La Sierra University Board of Trustees Reaffirms Action

For immediate release
La Sierra Board Action
Larry Becker
Executive Director, University Relations
Febrary 12, 2010
1-1-1
Reaffirmation of Board Statement
La Sierra University’s Board of Trustees has reaffirmed their previous action from November 2009 upholding the Adventist Church’s doctrine of creation. The trustees voted their actuion during their February 11, 2010 meeting. The specific action reads:

MOVED to reaffirm the “Statement of Support for the Adventist View of Creation” [that was previously voted at the Board of Trustees Meeting on November 11,2009]. In recognition of the serious and complex nature of this issue, the Board of trustees instructs the continued implementation of the statement. We request the administration to provide progress reports identifying specific actions taken. VOTED

The November 11 2009 statement reads in full:
The Board of Trustees is fully mindful of La Sierra University’s responsibilities and commitments as a Seventh-day Adventist institution of higher education. This includes whole-hearted support for the docrtines and teachings of the Seventh-day Adventist Church as defined by the 28 Statements of Fundamental Beliefs, specifically fundamental belief #6:

God is Creator of all things, and has revealed in Scripture the authentic account of His creative activity. In six days the Lord made “the heaven and the earth” and all living things upon the earth, and rested on the seventh day of that first week. Thus He established the Sabbath as a perpetual memorial of His completed creative work. The first man and woman were made in the image of God as the crowning work of Creation, given dominion over the world, and charged with responsibility to care for it. When the world was finished it was “very good,” declaring the glory of God. (Gen. 1:2: Ex. 20:8-11; Ps. 19:1-6; 33:6, 9; 104; Heb. 11:3).

The Board of Trustees has heard and taken to heart the concern that Seventh-day Adventist beliefs and teachings have not been given appropriate priority in biology curriculum and instruction. Specifically, the Board is committed to assuring that the teaching of the theory of evolution takes place within the context of the Adventist belief regarding creation.
The Board of Trustees is committed to a spirit of open inquiry and discussion in the university’s classrooms and laboratories. The Board intends that when varying viewpoints are raised they will be heard with due respect.
In its commitment to the integrity of the university’s mission, the Board of Trustees is dedicated to inspire, challenge, encourage and support the faculty in their sacred academic work. Further, the Board embraces its responsibility for ongoing evaluation and assessment.
“It is the work of true education to…train the youth to be thinkers and not mere reflectors of other men’s thought.” (Ellen White, Education, p.17). The Board of Trustees continues to affirm that both academic responsibility and commitment to Adventist beliefs are important parts of a vibrant university whose mission is to seek, to know and to serve God and His children.
VOTED November 11, 2009 by the La Sierra University Board of Trustees.