University of the South trustees seat, elect new members

New leaders include two from continuing Diocese of Ft. Worth

Sewanee, Tenn.—The Board of Trustees of the University of the South today welcomed 24 new trustees elected by the 28 owning dioceses, seated two new trustees from the continuing diocese of Ft. Worth (Texas), and elected eight new trustees from the Associated Alumni of the University, the student body, and the faculty.

The decisions came during the annual meeting of the University governing body, which approves all plans for the growth and development of the University, evaluates progress towards established goals, elects the University’s chief leaders, and approves any transfer of University property.

Sherri Glaser and The Rev. Vernon Gotcher of the continuing Diocese of Ft. Worth, Texas, were among those seated by the Trustees to serve on the Board.

The decision to seat the pair came on the recommendation of the Trustees’ Committee on Nominations, Elections and Credentials, which was charged by University Chancellor The Right Rev. Henry Parsley, Bishop of Alabama and president of the Trustees, to consider membership from Ft. Worth after delegates to its Diocesan Convention in November 2008 approved a resolution to leave the Episcopal Church of the United States and to realign with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, based in Argentina.

The continuing diocese of the Episcopal Church in Forth Worth was reconstituted in February 2009 and is now led by Provisional Bishop The Right Rev. Edwin F. Gulick, Jr., Bishop of Kentucky. As a Bishop, Gulick already is a Trustee of the University; Kent Henning also is a Trustee from the continuing Ft. Worth Diocese and will continue in his appointment.

The Committee on Credentials recommended to the full Board that only the Trustees elected by the continuing Episcopal Diocese of Ft. Worth be seated on the University board.

“This action by the Board was carefully studied over a period of months and is consistent with the governance of the University as mandated by the Constitution and By-Laws,” Chancellor Parsley said.

The Constitution states that the University “must in all parts be under the sole and perpetual control of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America,” and represented in part by Trustees elected by the 28 dioceses that comprise the owning dioceses. The Trustees today include over 30 Bishops of the 28 owning dioceses of the University; clergy and lay delegates; and alumni, students, and faculty.

Following the Trustees’ decision, Bishop Parsley asked the Board to grant a seat for the duration of the Trustees’ 2009 annual meeting to the two persons representing the Ft. Worth diocese of the Southern Cone. The Trustees assented by unanimous voice vote.

New Trustees welcomed today, by Diocese:

Alabama: W. Charles Mayer III, The Rev. Susan Sloan
Arkansas: Linda Walker
Atlanta: Stephen Burnett, The Rt. Rev. Keith Whitmore
Dallas: The Rt. Rev. Paul E. Lambert
Central Florida: Parker Bauer
East Carolina: Robert Overman
East Tennessee: Robert G. Norred, Jr.
Georgia: William R. Bruce
Lexington: The Rev. Michael Carlisle
Louisiana: The Rev. Ralph Howe, Jr.
North Carolina: Rev. Samuel Gregory Jones
Northwest Texas: The Rt. Rev. J. Scott Mayer,Don Griffis,Sally Manning
South Carolina: Elizabeth Lewis
Southeast Florida: Edmund T. Henry, III
Texas: The Rt. Rev. Andrew Doyle, Sandra Pratt Wilkins
West Tennessee: Dr. Bruce W. Steinhauer
West Texas: Amy Hoffman
Western Louisiana: Francis F. Manning
Western North Carolina:Dr. William Stiefel, Jr.

The following persons were elected by the Trustees:

Associated Alumni Trustees: Charles Brock, C’87, Elizabeth Finch, C’77, Harold Rahn, C’77, Gregg Robertson, C’78, David Shipps, C’88, The Rev. Doris Westfall, T’05
Student Trustee: Caroline Tanner, C’11
Faculty Trustee: Nancy Berner, Professor of Biology

The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee, comprises a nationally recognized College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a distinguished School of Theology. Located on 13,000 acres in Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau, the University enrolls approximately 1,500 undergraduates and 100 seminarians. For more information about Sewanee: The University of the South, visit www.sewanee.edu.