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NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE SQUAD SCHOOLS PAN-AM: LADY BEARS GET FOURTH STRAIGHT WIN page 4 PAID BAYLOR UNIVERSITY ROUNDING UP CAMPUS NEWS SINCE 1900 THE BAYLOR LARIAT FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2007 BU had role in Dembski return By Brad Briggs On Dec. 6 Marks wrote a let- and Grace Maalouf Administration says wrong procedure ter to Lilley and Provost Randall How it all Opinion editor and editor in chief O’Brien in response to what Marks called “rumblings about Baylor’s history of contro- masked former professor’s hire (Dembski’s) return to my lab.” went down versy surrounding intelligent In the letter, Marks wrote design has been well chronicled, that Kelley had communicated April 28, 2006 especially when former profes- these concerns to him. sor Dr. William Dembski has As intelligent design debate continues, Marks explained to the pres- Marks submits proposal to been involved. But such was not ident and provost that he had LifeWorks Foundation through the case in November of 2006 new documents shed light on story procured the LifeWorks grant Baylor. President Lilley signs when Dembski arrived back on for Dembski’s hiring, adding off on the proposal, which campus to work with Dr. Robert that “Dr. Dembski has a small specifically mentions Demb- Marks, distinguished professor office in the Rogers Building ski in the personnel section. of computer and electrical engi- Baylor and provided for Demb- both large and small, through- curriculum vitae included in the and came in two or three times June 29, 2006 neering. ski’s return to campus. out the years. personnel section of the propos- a week.” Baylor was involved in ask- Through the approval of a According to tax returns, in al, which was submitted April Marks stated, “I know you Lilley writes a letter to the ing for the grant that brought grant submitted to the Life- 2006 the foundation donated 28, 2006. The proposal, “Added believe it is my right as a Baylor director of LifeWorks, thank- Dembski back, but when his Works Foundation and signed $700,000 to the Discovery Insti- Information in Evolutionary professor to pursue research in ing him for the grant, hoping return was made known to the by President Lilley on April 28, tute, a nonpartisan think tank Search for Targeted Solutions,” Intelligent Design. I also hope it will be “the beginning of a administration, Baylor returned 2006, Dembski was hired as that supports intelligent design. was for the investigation of you believe, as I do, founda- dynamic relationship between the grant, effectively terminat- a post-doctoral researcher to Dixon said he is not in any way “added information required to tional academic freedom of Baylor” and the foundation. ing his position. assist Marks. affiliated with the institute, successfully perform evolution- intellectual pursuit trumps any The administration said it Dembski, a proponent of however, and donates to various ary computing.” protests concerning the hiring November 2006 was initially unaware of Demb- intelligent design, previously organizations. of Dr. Dembski in my research ski’s inclusion in the grant pro- directed Baylor’s controversial Dixon, a computer scientist Dembski Back at Baylor group. Dembski arrives at Baylor and posal because the proposal did Michael Polanyi Center, which like Marks, said he met Marks “Before the LifeWorks gift is moves into office at Rogers not go through the proper aca- was devoted to the study of sci- in a social setting and became When it became apparent expended, I plan to attract addi- Engineering and Computer demic channels. In documents ence and religion. The center aware of his research. He said that Dembski was returning to tional funds for Dr. Dembski’s Science Building. obtained by The Baylor Lariat, caused divisions among Baylor Marks later sent him a write-up Baylor, his arrival was not met support. Ultimately I would like Marks claimed otherwise but faculty and was disbanded in on the research, which he found with immediate resistance. to raise sufficient soft money for December 1, 2006 also called his collaboration 2000. interesting and decided to sup- Dr. Ben Kelley, dean of the a perpetually endowed position Dean Kelley sends an e-mail with Dembski “stealth until oth- The LifeWorks Foundation port with a grant. school of engineering, sent so that Dr. Dembski could, if to Marks saying that a “serious ers made it visible.” is directed by Microsoft mil- But unlike other grants made Marks an e-mail on Oct. 1, 2006, he so chose, join my group full situation is arising concerning Marks became involved in lionaire Brendan Dixon, who from the foundation, Dixon said, in which he said he had learned time. He has not agreed to do (his) post-doc (Dembski).” another