One More Word About HBU's Name Change

I have written extensively, both here and in other places, about the Board of Trustees appointing a 14 person committee to look into possibly changing the name of Houston Baptist University. It clear from what I have written that I am opposed to any name change. Today's posting will be my final word on the subject until a decision on the name change has been reached.

I have two intentions in writing today. One is to commend and thank the Trustees on the committee exploring the possibility of a name change and second to offer a suggestion if they do.

Today I want to begin by saying a word of gratitude to Mark Denison and his committee for the hard work, time and energy they have invested working on this assignment. I am pretty sure none of these Board members woke up one morning and said, "Let's think about changing our name."

I am also aware that they were not obligated to announce what they were doing let alone hold a couple of Town Meetings. These meetings were on relatively short notice and held on the HBU campus making it difficult for many of us to physically attend. However, we were able to participate via a live Internet stream of both meetings.

Already the The Houston Chronicle and the Houston Business Journal have already picked up the story. You can actually cast an opinion vote on the Collegian's, the University's campus newspaper, website.

I am pretty sure that no one in their right mind would voluntarily take on such a hot button issue. There is no doubt in my mind that this came from the University's administration and is connected to one of the pillars of their "Ten Pillar" Vision statement.

In my view the word "Baptist" promptly displayed in the name on a sign serves to daily remind us who we as an institution. It is bad logic and thinking to draw from having the word "Baptist" in one's name that the University is for Baptists only. The same is true of the conclusion some have that it speaks of a "Bible" School. Based on a blog by a member of the school's marketing department this seems to be the view the school's marketing department has adopted. Their job is not to recommend the easiest way for them to do their job. It is to take who we are and market it. They seem have forgotten that the fundamental job of marketing is to raise awareness of our enterprise so that the public will not simply know our name but (1) know that we exists, (2) know what we offer in the way of a products and/or services, and (3) why they should attend or support us. Public Relations does much the same except (1) it is inexpensive and (2) it is weighted on physically being in the community through as wide a range of civic and community groups as possible. This includes, Rotary Clubs, Lion's Clubs, Chamber of Commerce meetings, churches and church groups, and a thousand others. This is where you utilize you alumni. We are the door to many of these groups. I don't know about you but I graduated 43 years ago and the only thing I have ever been asked to do is write a check. I wonder how many of the 15,000 plus alumni have had the same experience. If it is to work in the long haul we must be clear, open and honest about who we are. Today we declare we are no longer a Baptist School. How long before we declare we are no longer a Christian school? I know this IS NOT the intent of the present action but it might just be an unintended consequence of a name change.

If the University is to work over the long haul we must be clear, open and honest about who we are. By removing the name Baptist from our name, documents and our literature we are by omission declaring that we are no longer a Baptist School. How long before we declare we are no longer a Christian school? I know this IS NOT the intent of the present action but it might just be an unintended consequence of a name change.

When Mid-Continent Bible College changed its name to Mid-Continent University the President at the time, Dr. David Jester, came up with the idea to create two major divisions. One, the Baptist College of the Bible. This was the old Bible college. The other thing he did was to create the Baptist College of Arts and Sciences. This was done in an effort to keep "Baptist" in the forefront of who the school was theologically. while recognizing other realities. As this transpired they also strengthen their by-laws to clearly state that (1) the University's world view was distinctively Christian and that (2) that all Bible college professors must be Baptist. However, the real kicker in their action was that they adopted a "death star" provision in their by-laws that stated that if the school ever strayed from those principles, it would shut down and sold off.

I am NOT suggesting they should change its name. To the contrary, I oppose it at virtually every level. And, I am certainly not suggesting that adopted a death star provision. I do believe there should be a "fail-safe" provision that will preserve both our Christian and Baptist heritage and core.

However, if the name is destined to change then the University owes it to that hundreds and thousands of Baptist who have invested their lives in the school to preserve it's Baptist heritage. This could be done through something as simple as expanding the present Department of Christianity to College status and calling it the Baptist College of Biblical Studies or something like it. It is not enough to preserve the heritage in footnotes and documents of the past or a museum display. Our Baptist heritage should not be just acknowledged with a nod of the head.

Our Christian core values must permeate the entirety of the University an our Baptist heritage must be enshrined through some major ongoing education element. A Baptist College of Biblical Studies would go a long way in doing that. You could even do it without changing the names of the Atwood Buildings.

