The Mercer Writers' Project is based off of the Federalist Writers' Project and is an opportunity for students to tell a story from Mercer's history that they believe is worth telling. For my project I chose to highlight the story of how a National Coming Out Day event let to the Georgia Baptist Convention ending its' relationship with Mercer University.
On October 11th, 2005, the Mercer Triangle Symposium, a student-led LGBTQ+ advocacy group, held a National Coming Out Day event. The event was intended to be a forum that would promote discussion surrounding the rights of LGBTQ+ students and faculty at Mercer University. While it was the event it intended to be, it grew into something more. The Georgia Baptist Convention took offense to this event being held at one of their universities, especially one like Mercer, with whom they already had a rocky relationship. On November 15th, 2005, the Georgia Baptist Convention voted to end its’ 172-year long relationship with Mercer University.
Mercer Cluster feature with list of Mercer community members that support the LGBTQ+ community.
The Mercer Triangle Symposium was the first LGBTQ+ club at Mercer University, and although the club was only active for a short 3 years, it sure did leave its’ mark on Mercer history. In Fall 2005, the club mainly consisted of straight allies as many LGBTQ+ students were not ready to come out at the time according to April Trussel, the 2005 president of MTS. The organization held a forum on National Coming Out Day to promote discussion about the rights of the LGBTQ+ community on campus . There were two main issues that had been brought forward. The first issue was the lack of protection of students against discrimination based on sexual orientation as the student handbook did not state whether or not such discrimination would be tolerated at Mercer University. The second issue pertained to faculty as the spouses of faculty members in heterosexual relationships were eligible to receive free tuition while the long-term partners of faculty members in same-sex relationships were not eligible to receive the same offer. During the event 58 faculty and staff members, 26 students, and 35 anonymous mercer community members signed a statement saying that they are supporters of the LGBTQ+ community, and this list was later published in the October 13th, 2005 issue of the school newspaper, The Mercer Cluster.
Prior to the event, there were a few things that had already put a strain on the relationship between the Georgia Baptist Convention and Mercer University according to J. Robert White, the executive director of the convention at the time. For one, the convention had been upset that members of the convention were not allowed to be on the board of trustees at Mercer as the board was responsible for choosing the university’s president. This was especially upsetting for the convention as another one of their grievances was regarding Mercer’s lack of participation within the Southern Baptist Convention despite accepting money from said convention for student scholarships. Lastly, the then President of Mercer, R. Kirby Godsey, had published a book about religion that the GBC believed to go against Baptist beliefs. White acknowledged that while these issues did factor into the convention’s decision to separate from Mercer University, but he said that the National Coming Out Day event was the catalyst for the vote. One spokesperson said that members of the church were “deeply troubled” by the fact that religion professors not only attended the event but also signed the form that stated they were supportive of the LGBTQ+ community. White stated that the event went directly against the church’s beliefs about homosexuality and that it should not be promoted at the convention’s universities not only for spiritual reasons, but because the AIDS epidemic showed that homosexuality was also a health issue, according to him at least. After 172 years of partnership, the Georgia Baptist Convention voted to end its relationship with Mercer on November 15th, 2005.
Members of the Georgia Baptist Convention voting to separate from Mercer University on November 15th, 2005.
Former Mercer University President R. Kirby Godsey.
The Mercer community was shocked at the immediate reaction from the Baptist community, and President Godsey tried to offer his support to MTS while also trying to maintain the school’s relationship with the GBC. Those a part of MTS did not think that their little event would garner so much attention, but with the severance of the relationship between Mercer and the GBC up in the air, the organization knew that they would need to make a decision regarding their response. Under the pressure of the university administration, the faculty advisors and students within the organization decided to disband the group. The pressure that was put onto the organization was not the only reason they decided to become inactive as the decision was ultimately made to protect the students. Some had hoped that disbanding the group would be enough to change the convention’s mind because many students relied on scholarship money that came from the convention, and many were worried that those students would no longer be able to afford the tuition.
Fortunately, the university ensured that no students were affected by the separation, and the institution continued to provide for those who had previously received scholarships through the Baptist church. The disbandment not only protected the students financially, but it also protected their well-being. An article published by the Baptist Press exposed the exact location and times that the MTS met, and this came just days after news broke of a woman in Barrow County being raped by a police officer simply because she was a lesbian. As heartbreaking as it was, disbanding Mercer’s first LGBTQ+ organization was a necessary loss to protect all members of the Mercer Community. After the decision was made by the GBC, students held the “We Are Mercer Rally” to show their disapproval of the decision.
Beth Sherouse (left) and April Trussell-Smith (right) at the We Are Mercer Rally on November 22nd, 2005.
Mercer University has been on my radar since my sister committed to the school in 2018. I knew that Mercer had once been affiliated with the GBC, but it wasn’t until 2024 that I learned the story behind the separation, and I only learned about the story because my professor had us read about it for class. Had I not taken a class that required me to learn about this event, I most likely would have never understood just how much of an impact the MTS organization made in only 3 years. It’s surprising to me that the university includes the National Coming Out Day forum in the Mercer Reader, a book containing texts that are essential to the history of Mercer, but it does not require that students are taught this story, nor is this story advertised to the students in any way by the university itself. The little acknowledgment of this story that I have seen has been done by other students and not the university. 20 years later and this story is fading away from the minds of the Mercer community, but I don’t want to let that happen. This is a piece of Mercer history that I’m proud of. I’m proud of the actions of the students that came before me because none of this could have been easy to do, and they paved the way for a more accepting community to be fostered here at Mercer. Mercer currently has another student-led LGBTQ+ advocacy organization that is active on campus. The Title IX policy protects students from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender, and the pronouns of students are to be respected by all faculty and staff. There are little things done here each day to ensure that there is a safe environment for the LGBTQ+ community at Mercer, and none of this would have been possible without the Mercer Triangle Symposium. The stories of marginalized communities along with their work to create a more accepting society should not be forgotten. We should not be forgotten.