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Shorter’s Larry McSwain announces retirement


ROME, Ga. (BP)–Shorter College President Larry McSwain announced to the college’s trustees Oct. 22 his intention to retire effective June 30, 2000, calling it “the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life.”
“There’s no controversy, no hidden agenda, no moral issues involved,” said McSwain, 58, who assumed the college’s presidency in July 1993. He noted that the primary factors were his health, personal fatigue and timing related to Shorter’s future.
The 126-year-old college, with 1,800 students, is located in Rome, Ga., and affiliated with the Georgia Baptist Convention.
McSwain said his decision to retire was based on the fact that the college was about to enter a major capital campaign and a three-year accreditation study. “I had to decide whether to re-enlist for another five years or do the school an injustice [by retiring in the middle of that campaign]. This was the right decision for me, my family and the school.”
Shorter College trustees will have a special called meeting Dec. 3 to deal with the search process for a new president.
“These have been the most wonderful years of my life in many ways,” McSwain said. “Shorter is an exciting place to be and the institution is healthy and strong. Shorter is poised to attract a strong president to give leadership for the future.”
McSwain, before coming to Shorter, had served at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., in several positions since 1970, including dean of the school of theology and provost. An Oklahoma native, he is a graduate of Oklahoma State University who earned a divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, and doctorate in theology from Southern Seminary.
McSwain and his wife, Sue, have two grown children, Laura Bankston and Michael McSwain.

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