Dr. Marvin Anderson resigned August 29 as president of Southwestern Adventist University (SWAU), a position he has held for the past 17 years. 

“It is with sadness that I announce the resignation of Marvin Anderson,” said Max Trevino, SWAU board chairman, in a written statement released August 29.  “People here know that Dr. Anderson was the victim of a robbery recently.  Dr Anderson and I discussed the matter, and we concluded that speculation about the incident was distracting people from the mission of the university.  Dr. Anderson concluded it was in the best interests of the university for him to resign.”

“I accepted his resignation with a great deal of regret,” said Trevino. “Dr. Anderson has been an outstanding president.”

Anderson was robbed and assaulted August 21 at a hotel in Longview, Texas, where he was staying on his way back from a meeting in another part of the state.  Anderson has denied any impropriety, saying he was in the “wrong place at the wrong time,” according to local newspaper reports.

Fred G. Thomas, a retired Seventh-day Adventist Church leader, has been appointed interim president of SWAU.  With more than 50 years of administrative experience, Thomas has worked as a pastor, regional church president, and administrator for the Adventist Church’s General Conference.

“I want my time at Southwestern to be an experience of healing and forward movement for everyone involved,” said Thomas, in a statement released August 30.

Established by the Adventist Church in 1894, SWAU is a liberal arts university located 30 minutes south of Dallas-Fort Worth. During Anderson’s 17 years as president of SWAU, the university has expanded its academic program, gained university-level accreditation, and increased its enrollment from 650 to almost 1,200 students.

Read the statement by SWAU board chairman and university news releases: www.swau.edu/