In his ruling on April 9, Judge Eugene Griffith concluded that the trustees and alumni association “have met the burden required of them for entry of a preliminary injunction. They have demonstrated an imminent prospect of irreparable harm if an injunction is not granted, a likelihood of success on the merits and the inadequacy of any legal remedy.”
Legal action was taken after the ARP General Synod, in a specially-called meeting March 2 dismissed 14 Erskine trustees including the plaintiffs Richard Taylor, Parker Young, and David Chestnut, who is president of the alumni association. The synod further appointed 14 new trustees to form an “interim” board of trustees as part of a plan to re-write certain bylaws pertaining to the number of trustees and other governance matters. The General Synod considered a report from a special commission, whose purpose was to determine whether or not the school’s board of trustees and administration “is in faithful accordance with the standards of the ARP Church and the synod’s previously issued directives.”
The Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church founded Erskine College in 1839. It was the first four-year, church-related college in South Carolina. Its theological school became the affiliated Erskine Theological Seminary in 1858.
The nature of the relationship between Erskine and the ARP, and the legal parameters of that relationship, have been discussed on campus and the blogosphere in addition to the court filings, and testimony before Judge Griffith.
The judge wrote that the “core question” of the case was whether or not the church’s General Synod had the authority to remove Erskine’s trustees “without cause,” according to The Greenville News in Greenville, S.C. He found that it doesn’t, according to the school’s bylaws.
In his injunction the judge enjoined the General Synod from removing or trying to remove the Erskine Board of Trustees as it existed prior to March 3; appointing new board members except to file expiring terms or vacancies according to Erskine’s current bylaws. It cannot convene any group claiming to be the Erskine board or declare any other group to be the Erskine board. It cannot engage in any transaction or activity in which the ARP purports to control or act on behalf of Erskine, nor control or dispose of Erskine property, funds, or other assets.
The injunction will remain in effect until modified by the court, according to the judge.
