 The lack of control caused friction, with Mercer resisting restraints on social issues while the convention saw Mercer as becoming secularized and not conforming to its values.Mercer's Board of Trustees on April 20, 2018, approved a new strategic plan that succeeds the 2008 plan, which saw the institution reclassified as a national research university, admitted to the Georgia Research Alliance, granted a Phi Beta Kappa chapter, growth of 41 percent in undergraduate enrollment, a near doubling of research expenditures, investment of more than $200 million in new facilities, and an increase of endowment to more than $300 million.The 2018 strategic plan, titled "Inspire