I also believe that such an announcement should be made at the same time as a name change is announced. By the way in coming up with a name you might want to consider that the name Morris adorns at least one other college in Texas already . . . Lon Morris. Not to mention a number of institutes and public schools. Let's Keep Houston Baptist University just that Houston Baptist University.

Let There Be No Doubt -- I Am A Baptist! There I said it.

As you may know from the past several posting I have been having a running conversation about the name change proposal for my Alma Mater, Houston Baptist University. Last Monday evening I attended via a live Internet feed a Trustee Town Hall meeting. The meeting was handled very well . . . pretty much as I expected. Ive been involved in these things on both the "hot seat" and the audience sides and have come to find that they all seem to follow the same pattern. It seemed to be principally focused on "how we got here" and "the benefits of a name change" with an acknowledgement without delineation that "there are some negatives." However, it is not the meeting itself or the issue for which it was held that is on my mind today. It is two things that I heard at the meeting that may or may not be connected.

I begin by saying there is not enough space here to say everything I would like on this. I just want to touch on one or two items. I am troubled by the superficial attitude toward the word "Baptist" in the name. Apparently the only reason for wanting to remove it is that a survey of non-Baptist potential students and their parents as well as a smattering of non-Baptist religious leaders stated that it would make it difficult for them to attend or donate to the University. As that survey was explained it consisted of about 1100 total people: 300 per potential non-Baptist students; 300 parents of potential non-Baptist students; the faculty; the Alumni Officers; selected Alumni and a few others. I could have saved them some money and told them what the results would be. What I am saying is that in my judgement the survey was flawed and the data it produced not very useful to an honest evaluation of the issue. Again, I digress.

The conclusion drawn from that survey is that the name Baptist is a barrier to recruiting and fund raising because it has taken on a negative connotation by the public in general. Now what got my attention was that the word Baptist had a negative connotation to the public. In defense of the founding father's choice of name it was explained that when the school was founded Baptist was a respected name but that over time and for a lot of reason it now has become a burden too heavy to carry. This movement was started by mega-churches or those whose church growth goals included becoming a mega-church. I could not help but notice that the great mega-church, Second Baptist Church of Houston, that once was known as "The Fellowship of Excitement" has placed its name in back on its signage and done so in huge letters.

Don't miss understand me. I am not questioning whether or not the word Baptist has become a burden for those who wear it and a barrier to those who do not agree with our theology. I would question whether or not it has ever been held in high regard outside of Baptist circles. However, it is a burden because it calls on us to live up to a high standard of Christian living and it is a barrier for the same reason. I see nothing in the meaning of the word etymologically, theologically or morally/ethically that would cause me to be pull back from wearing it proudly.

In fact, if I read the founding documents of my University correctly, that is precisely what the founder intended. They wanted a Christian institution that presented the gospel from a distinctively Baptist perspective. They wanted everyone to know that when you enroll in this University you are going to be exposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ from a Baptist theological perspective. That's why from the beginning all the Christianity teachers were Baptist. That's why all the administrative staff, and virtually all the faculty was Baptist. It was to insure that in every discipline being taught on the campus there was a Baptist witness to the Gospel. These were by-in-large middle ground Baptist.

Now understand I am a Baptist and that means I was already a Christian when I became a Baptist. You see my theology teaches me that you cannot be a Baptist until first you are a Christian. That is the door through which you must pass to become a part of the Baptist family. Every Baptist church charter, Constitution and Bi-Laws I have ever seen clearly state that the membership of a Baptist church is restricted to those people who have become believers in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord and have been Scripturally baptized.

Not all Christians are Baptist but all Baptist are supposed to be Christian. Main stream Baptist have never taught that they were the only people going to heaven. What they have taught is that only people who by faith receive Jesus Christ into their heart and life will go to heaven. It is not the denominational label that defines them as Christian . . . it is their relationship with Jesus Christ. Baptist reject all teachings that would allow for an alternative way of becoming a Christian. Baptist are not the only ones going to heaven but they are going to heaven the only way one can.

The term Baptist defines the kind of Christian I am as to doctrine. I am a Christian by birth and a Baptist by choice. Being a Baptist is my pedigree as a believer. Other Christian pedigrees would be Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, etc. Over time I have come to question whether or not there has been a Christian whose pedigree is pure. I am grateful to God that I can be called Christian and I am proud to be called a Baptist.

