By Bob Allen
The week after Brewton-Parker College President Ergun Caner resigned citing the emotional and physical toll of his son’s recent suicide, a vice president said he was fired after refusing to resign.
C.B. Scott, vice president of alumni advancement and church relations at the Baptist school in Mount Vernon, Ga., told Southeast Georgia Today, the web portal for the Vidalia Communications Corporation radio stations, that he turned down a severance package requiring him to sign a non-disclosure statement as a “matter of personal integrity.”
Scott said before Caner resigned he turned down the president’s request to help him “restore his credibility” at the college, alluding to “alleged inappropriate racial remarks” made by Caner that were reported to a trustee but not mentioned when Caner resigned Jan. 20.
Baptist bloggers quoted unnamed sources claiming Caner was asked to resign and accused the board of trustees of trying to mislead the public about the real reason for his departure.
Board Chairman Gary Campbell said at meeting to introduce the school’s newly named interim president to faculty and staff Feb. 2 that trustees had investigated three different reports of racial, vulgar and derogatory comments used by Caner in private conversations and a fourth “allegation of inappropriate behavior” that a Brewton-Parker press release did not describe.
Campbell said evidence was inconclusive in the first three allegations but during questions about the fourth Caner stated he “no longer had the will or energy to fight” and had made the decision to resign. At that point, Campbell said, the trustees discontinued their investigation.
“We did not ask Dr. Caner to resign,” Campbell said. “That was his decision. There has been no attempt by the board of trustees to cover up anything and there were no other claims about which I am aware that were made to the trustees,” Campbell said.
Campbell said the decision to terminate Scott’s contract was his as acting president and it was because of an infraction of business policy about how grievance information is distributed within the chain of command. Campbell then tendered his own resignation from the board both “in the best interest of the school and myself personally.”
On Jan. 29 Brewton-Parker announced the selection of Charlie Bass, former vice president of student services, as interim president until Caner’s successor is found.
Bass, previously vice president for student affairs at Dallas Baptist University, came to Brewton-Parker in August 2012 during the administration of President Mike Simoneaux. Bass resigned in July 2013 to become administrator of Trimont Christian Academy in Franklin, N.C.
Simoneaux was elected president after serving as interim president on loan from Truett-McConnell College in Cleveland, Ga., when predecessor David Smith left after 13 years to teach at Dallas Baptist University in March 2011.
Simoneaux retired at the end of 2013 and was designated president emeritus in 2014, opening the door for Caner’s election as Brewton-Parker’s 16th president effective Jan. 1, 2014.
Scott, promoted to vice president by Caner shortly after he took office, previously served Brewton-Parker as director of academic support and student services. A graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary with a doctorate from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Scott formerly served as pastor of churches in Kentucky, Mississippi, Virginia, North Carolina and Alabama.
He was a trustee of the Baptist Sunday School Board, now LifeWay Christian Resources, from 1987 until 1995. At his first meeting Scott presented a motion calling for a two-page advertisement of Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, which had been added to the denominational calendar in 1986, in all curriculum and for the inclusion of special lessons on abortion and sanctity of life in all quarterlies.
An annual sanctity of human life lesson on the Sunday nearest the anniversary of Roe v. Wade for all older children, youth and adults using Southern Baptist Bible study materials began appearing on Jan. 20, 1991.
Campbell told faculty and staff that in considering Caner’s resignation, the trustees took into consideration grief the family has experienced due to the death of his son Braxton, 15, six months earlier.
After Caner resigned, trustees passed a resolution expressing “thanks and appreciation” for his service and prayer “for God’s blessing and restoration for Dr. Caner and his family as they move forward through a time of personal tragedy and healing; and for Dr. Caner much success in his future endeavors.”
The resolution called reinstatement of Brewton-Parker’s accreditation under Caner’s leadership “a great victory” and noted that during his tenure the college “continued to grow stronger financially, lives were won on campus with decisions for Jesus Christ and the mission of the school continued forward.”
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