Cedarville University

2000s

In 2002, it became a university. In 2003, it became affiliated with the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio. Enrollment increased from 1,185 students in 1978 to more than 3,000 by the end of Dixon's service in 2003.

Cedarville's ninth president, William E. Brown, took office in 2003. Under his leadership, the university developed new online programs and launched the Pharm.D., M.S.N., M.B.A., and now-defunct M.Ed. programs. The campus expanded to include the Center for Biblical and Theological Studies and Health Sciences Center and renovated 14 residence halls. Yet, mid-way through his tenure, President Brown experienced controversies regarding the lack of collegiality among Bible professors and the allegiance to the school's doctrinal statement, leading to the terminations of some professors, most notably, David Hoffeditz and Michael Pahl. As a result of ongoing problems, President Brown announced his resignation in October 2012. In January 2013, Inside Higher Ed characterized the university as being in the midst of an "ongoing, tangled doctrinal controversy." Vice President for Student Life Carl Ruby resigned for undisclosed reasons in January 2013. Due to lack of interest, the board of trustees eliminated Cedarville's philosophy major at the end of the academic year.

In 2006, the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches terminated its relationship with the school due to the partnership with the Southern Baptist Convention and perceived liberalism in this convention.

Brown left his position as president in July 2013, instead becoming the university's chancellor, an office he held until July 2014. Thomas White became the 10th president of Cedarville in July 2013. Under White's leadership, the university completed an extensive renovation of the Jeremiah Chapel, built new science laboratories, established two additional graduate programs, and founded the Center for Biblical Apologetics and Public Christianity.

In December 2013, following policy changes made by President White, twenty-year associate professor of Christian education Joy Fagan resigned, saying she felt that she was no longer a good fit for the university. White claimed that his policies were in line with Cedarville's past values and Scripture, and were "not a new shift." In early 2014, White said that university was preparing to codify their complementarian stance concerning gender roles and re-wrote the school's doctrinal statement to reflect the change. According to 100: Cedarville College, A Century of Commitment by J. Murray Murdoch, the first doctrinal statement adopted by then-Cedarville College made no mention of gender roles or complementarian theology.

From 2010 to 2014, an independent student newspaper titled The Ventriloquist was written by students and publicly distributed on campus without authorization. The publication often reported alternative perspectives about the institutional changes and had published LGBT-sympathetic content. In April 2014, President White and Vice President of Student Life Jon Wood confiscated copies of the newspaper as students waited outside the chapel to distribute it. According to The Ventriloquist, White stated that permission was required to distribute the newspaper. After this incident, The Ventriloquist was moved online, where new articles continued to be published for about a year.

In the spring of 2017, White and then-Academic Vice President Loren Reno instituted what they called the "Philippians 4:8 Policy", which they claimed provided biblically consistent guidelines for faculty to follow but which some professors claimed amounted to censorship and the loss of academic freedom. They later changed the policy title to the "Biblically Consistent Curriculum (BCC) Policy," after two veteran Bible professors objected to this interpretation and application of Philippians 4:8. The policy is still in place today, serving to regulate the literature, art, films, and other media that faculty are permitted to use in the classroom.

The university's seal has remained essentially unchanged from the Presbyterians' original design and still contains the Latin phrase "Pro Corona et Foedere Christi", which is translated, "For the crown and covenant of Christ". The original seal is surrounded with a slogan adopted by the former Baptist Bible Institute, "For the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ".

Controversies under President White

Thomas White took office as president in July 2013, becoming the 10th president of Cedarville University. Under White's leadership, the university has completed an extensive renovation of the Jeremiah Chapel, built new science laboratories, established two additional graduate programs, and founded the Center for Biblical Apologetics and Public Christianity. President White has also been embroiled in controversies. In December 2013, twenty-year Cedarville professor Joy Fagan resigned, saying she did not fit the changing policies, including the new restriction of only female students allowed in the Bible classes taught by female professors. White claimed that his policies were in line with past values and Scripture, and were "not a new shift", although many alumni remember Jean Fisher, associate professor of Christian education, who taught male and female students in the department under President Dixon. In early 2014, White said that university was preparing to codify their complementarian stance concerning gender roles and re-wrote the school's doctrinal statement to reflect that change. Although egalitarian faculty existed, some felt they were no longer welcome. According to 100: Cedarville College, A Century of Commitment by J. Murray Murdoch, Ph.D., the first doctrinal statement adopted by then-Cedarville College made no mention of gender roles or complementarian theology. White also said he was eliminating layers of leadership so that the presidential cabinet would have direct authority over the university.

In April 2014, President White and Vice President of Student Life Jon Wood confiscacted copies of The Ventriloquist, an independent student newspaper, during its unauthorized public distribution; the publication had previously reported alternative perspectives about the institutional changes and published LGBT-sympathetic content. Per the Ventriloquist website, the paper recognized that they were outside the university life and chose to publish online. Similarly, in the spring of 2017, immediately after the university earned reaccreditation from the Higher Learning Commission, White and then-Academic Vice President Loren Reno instituted what they called the "Philippians 4:8 Policy", which they claimed provided biblically consistent guidelines for faculty to follow but which some professors claimed amounted to censorship and the loss of academic freedom. They later changed the policy title to the "Biblically Consistent Curriculum (BCC) Policy," after two veteran Bible professors objected to this interpretation and application of Philippians 4:8. The policy still exists today and tightly regulates the literature, art, films, media, etc. faculty are permitted to use in the classroom.

Cedarville has also made national news for its handling of alleged sexual assaults. In 2013, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into how allegations of sexual assaults are handled on campus. In 2018, the chair of the university's board of trustees and White's mentor, Paige Patterson, was fired from his position at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) for covering up a sexual assault; he subsequently resigned from the board. In July 2020, The Roys Report alleged that Thomas White and his wife, Joy White, aided in this cover-up during their time at the SWBTS.

In recent years, students have also alleged that faculty and staff have failed to provide a safe environment for students, discouraged them from seeking help while experiencing suicidal ideation, and threatened retaliatory lawsuits against students for submitting Title IX complaints.

On May 1, 2020, Cedarville's board of trustees placed President White on administrative leave. The board stated that it had learned additional details regarding White's hiring and subsequent firing of an admitted sexual abuser. Lieutenant General (Ret.) Loren Reno was appointed acting president. While White claimed he did not know the extent of Anthony Moore's predation, the Village Church of Fort Worth claims to have provided him with a complete testimony at the time of Moore's hiring. In June, the board reinstated White, leading to the resignation of Mark Vroegop and Danny Akin.

Citing these controversies and high staff turnover, the Higher Learning Commission is conducting an assurance review into Cedarville University's accreditation status in 2020.