Higher Education Quick Takes

The president of Northern Seminary, an Illinois institution with Baptist roots, resigned after he was accused of bullying and retaliating against employees, particularly women, which resulted in some employee departures, Baptist News Global reported. The seminary put him on leave last month and launched an internal investigation into his behavior.

William Shiell, the former president, reportedly defended himself in his resignation letter.

“I have done everything in my power to prevent the kind of abuse of authority that has been publicly alleged about my character and leadership,” he wrote. “I am very grateful that in January, the board’s independent investigator concluded that there have been no financial improprieties or grounds for claims of misogyny, racism or discrimination.”

The Board of Trustees also sent a campuswide message commending Shiell’s legacy, according to Baptist News Global.

“We affirm his deep commitment to women in leadership and racial justice,” the board said in the letter.

Some employees at the seminary felt otherwise.

Tommy Lee, executive director of the seminary’s Grow Center for Church and Mission, wrote to the institution’s board and threatened to shut down the center’s operations if Shiell was allowed to continue as president.

“When things go wrong, he throws people under the bus. When anyone dares to challenge him, he belittles them,” Lee told Baptist News Global in February. “If it was anyone else, we would fire that person. He’s become an embarrassment; let him go.”

The board named John Bowling, former president of Olivet Nazarene University, acting president while Shiell was on leave. He will continue to serve in the role until a new president is selected.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is warning loan servicers to stop collecting private student loans that were discharged by bankruptcy courts, the agency announced Thursday.

The agency found that some servicers were continuing to collect payments on loans after bankruptcy proceedings had concluded, in violation of federal laws, and many borrowers ended up paying thousands of dollars they did not owe. The agency directed those servicers to return the money.

“When a court orders the discharge of a loan, lenders and servicers should not treat this as a suggestion,” CFPB director Rohit Chopra said in a news release. “The CFPB has found that some servicers are ignoring bankruptcy court orders. The student loan servicing industry should ensure that their collection practices are compliant with the law.”

The agency said that student loan servicers failed to differentiate between the loans that could be discharged in a standard bankruptcy proceeding and those that can’t. Typically, borrowers have to show during bankruptcy that they would suffer “undue hardship” if the student loans are not discharged—a higher bar than for other types of debt. Not all types of private student loans are subject to that standard.

“The CFPB expects servicers to proactively identify student loans that are discharged via standard bankruptcy orders, permanently cease collections, and refund any consumers who have been affected by unlawful collections in the past,” the agency said in the release.

The Student Borrower Protection Center drew attention to the issue in a January 2022 report and applauded the agency’s decision.

“After years of unfair, deceptive, and shamelessly predatory behavior by some of the largest financial companies in the world, the nation’s top consumer watchdog has finally stepped in to protect student loan borrowers,” SBPC counsel Amber Saddler said in a statement. “The entire student loan industry should take notice—the days of cheating borrowers out of their legal right to bankruptcy are over.”

A group of CEOs, community college leaders and state and federal officials is forming a network to develop new strategies to boost Black student enrollment and college completion rates, according to a press release from the group Thursday.

The release noted that U.S. colleges and universities have lost more than 600,000 Black students over the last decade, and over half of those losses were at community colleges.

“The impact of declines in Black students’ enrollment and completion in postsecondary education is felt both on the individual and social levels,” Keith Curry, president of Compton College, said in the release. “State and national economic and social vibrancy suffer. Currently, Black learners lost from the nation’s community college system receive 23% lower pay, on average, than what they would have earned if they had obtained an associate degree.”

Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education under President George Bush and former chancellor of the University of North Carolina system, said failing to enroll, retain and graduate Black students costs the country $2.9 billion per year in lost wages.

“If every working Black adult with a high school diploma or GED earned as much as the average Black college graduate (at least an associate degree), the collective additional earnings would equal an estimated $222 billion more,” she said, referring to those workers’ lifetime earnings.

A Princeton University student was charged Tuesday with civil disorder, a felony, and related misdemeanor offenses in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

A Justice Department announcement of the arrest said Larry F. Giberson Jr. “was among rioters who repeatedly engaged in violence against law enforcement officers guarding the Capitol in the Lower West Terrace tunnel entrance. Giberson entered the tunnel at approximately 3:10 p.m., and made his way towards the front of the pack of rioters. Giberson joined rioters as they attempted to force their way into the building by coordinating ‘heave-ho’ pushing efforts against the police line. While Giberson was at the front of the pack of rioters pushing against officers in unison with other rioters, one officer was crushed between a door and a shield held by a rioter. A few minutes later, Giberson rushed to the tunnel entryway and began waving more rioters into the tunnel. Giberson then returned into the tunnel to participate in a second round of coordinated pushing against the police line. Eventually, police officers were able to gain temporary control over the tunnel and push rioters, including Giberson, out.”

The press release also said, “After watching the intensifying violence in and around the tunnel, and after watching rioters drag one officer out of the tunnel and violently assault that officer, Giberson started yelling ‘DRAG THEM OUT!’ He then cheered as weapons and pepper spray were used against police officers in the tunnel.”

The New York Times reported that Giberson was arrested in Washington and released after he appeared before a federal magistrate judge.

A Princeton spokesman confirmed that he was a member of the class that will graduate this year.

The Times reported that Giberson could not be reached for comment and that a lawyer representing him did not respond to a request for comment.

Federal investigators matched a photo of Giberson from the day of the riot with images posted on Instagram and the Princeton website, according to a federal affidavit. He was subsequently interviewed at the Princeton Police Department, where he acknowledged being the person seen in videos and photos from the scene of the riot.