Our task is to so live and express our distinctive Baptist Christian faith so as to remain true to its tenants and to do so by living as peacefully as possible with all men. We as Baptist must conduct our business in and with the world at such a level of integrity that the non-Baptist world will see who the "real" Baptists are. Is that easy? No, in fact, it is nigh unto impossible. It requires us to lean heavily upon the indwelling Christ.

I do not believe that the word Baptist" or for that matter the word "Houston" in the schools name presents a significant problem regarding recruitment and/or fund raising. I believe both recruitment and fund raising require a clear explanation of the schools core values; a definitive demonstration how the school's curriculum, faculty and placement services meet the prospective students needs; an openness and honesty that fosters trust; and a clear demonstration to donors how their gifts to the school (1) provide a quality education (2) in a distinctively Christian context. Keep in mind that all school recruitment and fund-raising, like politics, is local. There must be a core of recruitment and funding that comes from the community where the school is located. International students are not going to be the answer to student growth and benefactors are not going to be found in distant states. Most people are going to build their legacy through donations to causes they endorse, and this is important, in THEIR communities. By the way - building a significant endowment should have been a priority from the beginning. Why not ask the College of the Ozarks how they have done it for the 106 years without federal student loan programs and where every student attends without tuition and graduates without any education related debt. Might be worth a look --- perhaps there are some lessons to be learned.

When and Why Did You Last Change Your Name?

I have given an lot of thought these past few days to the issue of Christian institutions changing their names in order to present a more generic face to the world. I am now speaking broadly without having any particular institution in mind. However, I do admit that the Houston Baptist University name change proposal is the seed from which my thinking has grown and use it for illustrative purposes.

First I want to answer the question,"Should a Christian institution ever change it's name?" This may surprise some but the answer is "Yes!" There are times and circumstances under which an institutional name change is in order. However, there are far more circumstances that do not justify a name change.

Keep in mind that Proverbs 22:1 tells us that "A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold." The goal in naming our religious institutions is to have a good name. The question then becomes, what is a good name?

First a good name is one that is descriptive of the institution. You would not name a child care center "Green Acres Nursing Home" if it is located in America. It might work in Australia however. Why, clearly in is non-descriptive of your institution. While Oldies and children may have a lot in common you're opening a place to put old people not a place for children. To do so would be disastrous for everyone not to mention misleading and perhaps downright deceptive depending on motives. This is the reason the name change from Houston Baptist College to Houston Baptist University was a good and acceptable name change. The institution had ceased to be just a college and was not a full blown University. Hence HBC became HBU.

Second the name should convey something of its core values. Now when forming an institution careful consideration should be given to the name as to how that name relates to the core values. That name can be a denominational designator, a distinguished person's whose life embodies those core values, or just about anything else one chooses. The institution's given name, just as in the case of individuals, is chosen by those who give birth to the institution. It is an expression of their hopes, dreams and more fundamentally values. As to whether that name proves to be noble or not over time is up to the leadership of the institution (trustee), Administration, Faculty and Alumni. All of these are called upon to insure that the core values are lived out in the life of the institution.

When a denominational designation is included as a part of the institution's name it identifies for the world that the institution is anchored in that particular denomination doctrinal position. That is, it will express the Christian Faith as taught and believed by that particular denomination. Abilene Christian University is not expected to have core values that would be completely acceptable by other denomination. The same is true for East Texas Baptist College; Southern Methodist University: Trevecca Nazarene University; and hundreds more like them.

The birth name is a given . . . it is given by those giving the institution birth. In the case of Houston Baptist University those founding fathers clearly believed that the name they chose adequately reflected the new schools core values and mission statement. Above everything else they wanted it understood that the school was located in the City of Houston and that is was Baptist at its core. This meant that the programs, faculty, and other actions of the University should be consistent with and not detracting to core Baptist doctrine.

Since Houston Baptist University was birthed more than 50 years ago thousands of lives and millions of dollars have been invested building a legacy that gives significance to the name it was given. Once a name has obtained that kind of status there are very few justifiable reasons for changing it.

Marketers and Public Relations experts tell me that name changes means re-branding and are generally the result of having a name that has been tarnished in some way or the particularly entity has changed its core values and/or mission statement so that the name no longer fits. In any case it is virtually always to make a new start by distancing itself from his heritage (past). In the case of non-profits, they add, an institution might change a name to honor someone whose life has made significant contributions to the institution. This is almost universally done posthumously and is rare. I can't think of a single case of such renaming. More often than not they would name a facility of some kind after them and not change the schools name.

