Gordon Bietz The rumor had already started to spread, but over pizza and salad at a faculty lunch, the longtime president of Southern Adventist University made it official: By next May he would be leaving the small private school in Collegedale.
It was time for retirement.
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven," Gordon Bietz quoted from Ecclesiastes, to set up his announcement and following presentations on the school's fiscal health and enrollment projections.
It was an emotional moment for Bietz, who has led the university for 18 years.
"Why is that so emotional for me?" he asked, trying to hold back tears. "I'll be 72 years old, and I'll have lived in this community for 35 years."
The group of 300 faculty members and staff stood to applaud him.
In addition to his time as president, Bietz served as pastor of the Collegedale Church of Seventh-day Adventists on Southern's campus for 13 years and as president of the Georgia-Cumberland Conference in Calhoun, Ga., for three years.
Bietz said the decision to leave was difficult, but ultimately the answer became clear on a family ski trip a few months back.
"I was with my children and six grandchildren, and we had a great time," Bietz said. "It encouraged me to spend more time with them."
Bietz said it was also important that he leave at a time when things are going well for the university. Under his leadership the institution has thrived, doubling both its enrollment and the its budget. Nearly $80 million in construction projects have been completed during his tenure, including a multi-unit apartment community for upperclassmen, a state-of-the-art wellness facility and a new nursing building. A $28 million student center is also in the works, and Bietz said he hoped to be present at the groundbreaking before he retires.
Bietz said he planned to make a formal announcement to students at the school's weekly convocation Thursday. He told the board of trustees of his decision Tuesday, and said the board already has selected an eight-person search committee and will start the search for his successor in May.
"I have full confidence the Lord has someone in mind to pick up the mantle," Bietz said.
Faculty members in attendance said Bietz would be hard to replace.
"We've known that we've had too good a president to keep forever," history and political studies chairwoman Lisa Diller said.
Journalism and communications professor Andy Nash had a hunch the announcement was coming, but still wasn't quite ready to hear it.
"It's bittersweet, because Dr. Bietz is a hero for all of us, faculty as well as students," Nash said. "He represents what's right about this school and our Adventist denomination."
Contact Will Healey at whealey@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731.