Bryn Athyn College president resigns

The president of Bryn Athyn College, who joined the Montgomery County school less than a year ago and was the first to hold the position, has resigned.

Christopher Clark submitted his resignation late last month and will leave his post effective May 31, said Bruce Henderson, a spokesman for the college.

Clark resigned partly because of the pressures and frustrations involved in the 190-student school's recent efforts to expand its enrollment, Henderson said.

Clark, 68, did not return calls seeking comment.

In an interview last fall, Clark said: "If we really want our students to adopt a more global view of the world, with a deeper appreciation of the strength that comes from diversity, then we need to be larger and more diverse."

School officials soon will name an interim president and then launch a search for a permanent replacement.

The college is a coed liberal-arts school affiliated with the General Church of the New Jerusalem, also known as the New Church. The denomination's teachings are based on the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, a Swedish scientist, philosopher, and mystic.

The school recently embarked on efforts to increase its enrollment and open up the college to students outside the church. The hiring of Clark, the first president in the school's 132-year history, was part of that effort.

The transformation of the school apparently was not without tension, with some concerned about what the changes could mean to the traditions and culture of the church and community, Henderson said.

The denomination's international headquarters is in Bryn Athyn, a two-square-mile borough where nearly all 1,350 residents are followers of the 5,000-member church.

Clark, a member of the church, previously served on several of the school's boards. He was a professor of education at Michigan State University and later led the University of Delaware's School of Education. A Fulbright scholar, he helped develop a doctoral program at Arizona State University.

Clark will return to his retirement home in Arizona.