Save Hardin-Simmons

Why did the Hardin-Simmons University Trustees let go of valued faculty/staff and give the President a 100%+ raise while losing students? Will HSU go broke with decreased enrollment revenue and increased administrative spending?

Six years ago, the Hardin-Simmons University Trustees voted to close Logsdon and other programs in the university.

HSU's enrollment at the time was 2,324.

Enrollment for the 2025-2026 academic year continues to sink to a new low of 1,631.

We tried to save HSU, but the Trustees decided they would continue to follow President Eric Bruntmyer's disastrous plan entitled "The Way Forward." It should have been called "The Way to the Bottom."

We are truth tellers.

We told the truth before the decision was made to close Logsdon and other valuable programs.

We continue to tell the truth today.

We tried to warn the Trustees. They didn't listen then. They aren't listening now. The Trustees ignored the facts and chose the administration's disastrous plan entitled "The Way Forward." Will they ever correct their mistakes?

To be clear, the mission of the Save HSU movement has always been to save the university from spiritual and financial bankruptcy. We take no delight in the sharp decline over the past five years. The Trustees can't say that someone didn't warn them.

We hope one day the Trustees will stop steering the Titanic directly into the iceberg. Until then, we will continue to pray for repentance and change.

We will never stop telling the truth.

When Logsdon was closed by the Trustees in February 2020, the seminary's endowment exceeded $32,000,000. The value has since grown significantly. Logsdon was always able to cover all of its costs and more. Closing the seminary was never because Logsdon couldn't afford to operate.

Hardin-Simmons University's total student enrollment declined nearly 30% the last five years.

GOOD NEWS: A variety of former Logsdon administrators, professors, students, alumni, donors, and supporters worked together to build a new seminary for theological education and ministry preparation.
Fletcher Seminary
Baptist News Global

https://baptistnews.com/article/fletcher-seminary-progressively-risking-criticism-to-act-christianly/

GOOD NEWS: A variety of former Logsdon administrators, professors, students, alumni, donors, and supporters worked together to build a new seminary for theological education and ministry preparation.
Fletcher Seminary
Baptist News Global

https://baptistnews.com/article/fletcher-seminary-progressively-risking-criticism-to-act-christianly/

Fletcher Seminary: Progressively risking criticism to act Christianly Jesse C. Fletcher Seminary in San Antonio is an exciting place for women and men to prepare for Christian ministries of many kinds. The young seminary — whose core values are servant leadership, authentic community, engagement and inclusivity — extends the excellence of its “mother institution...

Skyrocketing debt and plummeting enrollment is a disaster for Hardin-Simmons University. The mission of Save HSU has always been to help save HSU from spiritual and financial bankruptcy.

What happened at HSU is tragic. What is even more devastating is that the Trustees refuse to correct their obvious wrongs. They need to publicly repent and turn to the way of Jesus moving forward.

The Trustees put HSU in its current state of decline. If they will listen to what we've been saying for 4+ years, they can still turn HSU around.

To be very clear, we have always wanted HSU to be saved. We still want HSU to be saved. We will always want the best for HSU.

An education enlightened by faith must be rooted in the way of Jesus.

The plan the Trustees followed has led to failure. Moving forward, Trustees must be transparent, wise, ethical, and moral. They need to be good stewards of faithful gifts. Save HSU pleads with the Trustees to listen to donors, alumni, faculty, staff, and students. What the administration is doing is not working.

How much longer can HSU survive record low enrollment?
-2019/2020: 2324 students
-2020/2021: 2128 students
-2021/2022: 1933 students
-2022/2023: 1765 students
-2023/2024: 1655 students*
*http://www.txhighereddata.org/index.cfm?objectid=EFF8FAA0-798F-11EE-877D0050560100A9

The HSU Trustees keep empowering a failed administration year after year.

-2019/2020: 2324 students
-2020/2021: 2128 students
-2021/2022: 1933 students
-2022/2023: 1765 students
-2023/2024: 1655 students*
*http://www.txhighereddata.org/index.cfm?objectid=EFF8FAA0-798F-11EE-877D0050560100A9

While peer universities soar higher, Hardin-Simmons University tanks lower.

-2019/2020: 2324 students
-2020/2021: 2128 students
-2021/2022: 1933 students
-2022/2023: 1765 students
-2023/2024: 1655 students*
*http://www.txhighereddata.org/index.cfm?objectid=EFF8FAA0-798F-11EE-877D0050560100A9

-2019/20 enrollment: 2324
-2023/24 enrollment: 1655

The Hardin-Simmons University Trustees claimed in 2020 that enrollment would rise after making "The Way Forward" changes to university programs and faculty.

Instead, enrollment has drastically fallen.

When will the Trustees admit their wrongs and do what is right?