WACO, Texas (AP) - To some, Baylor University President Robert Sloan is a rock of faith and integrity -- a man of God well-suited to lead the world's largest Baptist university in a time of crisis.

Others portray him as a devil.

For his part, Sloan says he relies on prayer, family and friends to cope with the scandal rocking the Central Texas university this summer: the slaying of Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy by a former player and the ensuing disclosure of major NCAA violations in the Big 12 Conference program.

"What I have found is that God's grace really is deeper than the deepest trouble you go through," the 54-year-old Baptist preacher said in an interview with The Associated Press.

As Baylor reels from revelations of secretly paid players, doctored drug tests and a tape-recorded cover-up plot by disgraced former coach Dave Bliss, Sloan's supporters praise him for moving quickly to place the basketball program on probation and accept the resignations of Bliss and athletic director Tom Stanton.

He appears to maintain support from most Baylor regents and student leaders as the 14,000-student university opens the fall semester Monday.

"Although some people may be against him, he knows that the Lord is watching over what he's doing and that he's guided -- it's not like he's making a lot of these decisions on his own," said student body president Jeff Leach, a 21-year-old political science major from Plano who visits frequently with Sloan and flew with him to attend Dennehy's funeral in California earlier this month. "He's praying about them and he's trying to do the right thing."

But critics say Sloan, like Stanton, must accept blame for the image-tarnishing fiasco, even if he had no knowledge of wrongdoing before it occurred.

"He makes himself out to be a pious person with Christian values, but he doesn't practice it," said Henry Walbesser, a computer science professor and former Methodist who attends a moderate Baptist church in Waco. " ... He has done so much damage to this institution in the name of Christian faith."

Walbesser contends Sloan retaliates against professors who oppose him by refusing to give them raises or tenure. He says he was demoted as a graduate school dean a few years ago when he publicly criticized Sloan's direction of the university.

"He is an evil person," Walbesser said.

The faculty senate may take up a no-confidence vote on Sloan when it meets Sept. 9, and at least one major newspaper, the Houston Chronicle, has called for his resignation, saying he "failed dramatically" in his duty to ensure that Baylor ran an upright program.

Sloan, who has headed Baylor for eight years, said he doesn't let such talk distract him.

"I honestly do not worry about those kinds of things because what I believe is this: You don't solve any problem by running away from it. I'm committed to Baylor University. It's what I'm doing as a calling," he said.

Even before the recent turmoil, Sloan faced harsh criticism from some faculty leaders over his 10-year reform plan that calls for moving Baylor into the top tier of American universities while strengthening its Christian mission.

Chuck Weaver, the faculty senate's immediate past chairman, says Sloan has threatened Baylor's academic reputation by stressing religious beliefs over qualifications when hiring new faculty members.

The neuroscience professor refers to the process as a "religious litmus test."

"We had one candidate in our department who had published dozens of papers, had millions of dollars in grant money and was a member of a Baptist church in Houston," Weaver said. "He was turned down because, during the interview with the senior administration, his answers to the religious questions were not considered sufficiently warm and reflective."

Weaver, a Presbyterian Church elder who teaches Sunday school, suggests he wouldn't be hired in the present environment because he's not an "evangelical."

Sloan says he seeks professors who will not only tolerate Baylor's religious mission but actively support it. At the same time, he denies imposing any creeds or religious oaths on those hired. Less than half of Baylor's nearly 800 faculty members are Baptists.

Most importantly, he says, Baylor must strive to hire people of character and faithfulness and hold them accountable.

"In this basketball situation, we failed to keep our best ideals and standards. But I believe we have fulfilled -- at least we're endeavoring to fulfill -- our responsibility as a matter of integrity to hold ourselves accountable," he said. " ... It's important for people to have accountability groups and to meet with friends and others. Because as individuals, if we get isolated, it's possible for any of us to make serious moral errors and mistakes."

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