April 14, 2003
Subpoenaed e-mail bolsters Shorter's case
___By John Pierce
___Baptists Today
___ROME, Ga.--While Shorter College and the Georgia Baptist Convention battle in court over ownership, escrowed funds and trustee selection, a recently subpoenaed e-mail exchange reveals an effort to influence the school's board of trustees that convention leaders previously denied.
___In a Feb. 8, 2002, e-mail message to GBC Executive Director Robert White, retired pastor Nelson Price of Marietta, Ga., then a newly-elected Shorter trustee, thanked White for allowing him to meet with members of the GBC Administration Committee to discuss the college.
___Although he had not yet attended trustee orientation or his first meeting with the board, Price requested additional information from White in order "to influence the trustees."
___"If some persons with a knowledge of the Shorter board of trustees can do a bit of analysis of the trustees, we might find that we can be in a position much quicker (than) it initially appeared to influence the trustees," Price wrote. "We could be in a posture of influence within two years."
___Then Price added that it would be helpful to him to "know who might be likely friends." He also told White that an analysis of the current board that notes "when strong advocates of independence rotate off it would be vital in determining strategy."
___In response, White assures Price that "we will certainly do the study as you suggested" and "will proceed to work on that immediately."
___Shorter trustees voted last year to become a self-perpetuating board after claiming that undue influence by fundamentalist Georgia Baptist leaders was putting their independence, and therefore their accreditation, at risk.
___White has strongly denied any attempts by GBC leadership to interfere with the work of Shorter's trustees.
___"The (GBC) has strictly adhered to the practice of electing good and qualified trustees and then allowing them to serve on the board of trustees without any interference or pressure from the convention," White wrote in a letter distributed to Georgia Baptist pastors last year and published in the state convention's newspaper.
___Shorter attorneys recently received the e-mail exchange between Price and White--apparently contradicting White's earlier assertion--as part of subpoenaed documents. Shorter officials said the GBC did not release this pertinent information until after a March 24 hearing. The e-mail was then sent to the Superior Court of Dekalb County, Ga., as part of a supplemental brief.
___As of April 4, the judge hearing the case had not ruled on a restraining order that forbids the college from seating trustees elected by the board rather than those elected by the GBC in November.
___Shorter President Ed Schrader said he hopes a favorable ruling will be forthcoming soon so "Shorter can get on with its business as a Baptist college." He added that he is hopeful the college and the convention can settle their disagreements over withheld funds out of court.
___A spokesman in White's office said he did not want to comment on the subpoenaed e-mail.
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