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Two prominent conservative Christian speakers whose ministries are focused on college campuses say Baylor University — one of the largest Christian universities in the country — essentially forced them to cancel their visit by wielding administrative red tape and extra costly fees.
The two scholars also argue the incident is just the latest example of how the private Baptist research university in Waco is suffering from mission drift, which they say is prioritizing cultural Marxism and progressive ideology over Christianity.
Corey Miller, president of Ratio Christi, a nationwide group of campus apologetics ministries, and Frank Turek, founder of Cross Examined, which defends the Christian faith in talks at institutions across the country, were scheduled to speak at Baylor on Oct. 5.
A last-minute increase in security fees forced them to cancel the event, they said.
“In 20 years of going to college campuses, I have never experienced more push back, more administrative road blocks, and more last-minute changes … to thwart my presentation on the evidence for Christianity than we just experienced at Baylor University,” said Turek on Oct. 9 on his popular podcast.
“Yes, the Baylor University that advertises itself as a Christian school, a Baptist school.”
Turek, a close friend of Charlie Kirk’s who was with him when he was killed, dedicated his two most recent podcasts to criticizing Baylor, arguing the university has compromised its Christian values by embracing the tenets of cultural marxism in its curriculum.
Miller, of Ratio Christi, argues much the same.
In a recent Facebook post, Miller pointed out the university recently provided halal meals for its Muslim students, that several of its courses and scholars endorse critical theory and LGBTQ dogma, and that its leaders believe God is non-binary and gender is a spectrum.
Meanwhile, their talk “simply addressing the issue of whether Christianity was true and good” was stonewalled, Miller wrote, adding Turek was labeled “an expressive speaker (read ‘risk’)” and officials told them their event could not be livestreamed.
“Second, they later canceled my ‘ask me anything’ event on the campus without giving a reason for it,” Miller wrote.
“Third, at 4:57 PM on Friday night, when they probably thought no one was going to read their emails until they’re already in the air landing in Texas on Sunday, they tripled the cost of the event, citing needs for more security, more ticket sales people, more ushers, more of everything, and yet they did not even allow us to advertise it until two weeks ago to reach an audience that would justify the increase. Again, no appeal or conversation,” he wrote.
According to Baylor, the Ratio Christi student organization hosting the event failed to submit proper documentation in time, resulting in a last-minute change in costs.
“Ratio Christi did not submit this documentation as requested by University staff on several occasions. As a result, security costs associated with Waco Hall could not be determined until late in the planning process,” according to a statement from Baylor University provided to The College Fix.
“The Ratio Christi fall event was postponed by the student organization due to security costs, which per Baylor University policy are the responsibility of the hosting organization,” it stated.
The university also noted that the organization could have worked with campus leadership to find a less expensive venue, but chose to postpone instead.
“Upon receipt of the full security estimate, the student organization decided to postpone, rather than work with campus leaders to identify a different and possibly less expensive location,” the statement read.
But Ratio Christi chapter President Triniti Cox disagrees with that version of events.
“To my understanding, we were submitting the documentation requested. This included a ‘pre-event summary,’ which had the same details as the latest document they state caused the cost increase,” Cox told The College Fix.
“One of their stipulations for having an ‘expressive speaker’ on campus was that we could not have any flexibility in choice of venue,” Cox said. “They locked us into the largest, most expensive location; tripled the price the business day before the event; and then presented their version to the media as though they had provided us with options.”
“If Baylor had further secure options during the planning process, we were not made aware of them,” Cox added.
Baylor did not answer questions from The Fix regarding the canceled “Ask Me Anything” event.
Miller said he believes Baylor does not consistently apply its policies to speakers with diverse viewpoints.
“Whereas they disallowed us from livestreaming the event because Frank Turek was labeled by them as an ‘expressive speaker,’ they allowed James Talarico three weeks prior to be live streamed,” said Miller in a statement to The College Fix.
Tallarico is a Democrat running for U.S. Senate.
Miller also pointed out that the school created a difficult environment for the Christian apologetics student organization to become established on the campus in the first place.
“Baylor would not allow Ratio Christi on their campus for at least two years because they thought we were too radical,” he said.
However, Baylor argues it is committed to engaging in dialogue and allowing different perspectives to be heard on campus.
“As an academic institution, Baylor is committed to ensuring open dialogue and the robust exchange of ideas and perspectives,” according to a statement from Baylor University.
Miller said he believes that Baylor should be more conducive to Christian perspectives as a university that accepts money from Christian donors.
“Donors will need to ask whether they want to fund institutions whose views and behaviors are often subversive and misaligned with the donor’s worldview, especially when it costs kids nearly 90k per year to attend,” Miller said.
He said Baylor is moving away from its mission.
“As one Baylor professor recently said to me, ‘There is no doubt. Baylor is suffering from significant mission drift,'” Miller said.
Baylor University, in its statement, expressed a commitment to allowing a future Ratio Christi speaking event to take place.
“We understand this is a disappointing outcome for those who were scheduled to speak and attend, and campus leaders stand ready to support our Ratio Christi student leaders on another event in the future, provided appropriate information is shared in a timely manner,” the statement read.
Miller said the school should align more closely with their “Christian” label.
“Baylor should act in good faith at best preferring Christian thought (as a ‘Christian’ university) and at worst embracing viewpoint diversity and fairness,” he said.
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