In my world, changing a name of and institution that has become inextricably linked to the Core Values of an institution through several generations of use because the name is offensive to potential donors whose theological core differs from that of the institution is on its face wrong. (See previous blog entry). Just because there is a dumbing down of virtually everything in our lives does not justify taking an institution that was Baptist born and Baptist bred and try and pass it off as something other than Baptist. To do so and claim that changing the name does not change the core values is absolutely true. No argument here on that. However, changing the name is the result of changing core values. Why would an Episcopalian give money to a Baptist institution simply because changed its name and not its core values.

It takes money and lots of it to run a University and even takes more money when you cast a vision that is well beyond the resources of the institution financially. It is incumbent upon he who has the vision to share that vision in a way that those of us in the trenches of life can not just share it but embrace it and make it our own. Convince me that where you want the University to go is the place it needs to be. I want to know and trust you. But you have made it difficult since I have never seen the vision nor a plan to obtain it. Don't ask me to pay for something on blind faith. I am neither blind or stupid.

Now I do have an understanding how these things work because over my nearly 50 years of active professional ministry I have sat on all kinds of boards for all kinds of institutions. Far too often these boards while bringing all sorts of experiences, expertise, personalities, and backgrounds together in a single room become myopic while in the room. Trustees hold an institution in trust. It is a trust bestowed upon them by the people who gave birth to the institution. They do not own it no matter how much money they donate, time they invest or service they render. Their job is to see that the institution remain healthy enough in every area of University life so as to perpetuate the Core values and mission of the institution they govern. It is an honor to be so trusted by the owners. (That's the problem with a self-perpetuating board. In their minds they often forget they are holders of a trust and become owners of the institution and beholden only to one another.)

Ever wanted to know what goes on behind the Board Room's closed doors? The short answer, "mostly nothing." Most of what Board members do involves routine oversight of budgets, personal issues, property assessments and policy recommendations all of which comes from the paid staff through the institution's President. It is because their focus is, as it should be, growing the institution in keeping with its core values.

As far as board member interaction I have seen a powerful voice in the public arena mysteriously becomes weak in the presence of people who have not only an air authority but the power of the purse. These Boards are usually dominated by the most driven, forceful, determined daring and competitive member of the board. They do not hesitate to manipulate other members and/or staff to achieve their goals They very often are the people we refer to as having a tendency to "going of half-cocked." They rarely weight the unintended consequences of an action. Just solve the problem at hand now and deal with consequences later. Sort of like "its easier to apologize than to ask permission" idea. The rest will be more reflective but less confrontation and tend to go along with the "real" leader of the Board (may or may not be the chairman) just to avoid conflict.

On a board made up of 20 people your likely to have no more than two or three people like this. These people have neither time nor disposition for details. Great qualities for a leader you say. I agree if they possess a high level of maturity. They keep pushing for action even if the action might prove to be incorrect.

I said this to say that it is my view based on my own experience that this name change business at HBU has been viewed in the vacuum of a board meeting and a decision has already been made to change the name and what that name will be. I am guessing that a strong voice has pushed the idea as the best, easiest and maybe the only way to increase donations to the school from non-member individuals. I doubt any detailed research has gone into the matter. I'm also betting it might even revolve around a few non-Baptist on the board who in my judgement should not have been there in the first place. They were allowed on the board either to get into their pockets or the pockets of their non-baptist associates. Now it not just as seat on the board but the name on the sign and who knows what comes after that.

The "public" town hall meetings are not efforts to solicit opinions but to satisfy the needs to be able to say, "We had them and people got to express their opinions." In reality, they will prove to be information dissemination meetings that serve the purpose of letting you know a decision has been made and will be officially announced shortly. It serves a secondary purpose of allowing the Board to measure the amount, source and intensity of opposition they can expect.

I hear about a fellow (non-Baptist) talking about the present trend to make religious institution generic by removing anything that is offense to people outside the institution, in this case churches, that might keep them from attending church. He started talking about how churches have dropped their denominational identities and replaced them with descriptive phrases. We actually have a church near where we live that advertises that their church does not "feel" like church. I plan on attending one day to see what it does "feel" like. I hope it doesn't feel like a Rotary Club meeting. Anyway, I digress. Then, in the middle of his string of examples he said, "I just had a thought. What is the the one word at the heart of our Christian experience that is most offensive to those non-Christian world?" (dramatic pause)"The most offensive word we Christians have is our Lord's name, 'Jesus.'" Maybe we should change his name because the same argument can be made for making him more acceptable to a world to which we are to stand in stark contrast.

