Last summer, the Iowa State athletic department
approved a life skills assistant position for Baptist pastor Kevin Lykins. While the approval process wasn't always a smooth ride, the relationship
recently survived the completion of an end-of-school-year assessment of Lykins' performance.
"We came forward and were forthright about here's what it is and here's what his background is," [athletic director Jamie] Pollard said. "We laid all our cards on the table, and for that, there was a lot of initial criticism.
"But we worked our way through it."
While the initial debate over the addition of Lykins included a faculty petition against the move, as well as criticism from a number of media outlets, we're just now finding out how intense the situation was.
Pollard says his house was vandalized on three occasions during the time in which school officials were considering Lykins' appointment.
He said he decided not to file a police report.
Pollard said someone ripped landscaping apart and tossed the remains into the neighbor's yard. He also said he found garbage dumped in his front yard.
"I'm assuming it was because of this issue," Pollard said. "I can't prove that, but I assume it was."
Pollard remains committed to the idea of a life skills assistant and believes that Lykins' presence has benefited the university. At the end of the day, I suppose that's all that matters.
