Baptist college in Georgia removes president after inquiry into whether
he ignored sexual abuse
[September 27, 2025]
CLEVELAND, Ga. (AP) — A Baptist college in northeast
Georgia won't reinstate its president after an investigation into
whether he ignored claims that a former administrator was abusing
students.
Trustees at Truett McConnell University in Cleveland announced Friday
that Emir Caner won't return. Caner had been on leave since June, when
trustees hired an investigator to examine claims that a former
administrator and professor sexually assaulted a woman who was a student
and later a university employee. She claims she was repeatedly assaulted
when she went to the man's home for Bible study.
John Yarbrough, the director of alumni and public policy who was named
acting president in June, will now become the interim president.
Trustees said they were naming a committee to seek a permanent leader.
The action came after an investigator presented his findings to trustees
Thursday. The university didn't disclose those findings. In a news
conference Friday, Yarbrough said details of Caner's separation are
still being negotiated.
“But I can tell you I'm interim president and Dr. Caner is no longer
president of the university today,” Yarbrough said.
Southern Baptists have faced allegations that hundreds of church leaders
and workers have abused people over the years and that the denomination
hasn't done enough to prevent abuse. At Truett McConnell, the case
created an uproar among faculty and alumni. A rare public protest took
place outside a trustee meeting in June demanding Caner's removal.
Caner said in a video posted on social media after being placed on leave
that it grieved him that “one of our own, one of our family, has been
hurt in this way.” But he denied concealing or ignoring any assaults.
“While there was no cover-up, there was no Title IX filed or an HR
complaint, there was no petition that ever came across my desk. We have
to do better," Caner said in the video.
The former student discussed her sexual assault allegations on a May 29
podcast. Truett McConnell issued a statement May 30, saying that it
first became aware of the allegations in February 2024, when the
administrator informed the university he was under investigation by the
White County Sheriff’s Office “regarding an inappropriate relationship.”
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Truett McConnell University Interim President Dr. John O. Yarbrough
speaks during a news conference at the school’s Cleveland, Ga.,
campus on Friday, Sept, 26, 2025. (Daniel Purcell/NowHabersham.com
via AP)
The 3,100-student university says the administrator’s employment
ended within days and that school leaders later learned that the
administrator had sent “hundreds” of “sexually-explicit and
theologically-twisted” emails from a personal account. Sheriff’s
deputies concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to seek criminal
charges, according to a report provided by the former student's
lawyer, Marcia Shein.
Opponents of Caner claim he retaliated against two administrators
who pressed him on the allegations, pushing them out of their jobs.
The school has denied any retaliation.
Shein wrote a letter to trustees about the allegations in February.
But Shein has said the university knew about the claims well before
2024, citing an earlier petition by students to remove the
administrator from teaching. In a Friday statement, Shein said
called Caner's exit “the right thing.”
“This is not political or based on hate, but healing and the right
time to make the changes that were long overdue,” Shein said. “These
brave women who came forward, and the others who were afraid to,
deserve the support of the Christian community going forward with
support for healing and change.”
Shein has said the student hasn’t sued Truett McConnell because she
is blocked by Georgia’s four-year statute of limitations on
lawsuits. However, White County District Attorney Jeff Langley has
said that he is taking a renewed look at the case.
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