Is He a Bridge or a Barrier?

But two were intrigued. He accepted a faculty position at the University of Pennsylvania, but not without considerable internal debate about whether he would be an appropriate fit.

What followed were seven bumpy years of job uncertainty and social animosity that ended in Walker being denied tenure.

He said the vote by his colleagues was very close. Walker thought many of his detractors were younger scholars who subscribed to a postmodern worldview, believing that right or wrong are relative, he said.

As a Christian, Walker believes in absolute truth and that "there is evidence for the Bible being the objectively true word of God."

While values of political consciousness and diversity ruled the day, the kind of diversity he introduced as a Christian was not welcome, he said.

"My eyes were opened about American higher education -- the cardinal values in the name of which I was excluded were inclusion and diversity," he said.

From there he went to Catholic University in Washington, where he said a Jesuit tradition and a tenured position provided a more hospitable environment.

Walker heard about Patrick Henry College as it was getting started in 2000, while he was living in Maryland.

He and his wife, Linda, were home-schooling their two daughters -- they still are -- and they thought that perhaps they could one day send the girls to Patrick Henry.

He never guessed that six years later, after a stint as the vice president for academic affairs and dean at Oklahoma Wesleyan University, he would be unpacking boxes in his new office overlooking Patrick Henry's lawn.

Walker said he is working with some of the smartest students he has had in 10 years, since he taught at Pennsylvania.

And he said the schools are also alike in holding fast to their guiding principles.

He said the difference is that the principles are written down at Patrick Henry, while at University of Pennsylvania they were not.