academic controversy said in a phone interview from this one Baylor would eventu- Marks requested office space for so.” this fall when his Web site con- Seattle with the Lariat that the ally return, something he called a new post-doctoral researcher. December 6, 2006 taining research related to intel- foundation has been “winding “bizarre beyond belief.” “Since I haven’t seen any Dembski’s Firing ligent design was removed from down for the last year and half” In a letter from Lilley to the requests for a new position I’d Dean Kelley sends an e-mail to Baylor’s server. and is closing down this year for foundation dated April 28, 2006, also like to chat with you about Dembski’s position at Baylor Marks informing him of Kelley’s The site chronicled his work reasons unrelated to Marks. Baylor requested a $15,000 this,” Kelley said in the e-mail. did not last long. decision to refund the money in evolutionary informatics, Dixon and his wife, Kim, grant “to support a post-doctor- Marks replied the same day, On Dec. 8 Kelley wrote an from the LifeWorks grant. He a field which uses computer are the sole employees of Life- al researcher.” explaining his procurement e-mail to Dembski to notify him writes that O’Brien concurs with modeling of evolution and adds Works, which Dixon called “a Dembski was not named by of the grant and who it was that his position was discontin- the decision. information to the understood small, family-run foundation.” Lilley in the letter, although he funding. In an October 23, ued. Marks, citing “rumblings” about process. “We provided funds to was named in the personnel 2006, e-mail, Kelley’s assistant On the same day, Marks Dembski’s return to Baylor, Adding information to the organizations that we felt were section of the accompanying requested a picture of Dembski wrote an e-mail to O’Brien and writes a letter to President Lil- process is considered by some addressing inequities in life and proposal. for the school’s Web site. others saying: “Our collabora- ley and Provost O’Brien. The to imply that design must take trying to help move people for- After the grant was pro- Dembski said he arrived at tion (Marks and Dembski’s) letter informs the two of Marks’ place before evolution can ward,” Dixon said. cessed, Lilley sent a letter on Baylor in November 2006 and was stealth until others made it research and Dembski’s return begin. The LifeWorks proposal June 29, 2006, to Dixon and the was given an office in the Rogers visible.” through grant money from the But the issues with Marks’ approved by Lilley and accom- foundation thanking him for Engineering Building. Marks referred all questions LifeWorks Foundation. He also communicates his desire to research began long before the panied by a letter he signed a “check of $30,000” and stat- “The dean knew about this. to his attorney, John Gilmore, raise enough money to create a Web site was removed, and asked for $15,000 from the ing, “We hope this project will It was up-front,” Dembski said. who did not return calls to his “perpetually endowed” position documents obtained by the The foundation for Dembski’s post- be the beginning of a dynamic “It wasn’t a big deal – I had cell phone Wednesday and for Dembski at the lab full-time. Baylor Lariat show the history of doctoral position, but Baylor relationship between Baylor and friends there (in the engineer- Thursday. this controversy. ended up receiving $30,000. The LifeWorks Foundation.” ing school).” Dembski said he thought the December 8, 2006 Dixon said he could not recall Director of media relations But by December, the situa- comment could be “taken in LifeWorks Grant the specific numbers involved Lori Fogleman confirmed that tion had taken a different turn. various ways.” Marks writes in an e-mail that in the grant. Lilley signed off on the grant A Dec. 1 e-mail from Kelley to “I know for myself I wasn’t his collaboration with Dembski The storm surrounding Dixon said the foundation but “later became aware” of Marks stated: “A serious situa- was “stealth until others made Marks’ research dates back to received proposals all the time Dembski’s hiring. tion is arising concerning your it visible.” a proposal that went through and has made varying grants, Dembski was named and his post-doc.” Please see ID, page 6 Kelley writes to Dembski, informing him of the discontinu- ance of his position. July 10, 2007 July 11, 2007 July 20, 2007 July 29, 2007 August 9, 2007 August 21, 2007 October 2, 2007 Kelley states in an e-mail to O’Brien states that “The Dean Marks has a short podcast Marks receives an e-mail from Kelley, O’Brien and Marks Baylor general counsel Charles In a meeting the Lariat editorial Marks that he needs to spend is representing institutional interview with Casey Luskin at Kelley asking him to “discon- meet with legal counsel.