More on The Name Change

Just a quick follow-up on my previous post concerning Houston Baptist University and the proposed name change. I begin by giving my background with the University. When I graduated from High School I had applied to and was accepted at Wayland Baptist College in Plainview, Texas as a Ministerial student. Sometime during the summer Troy Womack, who was V.P for Financial Affairs at the brand new Houston Baptist College contacted me and asked for an opportunity to speak with me about coming to Houston Baptist College (HBC) and becoming a part of building a great Baptist institution of higher learning in Houston. I agreed and we met and he shared with me the vision that the founders, trustees, college officers and faculty had for the College and how I could be a part of it all. Needless to say, I called Wayland and told them I was not coming and that I had decided to become a part building a legacy for a new Baptist College.

So I enrolled at HBC and Troy Womack literally became my financial guardian angel. Between him, Dr. Ross Dillion (the Schools first Director of Development) and D.E. Sloan (who was the Area Missionary for Union Baptist Association) I was able to overcome every financial challenge with which I was confronted. It was these men who convinced me that Baptist people will give generously when they know who you are, have trust in your ability and character and you have a noble vision with attainable goals. Because I came from a family of very limited means I became acquainted with just about everybody who had anything to do with money at the University. I still remember with fondness the day I first encountered Ken Rogers. I was a senior student and he was a new employee at the University working in the Business Office. Little did I know then he would be instrumental in helping me get two of my children enrolled and funded at that school. One of these became a second generation graduate.

Dr. Hinton, who became the face of HBC as its first President was a little harder to access but was unusually generous with his time for a man with so much on his plate. During my sojourn at the College I was honored to meet many of the trustees, share ideas with them while sitting in the serene and informal setting of the "Quadrangle" or the then unnamed Student Center. I spent a lot of time in the old Atwood Theology Building were A.O. Collins, Arthur Travis, Glenn Cain, D.D. Tidwell and James Leavel influenced my understanding of the schools core values. Joyce Fan, William Dacres, James Tao, Jack Gunn and some of the most committed students I've ever known and a whole host of others were instrumental in that process as well.

I must add a word of gratitude to the many Baptist lay people who have contributed millions of dollars over the years to the University but especially to those who raised that initial 3 million required to kick-off the university in 1963. During the years I attended the school much of the funding came from retired couples, widows, financially hard strapped Baptist churches, wealthy laymen and large Baptist churches as well as other interested persons. The point is, Houston Baptist College had developed a strong presence in the region and beyond

I have said all this to help explain why the Name "Houston Baptist" is so significant to me and so inextricably connected to the core values of the University. I am not a disinterested bystander to the recent move to change the name. I have a vested interest in the issue because in many respects it represents who I have become. I do not want to see the legacy that has been built over so many years by so many people at such a high cost move away from its Baptist core.

I understand that you don't need the word Baptist in your name to maintain Baptist principles. However, to remove the name in order to get people who are not supportive of Baptist principles to donate their money is both deceptive and dishonest on its face and that flies in the face of the school's core values as a "distinctively Christian" University.

It is deceptive in that it holds the University out as a generically branded institution through a quasi DBA approach to doing business with the world. In short it says, "lets keep who we really are a secret so people who would not like us if they really knew who we were and certainly would not support us with their money. Don't tell them your name because it is offense." I cannot imagine anyone who is proud of their name and what it represents changing it for a few dollars.

It is dishonest in that it seeks to gain money under false pretense. It is essentially a sin of omission. This may be acceptable in the business word (still wrong there too) it is not in the religious world. If I do not make full disclosure then I am deceiving you. In fact, in the business world anyone who solicit an investment without full disclosure is in danger of legal action both criminal and civil. Seems to me you would have to disclose the fact that the school used to be called Houston Baptist University by saying something like, "But we changed the name so we could get you to give to it as if it were not a Baptist institution. Nothing has changed but the name . . . the school is still Baptist in principle." After all, that's what I'm being told.

Either you are Baptist or you are not. Maybe the name was a poor choice in the beginning but it is the right choice now. After over 50 plus years of legacy building the name attached to that legacy should not be sold for a pot of beans. Scripture teaches us and experience has shown us that a good name is made over many years and as Proverbs 22:1 says, " A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold." We should be protecting our good name not casting it aside for a few coins. Instead, give us a vision that we can support . . . sell us on that vision . . . show us how we can embrace it and be a part . . . challenge us . . . step out of your present circle's myopic view the possibilities for funding and embrace the larger Baptist world but please leave our good name. If the University leadership has for the school requires doing away with the Universities good name then the vision is wrong headed and needs changing.

