the board of directors. The above listed commentators are only fooling themselves with such nonsensical keyboard ranting. Instead they are trying to shift the blame about the departure of Matt Olson from NIU. Obviously, Matt Olson caused his own departure…that we do know. Why the board dismissed Matt Olson…that remains the unknown and it is foolish to try to state facts when none are known at this time.

To be quite honest in reply, right now no one knows exactly why the board released Matt Olson at their April 25^th meeting and made his departure effective May 11^th; a rather short time by most anyone’s standards. What does this mean? We don’t know and at this point in time with all the dust still up in the air we won’t know for a while. We do know that much of what Matt Olson instituted is still at this time operative, but we don’t know if those things will continue long term. We do know that when a new president is announced a sense of the direction which the board is desirous of taking will be made known.

It will be difficult for the institution to remain a viable place of education regardless of the direction, whether continuing on its present course initiated by Matt Olson, but under the helm of another or if they seek to return to their former course. To remain on their current course but with a new president still has the challenge of gathering a new clientele of churches for the student population. If a return is sought to their former course, they are confronted with credibility, integrity issues in trying to regain that former clientele of churches, not to mention the faculty and staff necessary to put them back on their former footing.

No, the future of NIU is, I believe, tottering, like an inverted triangle trying to balance itself on a corner. Either of the two scenarios I give knock the structure over, possibly collapsing it irreparably. The equilateral triangle is one of the most stable geometric designs…when placed on a side, but is also one of the most unstable when trying to balance on a corner. NIU shifted off its base and has been tottering on a corner. The outcome doesn’t look pretty and that is a tragedy, for I do not take joy or find any sense of satisfaction should NIU cease to exist. Like other institutions which have left their solid foundation, it forms yet another sad chapter in history.

Is NIU fundamental?

“Blunt discussions of faults are not the same as attacks. I know that you believe this—you advertise your own blog as “fundamentalism by blunt instrument.” You’re certainly not afraid of tackling issues and naming names, even to the point of telling parents and pastors (bluntly!) ‘Don’t send your kids to Northland.’ While I know that decisions of Northland International University have provoked controversy, I don’t think that anyone has decided that that NIU is no longer a fundamentalist institution—and I don’t believe that you perceive yourself as attacking them.”

 

The above is a paragraph by Dr. Kevin Bauder in a posting over at SI (it can be found here). I do wish to look at what Dr. Bauder brings up, and that is, Is NIU still a fundamentalist institution? Now, just because someone claims to be a fundamentalist (or anything else for that matter) doesn’t make them a fundamentalist (or whatever they are claiming). Putting on a façade doesn’t make the case either, any more than someone living in a garage, decorating themselves with auto parts makes them a Buick.

So let’s look at what has placed NIU into this controversy. You can find plenty of material at Lou Martuneac’s blog, In Defense of the Gospel (found here). Don Johnson at his blog, An Oxgoad, eh (here), and at the FBFI’s blog Proclaim & Defend (here) has also addressed some the NIU controversy. I too have touched on this controversy (here).

I wish to list here some things that have occurred at NIU over the past 2 ½ years (which are addressed in more detail in various blog articles at the sites mentioned above) to consider for the above mentioned question.

 

Ø  October 2010 Rick Holland speaks at chapel at NIU (Rick Holland at the time was on staff at John MacArthur’s church and was the leader of the Resolved Conference which was a rock concert with a spiritual emphasis put on by MacArthur’s church. It seems to have died with last year’s conference).

Ø  November 2010 Wayne Simien, former NBA star speaks in chapel as a result of a NIU student interning at Simien’s sport camp in KS. This sports camp is non-denominational and includes dance camp for girls.

Ø  Fall of 2010 Dr. Wynne Kimbrough, dean of students, and a few students do a song from the Broadway musical, Wicked, in chapel.

