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GREENSBORO — Craven Williams, who helped revive an ailing Greensboro College when he became president in 1993 but in recent years watched the Methodist-affiliated school sink into mounting debt, abruptly retired Tuesday.

Less than two weeks after Williams, 69, dismissed suggestions that he step down, the college announced his retirement in a campus news release. It is effective immediately, according to a college spokeswoman.

Williams was not present on campus this week and did not return telephone messages. His longtime friend, board of trustees Chairman Robert Stout, delivered news of his retirement to the college administration Tuesday afternoon, but Stout was not available for comment.

The  announcement came after several months of simmering controversy over deepening financial problems faced by the college. Faculty, anxious over the school’s future and kept out of the loop on decisions, planned this week to call for a vote of no-confidence up or down on Williams’ leadership.

“We were starting to count our votes (on whether to go forward with such a referendum),” said Cheryl Brown, a criminal justice professor who is chapter president of the American Association of University Professors.

“When you’ve got a campus full of Ph.D.s in economics, business, sociology, all the fields that can help, and you’re not even invited to the table?” 

In an emergency move in April, Williams cut faculty and staff salaries by 20 percent. Last week, debt restructuring consultants renegotiated the school’s credit line with Bank of America in an attempt to meet operating costs this summer.

Reflecting tension between Williams and the faculty was a series of anonymous e-mails to staff and parents sharply questioning Williams’ leadership, particularly his financial decisions.

Williams said the e-mails, which purported to be from the faculty, shouldn’t be taken seriously because they were unsigned.

Stout, on the other hand, said the e-mails showed how serious things had gotten.

“The faculty and the staff are concerned, and they have a reason to be concerned,” Stout said in May. “These are their jobs. This is their future.”

This troubled backdrop for Williams’ retirement is in marked contrast to his early years at the 171-year-old campus, which was floundering when he arrived.

Under Williams’ early leadership, the college sharply increased its fundraising and endowment, raised its SAT scores, and added four graduate degrees and a football program.

Williams developed and later oversaw a character education program for county school children. He also led the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce and landed on the covers of several higher education and business magazines.

“He just seems to win you over,” Don Ellis, a school trustee, once said of Williams, who also led school bond initiatives and was talked about as mayoral possibility.

But in recent years, the college’s fundraising efforts   stalled. Although restructuring officers blame the problems on the stock market and the economy, other private colleges continue to flourish — Elon and High Point universities, and Guilford College, which this week announced a record $10 million fundraising year.

“At the end of the day, you really need those big donors,” said former Greensboro College trustee Steven Bell.

“But even in light of all of Craven’s critics, I’m sad for the college. I don’t know that they’re going to find anyone more dedicated. I hate to think how much time he put in. He put in 50, 60, 70 hours on a weekly basis.”

The U.S. Department of Education confirmed that Greensboro College has been given a final deadline of July 31 to complete its 2007-08 audit, a document needed in order for the school to be eligible for federal student financial aid.

College comptroller Marci Peace said Tuesday the college had also received an extension on the previous year’s audit, and is expected to meet the deadline.

The cost of full-time tuition at Greensboro College is about $30,000 on paper, but most students receive some form of financial assistance.

Stout said an interim leadership team at the college will assume the president’s duties going into the fall semester.

“The board will also name a search committee as soon as possible and move quickly to find Dr. Williams’ successor,” Stout said. “While I know we will have an impressive list of candidates, replacing the president will not be easy.”

Staff Writer Nancy McLaughlin contributed to this report.

Contact Lorraine Ahearn at 373-7334 or lorraine.ahearn@news-record.com

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com