What's In A Name?

I recently received a copy of the SBC News in which there was a notice that the Convention leadership is looking at the possibility of asking the Convention to change it's name to something more relevant to the times. Then today I get a Facebook notice from my University that the Trustees are looking at a name change for the school. I had to ask myself, "What is this all this name changing stuff really about.

Now I have been around long enough to see the issue of a name change for the Southern Baptist Convention come and go several times. The calls for a name change always revolves around trying to make the Convention either more relevant to the times or more acceptible to non-southern people or to whatever the present Convention emphasis happens to be. After all, the argument goes, we are not just a "southern" Convention anymore. We are a national and maybe international group and our name should reflect where and how we operate. I suggest it should represent "who" we are when and wherever we are and that's just what the name Southern Baptist Convention does.

Then of course my University, Houston Baptist University (HBU), wants to change its name as well. The trustees apparently believe that somehow the term "Houston Baptist" no longer reflects who the University is. I have to wonder if they are talking about it's location, the constituency of its student body or its mission statement.

Both the names, SBC and HBU, represent something in particular that supersedes and go beyond geography. For example, the term Southern Baptist Convention is not so much a geographic description as it is a theological metaphor. While the name was born in Augusta, Georgia in 1845 (Same year Texas became a state - not a totally unrelated event as the first home missionaries were to the State of Texas) and was comprised of churches in the South it also represented a particular theological viewpoint and a way of doing missions that was revolutionary. Over time that name has become synonymous with a particular fundamental approach to missions that is born of a particular theological viewpoint.

In the case of HBU this is even more pronounced. This University was born in the hearts and minds of Baptist leaders in Harris County, Texas (essentially metropolitan Houston) who saw the needs for a distinctively Baptist institution of higher learning in the area. HBC, as it was known then, was the first Baptist College in a major urban setting and was intended to provide a quality college education in a distinctively Christian enviorment available to the Baptist's of the area. It was also to be a distinctive Christian witness to both academic community and the public square.

Now some might argue that they have already changed the name once and they would be technically correct. They changed the schools status institutionally and academically from a College to a University. Hence, HBC (my school) became HBU. However, this does not represent a "real name change as it does a status change. Houston Baptist College became Houston Baptist University because its academic configuration changed but it remained Houston Baptist because it's location and its spiritual roots had not changed.

It correctly identified as "Houston" because that is where the University is located. (Think Phoenix University: It is located in Tempe, Arizona but operates around the world visa vis the Internet). Houston Baptist University is "Baptist" by birth. HBU was born in the hearts of local Baptist leadership and was intended to always through name and mission statement to reflect it Baptist roots.

Is HBU to become just another Brown University, i.e, a University so removed from its roots that its founding core values are relegated to a footnote in a history no one reads. Brown University owes its founding to a Baptist Association in 1762. In fact, Harvard, Yale, and Princton all owe their births to particular denominational groups and all have lost that identity as their succeeding trustees and leadership moved them further and further from their roots. I fear I see the same pattern being repeated at my alma mater, HBU.

I readily admit that its student body represents far more diversity and is more non-Baptist than it is Baptist. But that is a whole other issue. I simply fail to see the need to change the name unless (1) the school no longer considers itself Baptist or (2) they plan to move the campus to some other locality besides the City of Houston.

I do not see the University of Houston clamoring to change its name; I have not heard anything about Cambridge University changing their name; In fact, I don't recall hearing any great Universities changing their name. Ford Motor Company retains its name because it identifies what they do and from whence they came. Their names defines who they are! Their name stands for something in their communities and the world of academia and in Ford's case the the planet.

The names of the SBC and HBU also more than simple monikers, they stand for something. The names of these institutions reflect their distinctive legacy and I cannot imagine breaking faith with that legacy by changing our name. My family has a legacy attached to our family name that goes back in this country (the USA) to the 1730's and I would never dream of breaking faith with all those who have gone before me and those who will come after me by changing my essential name. We are Appleby's all. Our given names may change from generation to generation but our surname remains as it ties us one and all together. The same is true of the names "Southern Baptist Convention" and "Houston Baptist University."

So as one alumni said on Facebook, "HBU PLEASE GROW UP AND STOP BEING STUPID... if you continue to change everything about the university everyone will stop caring."