Hispanic caucus calls for restoration of Iliff president Nov. 24, 2004
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A UMNS photo by Amanda Bachus The Rev. Germ�n Acevedo-Delgado, MARCHA president, presents the resolution on Iliff School of Theology.
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The
Rev. Germ�n Acevedo-Delgado, MARCHA president, presents a resolution
calling on Iliff School of Theology to redress "injustices" against the
Rev. David Maldonado, former president of the United Methodist seminary.
Maldonado retired abruptly in May, and a review team later cited
institutional racism and other factors as contributing to his departure.
MARCHA, a United Methodist Hispanic caucus, adopted the resolution Nov.
20 during its annual meeting in Milwaukee. A UMNS photo by Amanda
Bachus. Photo #04-566 . Accompanies UMNS story #557, 11/24/04 |
MILWAUKEE
(UMNS) — The United Methodist Church’s Hispanic caucus is calling for
the reinstatement of the Rev. David Maldonado as president of Iliff
School of Theology, and the organization says it will encourage
Hispanic/Latino students not to enroll at the seminary if “institutional
racism issues” are not satisfactorily addressed. MARCHA
took the action during its Nov. 19-21 annual meeting, three weeks after
the Denver school received a public warning from the United Methodist
Church’s University Senate and Commission on Religion and Race. The
warning, issued Nov. 2, followed a review team’s report that leadership
problems and cultural insensitivity led to the abrupt retirement of the
former president last May. The
caucus expressed “outrage for the injustice and mistreatment done by
Iliff against Dr. David Maldonado.” It stated that if the seminary does
not make significant changes before the end of the spring semester,
MARCHA’s executive committee will discourage Hispanic/Latino students
from enrolling at Iliff. The
Rev. J. Philip Wogaman, interim president of Iliff since Sept. 1, said
MARCHA has not been in touch with the school, but he has seen the
caucus’ resolution. “Iliff
is implementing all of the recommendations of the review team,” Wogaman
said Nov. 24. “With all due respect, I am not sure that MARCHA fully
understands this complex situation. I would welcome dialogue with them.”
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The Rev. J. Philip Wogaman |
The Rev. J. Philip Wogaman |
In its report, the
review team said that “failures to assert appropriate leadership by the
board of trustees, the unwillingness of some faculty members to
recognize and respect different leadership styles, as well as not
letting go of traditional norms and behaviors to allow for an inclusive
institutional transformation, contributed to the problems that President
Maldonado and the institution faced.” It
issued the warning after determining that “institutional racism was a
major, significant factor” leading to Maldonado’s departure. Iliff
is one of 13 theological schools affiliated with the United Methodist
Church. The University Senate, an elected church body of higher
education professionals, determines what schools, colleges, universities
and seminaries meet the criteria for affiliation with the denomination.
The commission is the church’s racial advocacy and monitoring agency.
Representatives of both organizations were on the eight-member review
team. MARCHA
is an unofficial church caucus based in San Marcos, Texas. Its full
name, translated from Spanish, means Methodists Associated Representing
the Cause of Hispanic Americans. Maldonado, who served at Iliff from June 2000 to May 26, was the first Hispanic president to lead a United Methodist seminary.
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The Rev. David Maldonado Jr. |
No Long Caption Available for this Story |
In a parting letter
to trustees, Maldonado said the faculty resisted his leadership. Some
faculty leaders accused him of being too theologically conservative or
moderate and said that he did “not fit” or was “culturally different,”
he wrote. In addition, he said, he felt pressured to leave by faculty
leadership and some trustees.The
Rev. Germán Acevedo-Delgado, MARCHA president, presented the resolution
supporting Maldonado during a plenary discussion of Iliff’s actions.
The resolution stated that Iliff disguised the circumstances of
Maldonado’s departure with retirement language in the announcement that
he was leaving. The
caucus called on the seminary to reinstate Maldonado to the presidency
and to issue a public apology to him and the Hispanic/Latino community.
Should Maldonado choose not to return to his former position, he
should be compensated with the equivalent of his salary until age 65,
MARCHA said. The
resolution also advocates for the “well-being of other racial ethnic
minorities working or studying at Iliff, and for the quality of
theological education in the United Methodist Church.” The caucus
cited findings of intimidation against Maldonado’s supporters. “We
were appalled by the intent to intimidate Dr. Eunjoo Kim due to her
support to Dr. Maldonado,” the resolution stated. “The assembly of
MARCHA commends Dr. Eunjoo Kim for her integrity and courage. “Integrity,
courage, taking a stance against injustice and bigotry are values that
any school of theology should be instilling in the members of its
community. Iliff needs to take steps to redress the injustice against
Dr. Maldonado, against Dr. Kim and against all the people struggling to
overcome racism.” Wogaman
said he has reviewed Kim’s case “very carefully” and it is being
handled confidentially through Iliff’s normal procedures. Five
of Iliff’s 20 faculty members are racial ethnic minorities. The ethnic
faculty members issued a statement criticizing the review team’s report
for not adequately reflecting their comments during the investigation. The
University Senate’s public warning following the review served notice
“that if the problems are not corrected, Iliff’s support from the United
Methodist Ministerial Education Fund can be withdrawn.” The fund
contributed $900,000 to the school’s $5.14 million budget last year. Iliff
has carried out about half of the review team’s recommendations, and
the rest should be done in the next few months, Wogaman said. The
review team’s recommendations included holding a celebration event for
Maldonado, and Wogaman said he has been in touch with the former
president. “I have already communicated clearly with him that we are
prepared and would be happy to do that. … He declines to have that done,
at least at this time.” In
addition, the team said Iliff should arrange an appointment in the
church for Maldonado. “We are not the appointing authority in the United
Methodist Church or in this (regional) conference,” Wogaman said.
“However, we have made moves in the direction of helping to encourage
that — again, subject to his approval. We’re quite open to that with the
understanding that we don’t have appointive power for any other part of
the church.” Iliff
has “strong commitments toward inclusiveness,” Wogaman said. Beyond the
current situation, he said the school is seeking ways to serve the
Hispanic community in the Denver region. “I would welcome the
opportunity to discuss that with MARCHA.” In other action, MARCHA members: - Welcomed
the Rev. Miguel Albert-Lopez as the new national coordinator for the
National Plan of Hispanic/Latino Ministry, effective Jan. 1. Members
also learned of the establishment of a new National Coordinating
Committee that works with the plan’s national office and the national
coordinator;
- Learned of the national plan’s efforts to work with ministries in Brazilian communities in the United States.
- Elected
the Rev. Ana Haydée Urda as president; the Rev. Michael Rivas as vice
president; and Oscar Garza as treasurer, re-elected Mary Silva as
executive director of the caucus.
- Passed
a resolution advocating establishing a structure in the new Division on
Ministries with Young People at the United Methodist Board of
Discipliship that would work on networking and training Hispanic/Latino
youth and young adult leadership in the church.
News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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