MACON, Ga. (ABP) — Bill Underwood, interim president of Baylor University, was elected president of Mercer University Dec. 2, promising to retain the school's historic Baptist identity despite a recent break with the Georgia Baptist Convention.
“I'm a Baptist,” the longtime Baylor law professor told Associated Baptist Press. “And I am committed to Mercer retaining its Baptist identity with or without Georgia Baptist Convention.”
Mercer trustees elected Underwood unanimously during a regularly scheduled meeting in Greensboro, Ga. Underwood, who has no previous ties to the 7,000-student university, was introduced to the media in a 2:30 p.m. news conference. He told ABP he will try to restore formal ties with the conservative-controlled Georgia convention.
Underwood will become president July 1, when Kirby Godsey, 68, retires after 27 years at Mercer's helm.
Underwood, 49, comes to Mercer at a crucial time of transition for historically Baptist universities, including Mercer. In recent years, conflict between several Baptist universities and their Baptist constituents have led to severing or reducing historic ties.
A 172-year relationship between Mercer and the Georgia Baptist Convention ended when the convention voted Nov. 15 to end support for the school. Baptist leaders complained a recent student event promoted homosexuality. The convention's relationship with Mercer in recent years has been primarily tied to providing scholarship funds for Georgia Baptist students.
Some Mercer supporters said the break with the convention will be a good thing, clearing the decks for Underwood to make a fresh start without an ongoing feud with the state's conservative Baptist leaders.
But Underwood said the break doesn't make his job easier. “I think the loss of that relationship is a sad thing,” he told ABP.
Underwood said he would like to see a relationship with the convention restored. But he declined to say if that is likely.
Meanwhile, the head of the Georgia Baptist Convention seemed to rule out the possibility of reconciliation.
“No, the next year will be invested in an orderly dissolution of the relationship with Mercer,” executive director Robert White told ABP through a spokeswoman. The convention's Nov. 15 decision initiated a two-year process of severing ties.
In an earlier statement, White said Mercer has chosen “to become a non-Southern Baptist institution” by taking actions in opposition to Baptists' views, citing the recent gay-rights dispute.
White, through his spokeswoman, declined to comment on Underwood or his election.
Georgia Baptists still have close ties to three other Baptist schools in the state — Shorter, Brewton-Parker and Truett-McConnell colleges — and elect trustees for those institutions.
Underwood's election means two of the three major Baptist universities searching for new presidents have completed the task. Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., has yet to name a successor to retiring president Tom Corts.
Underwood was considered a leading candidate for the presidency at Baylor before removing his name from consideration in September. Trustees of the Texas Baptist school elected Nevada educator John Lilley as president Nov. 3.
Underwood told ABP he withdrew from the Baylor search because the university needed a leader who hasn't been involved in any campus conflicts. “I was not willing to accept the presidency at Baylor because I had been a part of the controversy at Baylor,” he said. “That job was not for me.”
“I thought they needed to get an outside candidate, and John Lilley is going to be an outstanding president,” he told the Lariat, Baylor's student newspaper.
Baylor has been deeply divided in recent years over the school's direction and the leadership of former president Robert Sloan, who is now chancellor. Last year, Underwood publicly debated former Baylor provost David Lyle Jeffrey, taking a strong stand for academic freedom at Christian universities.
Underwood said when he first accepted the Baylor interim position he hadn't considered being the permanent president at Baylor or elsewhere. But he changed his mind while he served as interim.
“I … realized how rewarding the job can be and what a tremendous opportunity it is to influence thousands of lives,” he told the Lariat. “… My experience at Baylor made me think this was something I may be interested in doing, especially at another Baptist university.”
While Underwood has no previous ties to Mercer, he has been a friend of Godsey's since they served as panelists for a Baylor conference on Christian higher education in April.
Underwood, a popular figure within the Baylor faculty, immediately made his mark after becoming interim by shaking up the university's top administration, most notably replacing Provost Jeffrey.
According to a Mercer leader who met with Underwood Nov. 8, Underwood was asked if he might return to Baylor as president at a later time. Underwood reportedly declined interest, saying Mercer has more potential for growth than Baylor. Mercer also has not had the deep divisions within its trustee board that have characterized Baylor, the largest Baptist university in the world.
After his election, Underwood declined to say Mercer was a better place to serve than Baylor. “Baylor is a premier Baptist university,” he told ABP. And so is Mercer, he added. “I think the potential for growth [at Mercer] is significant.”
A graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University and the University of Illinois College of Law, Underwood practiced civil trial law in Dallas before joining the Baylor faculty in 1990. He and his wife, Leslie, have two children — Jessica, 16, and William, 11. They are members of Seventh and James Baptist Church in Waco.
Baylor faculty members recently adopted an affirmation of Underwood's leadership as interim.
“Over the past four months, he has demonstrated an attitude of acceptance and respect for all faculty members, provided sound and transparent leadership, encouraged and modeled administrative efficiency, and undertaken concrete and intentional actions toward healing the university community,” the statement said.
— This story includes information from Analiz Gonzalez, Tim Norton and John Pierce.