Ron, It would be worth it to find out. I was …

Comment on Dr. Geraty clarifies his “Challenge” to literal 6-day creationism by Former LSU Student.

Ron,
It would be worth it to find out. I was there right when La Sierra was in danger of going under. I was there when they sold off their land in desperation and I know for a fact that they were recruiting Non SDAS like mad. I have no problem with that, as long as the students are well informed of what it means to go to an SDA school and what will be expected of them.

I cannot tell you how bad the dorms were as far as students partying, On my hall alone I know for a fact there were 9 of us who were SDA everyone else was not. They came in ignorant of what La Sierra really was so much so that when the RA asked them if they were SDA they had never even heard of it. These students were mislead.

I had friends who worked as recruiters and they told me that they were trained to just “lightly” touch on the subject of Seventh Day Adventism if they were asked. Some students told me they never even signed the Adventist lifestyle contract that the Adventist schools usually require. Those who did sign it had not been informed as to the nature of what it said. True they should have read it, But when I was a student at Loma Linda University, not only did they require that I sit in front of them and read it, they explained in detail exactly what it said.

The Sad thing is I have had direct dealings with Geraty and many of the faculty and admin. mentioned and I can tell you they will not back down. They will Blackball all who dare stand up against them and if need be they will split before they cave.

I would like to point out that at Loma Linda in my program of 47 students 7 of us were Adventists, The difference was every one of those students knew where they were and who and what LLU represented. They were all well informed of what was expected, and if they got off track they were very quickly reminded. When I graduated I would say that more then half of them told me that the thing they missed most of LLU was the Chapels and the community of our Church. They did not have to cater to the world to get students.

So La Sierra failed completely when they had the chance to educate those who did not know. La Sierra University Choose to mislead students to bring up enrollment. Then to appeal to more students outside of our Faith, They made a more world friendly curriculum.

La Sierra Sold out plain and simple.

Former LSU Student Also Commented

Dr. Geraty clarifies his “Challenge” to literal 6-day creationism
@Fillmer Hevener, Ed.D:

When I was a student there, I was also aware of several situations in which teachers were forced out because they stood up for a student.

I also know of student who lost her job because a faculty member was pressured to make an example of said student because that student had been fighting with administration.

That faculty member later apologized to the student for what had happened and explained that he/she was told it was his/her job or the student’s


Dr. Geraty clarifies his “Challenge” to literal 6-day creationism
Dave,

I was at La Sierra (1999 -2003)

I also attended other Adventists Universities (Including Walla Walla) and yes there was drinking and such at all, but La Sierra by far outdistanced the other Universities. I was in the womens dorm so I cannot speak for what happened in the men’s dorm’s but I assure you I felt like I was at UC San Diego half the time instead of at a SDA institution.

I would also like to explain that when I am talking about Dr, Geraty as a Big fish in a small pond I do not discredit the work he has put in over the years or his expertise. However; I have had a LOT of personal and working interactions with Dr. Geraty and I found him to be very much a typical Adventist administrator who found it easier to stay in the safety of the SDA world then to venture out. This has nothing to do with his qualifications it is an attitude that is very much real and alive in our culture.

Dave, I understand your wanting to defend your school. I wish I could in good conscience do the same. Truth is I know La Sierra I have been at the mercy of it’s administrators and I know who they are as people and what they want for the future of La Sierra University and it is not as an SDA school.

To be fair not all the faculty are in this mess. There a lot of faculty who are amazing and I still keep in contact with them. There are also a lot of faculty/staff who were pushed out because they dared to stand up against this small little core group of admin.

my thoughts go to the students attending now, it is them that are really suffering in all of this.

La Sierra Will split…


Dr. Geraty clarifies his “Challenge” to literal 6-day creationism
What a slap in the face to every SDA perk you have ever been given. YOU had that job because of the those Fundamental beliefs. What do you think [LSU] was founded on?

Let me ask this of you Dr. Geraty… Why would you work for an institution [whose fundamental ideals] you obviously do not believe in? [Is this not] hypocritical and dishonest? [If] you want evolution [promoted as the true story of origins] in the school curriculum, [why not] go to an institution that was founded on that principal? [Why] go to a place that was never founded on that [ideal] and try and push your views onto it?

It’s a big world. There are of plenty of Universities that [promote] evolution. Why did you not go there? […] Because in the Adventist world you are a big fish in a small pond? [edit]

As For your claim Dr. Geraty of enrollment being up, why don’t you disclose how many of those student’s are SDA students? Or can you disclose how after La Sierra started having problems the University started going outside of the faith and recruiting anyone they could, [without full disclosure]. [Why did] the university glossed over what it meant to go to an SDA school?

I lived with those students for three years. I watched them come and go. [Many of these] students who had no idea what they had gotten into. [No one] had explained that they could not drink, that it is not ok to smoke, that we worship on Sat., and that they would be required to go the chapel every week. Can you further explain that because La Sierra went to the outside world and were [not forthright] in recruiting students that the curriculum had to be changed and slowly expanded to better accommodate your ever increasing majority of non SDA’s?

Dr. Geraty I am [very upset] that you could write something like this knowing full well what really goes on at [LSU]. [edit]

I want to make one thing clear… I in no way feel that our institutions should be behind the times, that we should cling to the past and never grow and advance. It is imperative that we are always seeking to expand and be on the cutting edge of knowledge. But when that change starts breaking down what our core belief system is and turns us away from what our founding mission is we have lost the battle.