The University Reacts

The following news release is from President Godsey and  is being distributed to all Mercer University students.
Further information will be forthcoming.

Mercer President Disappointed by GBC Proposal

MACON – The Executive Committee of the Georgia Baptist Convention (GBC) voted today to propose to the delegates of the annual meeting of the Convention to break ties with Mercer University, the state’s largest and oldest Baptist institution of higher education. According to the bylaws of the GBC, this action must be voted on by the delegates at two consecutive annual meetings of the Convention. The first vote will occur on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at the Convention’s annual meeting being held in Columbus, Ga.

“I am very disappointed by this action,” said Mercer University President R. Kirby Godsey. “Mercer represents the very best of Baptist higher education. The University is educating students to become better citizens, to discern more clearly the difference between truth and error, and to sharpen their capacity to make discriminating moral choices. This was what the founding fathers envisioned when they established Mercer, and this is what the University is today.”

President Godsey continued: “The partnership between the Baptists of Georgia and Mercer University has existed for almost 175 years. The proposal, which must be voted on in November 2006, to disengage the work of the Convention represents, if approved, a strategic loss for both the Convention and the University.

“All of the monies given to Mercer by the Georgia Baptist Convention have been used exclusively to underwrite scholarships for Georgia Baptist students. Some of the best and brightest young people among Georgia Baptists have been able to attend Mercer University because Baptist people and Baptist churches have given to support their college education through the Georgia Baptist Convention.

“While disappointing for the University, I believe that this unilateral action by the Convention would be a tragic mistake because this action is entirely contrary to the founding purpose of the Convention and severely diminishes the noble work of Georgia Baptists in higher education. Mercer is the only Baptist university is the nation that offers degrees in liberal arts, law, business, engineering, education, medicine, pharmacy, nursing and theology.”

Mercer University’s leadership had worked to avoid severing its relationship with the GBC. Several Baptist universities across the nation have severed ties with their state Baptist conventions, including Wake Forest University, Furman University, University of Richmond, Stetson University and, most recently, Belmont University.
 
More than 80 percent of Mercer’s students are from Georgia, and more than 53 percent are Baptists. All of the $3.5 million that the University receives from the GBC’s Cooperative Programs provide scholarships to Baptist students. The University adds another $8.1 million in scholarships to Georgia Baptist students.

The University was founded on January 14, 1833, by Jesse Mercer, Adiel Sherwood and Billington Sanders, the same group of prominent Baptists leaders who were at the forefront of the establishment of the Georgia Baptist Convention.  Through the vision of these Baptist leaders, Mercer began in the Georgia wilderness of Greene County as a manual labor school for young men. 

Today, Mercer has a national reputation of scholastic excellence, with rigorous academic programs, innovative teaching and time-honored values that embrace reason, responsibility, compassion and character. With 7,300 students, the University is attracting some of the most academically talented young men and women in the nation. The 2005 freshman class had an average SAT over 1200 and an average academic grade point average of 3.63.
 
Overview of the University
 
Location
•           Macon campus
•           Atlanta campus
•           Regional Academic Centers in Henry County, Douglas County, Eastman and Macon
 
Colleges and Schools
•           College of Liberal Arts
•           Walter F. George School of Law
•           Southern School of Pharmacy
•           School of Medicine
•           Stetson School of Business and Economics
•           School of Engineering
•           Tift College of Education
•           McAfee School of Theology
•           Georgia Baptist College of Nursing
•           College of Continuing and Professional Studies
 
Teaching Hospitals
•           Medical Center of Central Georgia – Macon
•           Memorial Health University Medical Center – Savannah
 
Educational Partnerships
•           Center for Health and Learning - Piedmont Healthcare – Atlanta
•           Robins Air Logistics Center – Warner Robins
 
Other University Units
•           Mercer University Press – Macon
•           Mercer Engineering Research Center – Warner Robins
•           The Grand Opera House – Macon
•           The Executive Forum – Atlanta, Macon
 
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The Georgia Baptist Convention at its annual meeting this week voted to disengage from Mercer University. The delegates will have to approve the motion again at the 2006 meeting for the vote to become a formal action.

 

There was no vote to escrow Mercer’s funds; therefore, the University’s current operating budget remains unchanged. We anticipate working with the current Baptist leadership to develop a plan that will allow the funding to the University to be reduced over a period of years.

 

Due to the media coverage of the vote at the Convention’s annual meeting, we are beginning to receive specific questions. Below are answers to these questions.

 

Will Mercer students receive a larger-than-usual tuition increase next year?

No. The Administration will also protect the scholarships of current students.

Will staff positions be cut and will salaries for staff be decreased?

We will do everything we can to protect our employees. We will carefully review vacant positions.

Will academic programs be affected?

 

No. We will try to identify areas where savings can occur.