The Georgia Supreme Court ruled May 23 that Shorter College trustees acted improperly when they shifted ownership of the college to a newly created foundation with a self-perpetuating board and essentially broke ties with the Georgia Baptist Convention.

The 4-3 decision upheld an earlier Georgia Court of Appeals ruling in favor of the convention, which has been affiliated with 132-year-old Shorter since 1959.

The GBC and the Baptist-related college in northwest Georgia have been at odds since 2001 over trustee selection and control. School officials claimed that undue influence by convention leaders was putting the college's accreditation at risk.

Shorter trustees voted in 2003 to formally dissolve the corporation, transfer all assets to an independent foundation and rename the new entity. According to Shorter officials, the action was necessary to save the school's accreditation.

While acknowledging that the board acted in the “good-faith belief that it was responding to a threat to the accreditation of the college,” the majority of justices said dissolving the corporation and transferring its $50 million in assets violated state regulations.

Associated Baptist Press

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