I don't have a problem with Ashland's mission of promoting Judeo-Christian values, but I saw little evidence of the school promoting this mission while we were there. Pushing Lewis out was an arbitrary act dressed up as defending this long-neglected mission.
Imagine for a minute the administration denying tenure to a left-leaning professor for this reason. (Let's just say we'll never see it happen and leave it at that.) Lewis, being a right-leaning libertarian, was an easy target. The administration could appease those concerned that the University is too secular by getting rid of someone who had no or few allies on the faculty. I'm sure both some conservatives and liberals were glad to see him go. Brad Thompson was treated similarly for his "controversial" views about the Ed department and his politics although he was already tenured.
Professor Thompson was the best professor at the University. His departure significantly decreased the quality of the department he chaired at AU. Professor Lewis was a good professor as far as I could tell. (I only had him for one class.) His resignation will only be detrimental to students interested in classical history at Ashland at least in the short run.
