Richard Bennett Brewer Jr. (born April 19, 1956) is an American academic administrator who is former ninth president of the

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestantism in the United States, Pr ...

-affiliated Louisiana Christian University.

Early life and education

He was born in New Orleans, where his father attended seminary. Brewer earned a Ph.D. in educational leadership from the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

and an MBA and BS in history from Charleston Southern University.

Career

He was director of external relations, assistant to the president, and interim director of sports at Charleston Southern University, as well as vice president for planning, student affairs, and athletics. Brewer doubled enrollment from 1,600 to more than 3,400 students at the South Carolina Baptist Convention-affiliated school, increased endowment support, and raised freshman-to-sophomore retention from 50 to 78 percent. He has been a member of the president's cabinet since 1989. He also was an evaluator for the Southern Association of colleges and Colleges Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC) In 2015 Brewer become president and chief executive officer of Louisiana Christian University. In 2023, he was elected as the Chairman of the Board of Presidents for both the Louisiana Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and the International Association of Baptist Colleges & Universities. Brewer addressed nearly $30 million in deferred maintenance and campus refurbishing while adding over $5 million in new technology, exceeded enrollment of 300 new students for the third time in University's history. He has raised more than $37 million from 2805 contributors. During his administration Louisiana College attained university status and changed its name to Louisiana Christian University.

Disputes

In 2018, a federal lawsuit alleged that Brewer refused to hire a candidate Joshua Bonadona for football coach because of his Jewish heritage. According to news reports, Brewer refused to hire the coach because of his “Jewish blood.” Brewer denied these charges. In 2020, Brewer settled a lawsuit with the Bonadona, without disclosing the terms. In 2019, Assistant Professor Russell Meek resigned in protest of the failure by the Louisiana University administration to condemn misogynistic comments made by Joshua Joy Dara, a local Baptist pastor and Republican candidate for the Louisiana state Senate. On Feb. 25, 2019, audio recordings of a conversation between Russell Meek and Louisiana College administrators show that the administrators, including Brewer, exerted pressure to conceal criticism of Mr. Dara. In 2021, news reports indicated that Brewer's administration censors students and faculty on social media. A student was censored by the Louisiana Christian University administrators after asking questions on social media about the policies of the Trump administration. Faculty members have resigned in response to efforts by the Brewer administration to silence their dissent. The 2020-2021 student handbook (p. 104) reads "as a private institution, LCU may restrict “free expression” if it deems that the speech is detrimental or harmful to LCU’s core values and mission." In 2015, Brewer requested and obtained an exemption to Title IX, a law preventing sexual discrimination, thus allowing the Louisiana Christian University to discriminate against its students on the basis of

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring personal pattern of romantic attraction or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. Patterns ar ...

, gender identity, marital status,

pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring gestation, gestates inside a woman's uterus. A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Conception (biology), Conception usually occurs ...

or receipt of

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

while still receiving federal funds. In 2019, Brewer led LCU to withdraw from the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) because CCCU supported civil rights protections for

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

students.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brewer, Rick (academic) 1956 births Living people Academics from New Orleans People from Forsyth County, North Carolina People from Putnam County, Georgia People from Summerville, South Carolina People from North Charleston, South Carolina People from Charleston, South Carolina People from Pineville, Louisiana Presidents of Louisiana Christian University Charleston Southern University alumni University of South Carolina alumni Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni Duke University alumni Baptists from Louisiana Louisiana Republicans People from Ladson, South Carolina Baptists from North Carolina