Baylor VP Ken Hall Fired

[Jerry_B]

[Ed Pettibone]

https://www.baptiststandard.com/news/te ... senior-vp/

this link works

[Lou]

I don't know, although I wish I did. I got to know Dr. Hall when he was the president/CEO of Buckner International and I was serving a stint on the Human Welfare Coordinating Board for the Baptist General Convention of Texas. I'd lost track of him after he left Buckner, and was surprised to hear of his termination from Baylor. A lot of the time when an executive of one of our Baptist institutions is shown the door, the news outlets describe it as a retirement, resignation, seeking a different challenge, etc., no matter what the circumstances of the termination might actually be--so it is a bit unusual for Dr. Hall's termination to be candidly described by the Baptist Standard as a firing.

[Sandy]

I'm surprised they made note of the fact that he was fired. There's a message in that, of some sort. I'm surprised he left Buckner. Several years ago when David Montoya was still involved with BGCT issues, he discovered that Hall was the highest paid executive staff member of a BGCT institution, as head of a non-profit, making a salary that would be considered high even for the secular world in institutions of similar scope. In addition to that, there were some perks involved that turned heads as well. I know there was some controversy at Buckner at about the time I left Texas in 2010. And I also know, from years and years of involvement in Baptist denominational life, that when high level, high salaried executives are ousted, or pushed out of their perch, they have friends who rescue them, and either create, or find, another high salaried executive position to rescue them. I'm wondering if that's what happened, and Starr, not being Baptist and not necessarily familiar with standard Baptist good-ole-boy networking didn't see a need for the position, or the person occupying it.

[Lou]

[Sandy]

[Jerry_B]

Convention starts next week, should make for interesting discussions.

I've only met Hall a couple of times, always seemed like a nice guy. You're misreading the Buckner transition, Hall spoke of preparing a successor for a while before leaving, that is why Reyes was brought on in the first place. There was also a complete reorganization got on at the time to a more global perspective.

Of note Hall was on the committee that brought Starr to Baylor. Haven't heard if they are going to replace him or eliminate the position. Considering Starr's time in academia and government, I doubt he is unfamiliar with the workings of the good ole boy network.

[Lou]

Regarding Hall's transition out of Buckner: Although I'm not in a position to know, the conventional wisdom at the time was that Hall pretty much picked Reyes as his successor. The two men had worked closely together in 2003-2004 when Hall served as president of the BGCT and Reyes was 1st Vice President, and Reyes' initial appointment to the executive team at Buckner took place in 2007.

For the record, here is a link to the 2012 Baylor announcement of Hall's VP appointment by Ken Starr:

[Sandy]

University Development and Strategic Initiatives. And he was fired right after homecoming. That sounds like a fundraising goal was not met. That seems kind of abrupt, if that was the case.

[Lou]