Leadership Changes Announced at Lipscomb Academy

In an email to parents, school officials also shared their takeaways from January town halls

Jan 29, 2020 11 AM
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Lipscomb AcademyPhoto: Daniel Meigs

On Tuesday night, Lipscomb Academy told parents via email that the head of school would be stepping down. The email, copies of which were obtained by the Scene, also lists key takeaways from the 11 town halls the school held for parents in January.

Gregg Glenn, who has been head of school since 2014, has decided to "conclude his tenure as head of school" and join the advancement office of the affiliated Lipscomb University, whose campus is adjacent to the academy's, as a senior member. The letter thanks Glenn for his service and commitment to the school, "especially through a very difficult time of personal tragedy." Glenn lost his wife Loa in February 2018.

Casey Farris, currently the associate head for advancement and alumni relations, will serve as interim head of school.

The email also states that Lisa Bruce, the current associate head of school for academics, has been invited to a position at Lipscomb University's College of Education. A spokesperson from Lipscomb says Bruce has not yet accepted the offer.

The bulk of the email addresses feedback heard from parents in January. "Last fall, we became aware of concerns related to teaching and spiritual formation situations at the academy that to some did not seem to reflect our strong Christian commitment," reads the letter. "Those instances caused questions about the larger direction of the school and its historical commitment to educating young people in the context of an intentional biblical worldview."

One topic discussed in those town halls, as the Scene previously reported, was the use of materials that discussed issues like racism and white privilege in school. Country musician John Rich was a prominent critic of those materials and also took issue with the hiring of Brittany Paschall, the academy's first dean of Intercultural Development. In an email to other parents, Rich said whoever hired her should resign. Bruce also attracted the ire of some of these parents.

Paschall is not mentioned by name in the email, though her position is discussed under a section named "Diversity and Intercultural Development." The email says, "The board and administration reiterate their commitment to the academy’s new diversity and intercultural development initiative."

The email also says that based on feedback from the town halls, "The new position was not presented, defined, or communicated to our family of students and parents as well as it should have been." Additionally, it says: "A passionate, well-meaning young staff member was recruited for the new position, but, on reflection, was not adequately vetted, effectively on-boarded, mentored or supervised. Those miscues are our responsibility as leaders more than hers."

The Scene asked Lipscomb if this was a reference to Paschall and whether that reflection would affect her job at the school. "The paragraph speaks for itself," says the school's spokesperson. "Brittany Paschall is still employed by Lipscomb."

The Scene asked the spokesperson if Glenn's decision to step down or Bruce's invitation to a university job had anything to do with feedback from the town halls. The response: "In the letter to parents you will see that the action steps are a result of the town hall meetings in addition to many additional meetings initiated by parents, members of our faculty and staff through which we garnered many different perspectives beyond the town halls during this process."

The email was signed by Lipscomb Board of Trustees Chairman David Solomon, Lipscomb University President Randy Lowry and Lipscomb Academy Head of School Greg Glenn.

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