Ø  Summer 2011 Dr. Bruce Ware from Southern Seminary is in for a block course to the D.Min. students. Dr. Bruce Ware espouses progressive dispensationalism.

Ø  July 2012 Dr. Matt Olson attends an SGM (sovereign grace ministries) church in Philadelphia, and on his blog site publicly commends this church, the NIU alumni who attend and specifically, Greg Dietrich, who is on staff with NIU and attending this church

Ø  December 2012 Matt Olson attends Rick Holland’s new ministry, a church in the Kansas City area. Commending Rick Holland on the services, especially a concert on Saturday night (according to the church’s website’s calendar the only concert was an Enfield concert; Enfield is the Christian rock band out of John MacArthur’s church that was the music driving the Resolved Conferences that Holland oversaw)

Ø  February 2013 Matt Olson and about 40 students attend the I am redeemed CCM concert in Oshkosh to recruit students for NIU

 

All this begs the question; is this demonstrative of a fundamentalist institution? Do fundamentalists recruit students at rock concerts? Do fundamentalists attend evangelical churches and charismatic churches and promote both? Do fundamentalists have evangelicals preach in their chapels? Do fundamentalists promote camps that teach our daughters to dance? Do fundamentalists reproduce Broadway musicals in chapel, even if done in parody?

Personally, to answer the above questions, I give an unequivocal, NO! Some may argue that NIU still has a fundamental orthodoxy and that is true. However, from our orthodoxy flows our orthopraxis and orthopathy. Dr. Matt Olson has started to introduce a different –praxis (heteropraxis?) and –pathy (heteropathy?), ones that are at odds with the orthodoxy. This tension will have to be relieved. Either the –praxis and –pathy will revert or the –doxy will change as well.

Now certainly Dr. Matt Olson and the trustees of NIU are entitled to move the institution in any direction which they desire but with that change may they also be men of integrity enough to say they are changing direction and abandoning their previous position. Dr. Olson has yet to answer the questions surrounding the promotion of a charismatic church in direct contradiction to their stated position against charismaticism. What Dr. Matt Olson has initiated over the past 2 ½ years is clearly a direction change. Just talk to any alumni or former student who was last a student prior to the above mentioned events and you will find them saying things such as, “that was never allowed when I went there.” We are hiding our heads in the sand if we try to say that nothing is changing at NIU.

Change can be good. I’m not against change. I’m 51 years old, my first dress clothes date back to the mid 70’s…change is good. Change can also be bad. I would argue that the direction change that Dr. Matt Olson has taken NIU is not a good direction. He has put in motion a change that will lead NIU squarely into evangelicalism.

For those who always wish to bring up the perennial question, have you contacted Dr. Matt Olson? Yes, I have, on numerous occasions starting back in the fall of 2010 after he had Rick Holland and Wayne Simien. I was summarily dismissed. Dr. Matt Olson was not in the least bit concerned over my concerns and was not at all troubled if the school lost our constituency. Now, I have mentioned this at times in comments elsewhere, that all of this at NIU has a direct bearing on my ministry. There have been four students from our church go to NBBC/NIU. Three have graduated; one is out working right now. One of those graduates worked for over 10 years on campus. That person did not renew their contract for the 2011/2012 school year for the very concerns mentioned above that had occurred up to that point in time. So, yes, this is indeed impacting me, though I have never been on the campus. As a church we have severed having any ties with NIU. They are no longer on our list of recommended colleges for our young person or anyone. This is not fun. This grieves me very much. Thankfully our church family is united in this. We haven’t left NIU. NIU has left us.

Addendum: NIU just introduced their latest recruiting tool: Redeemed, a rock band (the link is here) Here is also a link to a video presentation of this group here
So, another question, does a fundamentalist institution use a rock band for recruiting students? Answer: NO! Northland has left the station that was once fundamentalism and has arrived at a new station, which is an old station, called evangelicalism. Clearly NIU is not where it once was, a tragedy, truly a tragedy.