Liberty University co-founder Elmer Towns has been named dean of the school’s Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, officials announced at opening convocation Wednesday.
Towns, 77, replaces Ergun Caner, whose contract as seminary dean was not renewed for this year following an LU investigation into claims Caner made about his upbringing and background as a Muslim.
The committee concluded the Caner “has made factual statements that are self-contradictory.”
Caner will remain on the faculty teaching online classes but will not teach in a classroom this semester, Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said in an interview Wednesday.
Towns, who led the seminary from 1979 to 1992, also will continue as dean of LU’s school of religion.
“The punishment was commensurate with the problem, so we’re ready to move on,” Towns said about Caner. “I really don’t want to talk about him. I want to look toward the future.”
“We think the seminary is going to have a great year this year, which shows it wasn’t built on one man, it was built on a whole team,” he added.
Towns’ goals for the seminary include increasing online and on-campus enrollment to 10,000 students by 2013, which coincides with the seminary’s 40th anniversary. Last semester, the seminary enrolled approximately 500 on-campus students and 6,800 students online.
He also wants to raise $4 million to $5 million for a standalone building to house the seminary. Currently, classes meet on the second floor of the old Ericsson building, a facility Falwell called “not ideal by any stretch.”
A third goal is to sharpen Liberty’s focus as a “ministry-oriented seminary,” and prepare it for the digital age by bringing state-of-the-art technology into the classroom, Towns said.
Towns brings years of leadership at Liberty to the position.
He started Lynchburg Baptist College, later renamed Liberty University, with the Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr. in 1971. During his earlier term as dean of the seminary, it gained national accreditation and launched its first doctorate program.
Towns hired Caner at the school of religion before he was promoted to dean of the seminary in 2005.
“I saw a keen mind, a great personality. I saw great leadership skills,” Towns said.
Despite the controversy surrounding how Caner represented his Muslim background, Towns and Falwell said that Liberty remains a home for Caner.
“I think the whole Bible is about God putting people back in the ministry … I see Ergun with a long, profitable ministry,” Towns said.
Caner could teach on-campus classes as soon as next semester, Falwell said.
As for Towns, he’s committed to the long-term success of the seminary.
“I don’t plan to retire,” Towns said. “I don’t see retirement in the Bible, I see that you’re supposed to do all you can do.”
Staff reporter Ray Reed contributed.
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