December 30, 2002
Shorter sues Georgia convention for funds
___By John Pierce
___Baptists Today
___ROME, Ga. (ABP)--Shorter College has filed a lawsuit against the Georgia Baptist Convention to recover funds the convention has withheld from the school since last January.
___The convention has filed a counter-lawsuit claiming rightful ownership of the college and seeking to regain control of trustee selection.
___Shorter created a self-perpetuating board last month after the convention elected trustees other than candidates from a list approved by the college. Shorter made a bylaw change last May requiring such approval.
___Trustees also voted to seek approximately $8 million designated for capital improvement and other funds being held in the college's name in the Georgia Baptist Foundation. They filed a lawsuit Nov. 27 in an effort to retrieve those funds.
___The Georgia Baptist convention executive committee went into executive session during their Dec. 10 meeting to respond to Shorter College's actions. Members attending were required to sign statements promising confidentiality.
___Georgia Baptist officials would not release information from that meeting. However, in a statement released Dec. 16 to the Rome News-Tribune, the convention revealed a counter-lawsuit was filed against the college Dec. 12, claiming that Shorter President Ed Schrader and the board of trustees used "scheme and conspiracy" to "illegally convert, take over and steal Shorter from the GBC."
___Shorter officials maintain that giving the trustee board more control over the future selection of trustees was a necessary response to concerns raised by a committee reviewing the school's accreditation. Convention leaders argue that the college trumped up the accreditation issue to justify pulling the college away from the convention out of fear of a fundamentalist takeover.
___The college received reaffirmation of their accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Dec. 10, the same day the convention's executive committee met behind closed doors.
___Meanwhile, in a separate action, a motion to intervene in the convention lawsuit was filed Dec. 13 by a group of current Shorter trustees who disagree with the college's actions. Included in this group are individuals elected to the board in November by the convention but who allegedly were prevented by Schrader from taking their seats on the board and from attending the meeting where the action to create a self-perpetuating board was approved. The college has not recognized those individuals as legitimate trustees.
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