Seminary pushes out president criticized for treatment of women

May 23 (UPI) -- Facing criticism of President Paige Patterson's past treatment of women, the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's board of trustees announced Wednesday it's moving him out.

Following a 13-hour meeting, trustees said Wednesday they will "move in the direction of new leadership for the benefit of the future mission of the Seminary." Their statement said Patterson has accepted the new role of president emeritus, a paid position, effective immediately.

The trustees passed a motion saying Patterson was compliant with reporting laws about assault and abuse.

The move follows a report Tuesday in The Washington Post that included comments from a woman who said she was raped at North Carolina's Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2003.

The unnamed woman said she told Patterson, then the school's president, about the assault. He responded, she said, by encouraging her not to report it to police. She was also put on probation, though it wasn't clear why.

"They shamed the crap out of me, asking me question after question," the woman said. "He didn't necessarily say it was my fault, but [the sense from him was] I let him into my home."

Patterson became president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary later that year.

An open letter to the seminary's board of trustees on May 6 included more than 3,000 signatures from people criticizing Patterson's past treatment of women.

"The world is watching us all, brothers," the letter said. "They wonder how we could possibly be part of a denomination that counts Dr. Patterson as a leader. They wonder if all Southern Baptist men believe that the biblical view of a sixteen-year-old girl is that she is 'built' and 'fine' -- an object to be viewed sexually."

While speaking at a conference in 2014, Patterson described one teenage girl as a "very attractive young co-ed," a video that surfaced online this spring shows.

"She wasn't more than about 16, but let me just say, she was nice."

Other comments that have opened Patterson to criticism date as far back as 2000, the Post reported.

Patterson issued an apology through the seminary earlier this month.

"I wish to apologize to every woman who has been wounded by anything I have said that was inappropriate or that lacked clarity," he said in a statment. "We live in a world of hurt and sorrow, and the last thing that I need to do is add to anyone's heartache."