Episcopal seminary elects new president after firing leader for 'inappropriate relationship'
An Episcopal Church seminary in Texas has elected a new president after firing its previous leader last year over an “inappropriate relationship” with an employee.
The Board of Trustees of Seminary of the Southwest in Austin elected the Rev. Ruthanna B. Hooke to be their next president and dean. She is slated to take office on New Year’s Day 2027.
Hooke will succeed the Rt. Rev. Diane M. Jardine Bruce, who has served as interim seminary president since January, after being appointed to the temporary position last November.
In a statement, Hooke, served as professor of Homiletics at Virginia Theological Seminary, said she is “thrilled, honored, and so happy to have been appointed as the next dean and president.”
“I have long been an admirer of the seminary and the mission and ethos it embodies,” Hooke stated. “I have come to know the seminary as a place of warm hospitality, authentic community, and a strong sense of purpose.”
“I look forward to working with the board, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends to guide Seminary of the Southwest into the bright future it has before it.”
The Rt. Rev. Kathryn M. Ryan, bishop suffragan of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas and chair of the Seminary Trustees Board, believes Hooke “brings a deeply relational and collaborative approach to leadership, a distinguished record as a teacher and scholar, and an abiding commitment to the formation of leaders for the church and the world.”
“In her meeting with the board, she demonstrated a clear understanding of Southwest’s distinctive mission and a compelling vision for strengthening its programs, broadening its relationships, and nurturing the beloved community at the heart of this institution,” Ryan said.
“She will be an excellent partner for the board as we move into Southwest’s exciting future.”
Last September, the board unanimously voted to remove Scott Bader-Saye as dean and president immediately after he admitted to having an "inappropriate relationship with an employee." He was unanimously elected to office in May 2024 and was installed in January of last year.
Diocese of Texas Bishop C. Andrew Doyle and Ryan wrote in a letter sent to seminary alumni and friends that Bader-Saye was terminated “following his admission of developing an inappropriate relationship with an employee with whom he was in a supervisory relationship.”
“The behavior violates the professional standards required of all employees of the Seminary by the Personnel Handbook and the Safeguarding God's People policies included therein, and of the faculty by the Faculty Handbook,” the diocesan leaders stated. “As Dean and President, he was responsible for abiding by those policies himself, as well as ensuring they were upheld by all members of the community and responding appropriately when they were not.”
Last November, seminary leaders appointed Bruce to serve as interim president and dean at a special meeting, where they also selected the Isaacson Miller search firm to help find a permanent replacement for Bader-Saye.
