ROME, Ga. (BP)–Shorter College President Ed L. Schrader, who led the attempt to sever the college’s ties with the Georgia Baptist Convention, resigned on Sept. 16 to accept the presidency of Brenau University, a women’s college in Gainesville, Ga.
Schrader will begin his new position at Brenau on Jan. 1, four years to the day from when he took the helm of Shorter, based in Rome, Ga.
In an e-mail resignation to Shorter’s board of trustees, faculty and staff, Schrader acknowledged that his ability “to range far and wide with potential constituents, student recruits, and donors is dramatically hampered by the battle scars from our struggle. There are simply many churches, families, and groups into which I will never be welcomed.”
Schrader said he would begin to transition all of his projects and development plans “to the appropriate personnel at the college during this fall semester.” He then suggested that the board initiate a search process in the spring while employing an interim president who would not seek the presidency.
Brenau University was founded in 1878 as a privately owned institution of women. Though never directly supported by or affiliated with Baptists, Brenau was originally named the Georgia Baptist Female Seminary.
Though primarily a women’s university, it does admit males to its evening and weekend college as well as to its online college.
The case between the college and the Georgia convention is slated to be heard by the Georgia Supreme Court in January. In March, the college lost in the Georgia Court of Appeals, which ruled in favor of the Georgia convention’s position that Shorter had acted illegally in April 2003 in dissolving itself and transferring all its assets to a new corporation with a self-perpetuating board of trustees.
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