Sweet Briar seal (taken from my graduation diploma).
I was recently looking for images of Sweet Briar roses and came across the history of the Sweet Briar seal. History often has lessons to share. In this case, history may be worth revisiting….
There has been quite an effort for the College to question the standing of the Amherst County Attorney and to treat itself as an island untethered to the local community or its stakeholders.
The seal tells an important — and different — story. It seems the College and the County were once important enough that the designer of the seal gave the County the place of highest honor.
The seal was originally designed by Dr. John M. McBryde, the head of the English Department, in 1905. As an English major, I found this fact comforting. The Sweet Briar College museum displays one of the first needlepoint renderings of the crest and describes the history of the seal,
The College crest was designed by John M. McBryde, Jr., in 1905. He was a professor of English here 1906-1909 and was the son of one of the College‟s first trustees and president, John M. McBryde, Sr. At the time that he was recruited for the Sweet Briar board, McBryde senior was president of Virginia
Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute—today‟s Virginia Tech. He and his son had recently designed VPI‟s crest and seal. When the Sweet Briar trustees asked McBryde senior to design its crest and seal, he deferred to his son the English professor.* McBryde‟s scheme features elements of Lord Jeffery Amherst‟s crest, to acknowledge the school‟s connection to Amherst County; arrows for Elijah
Fletcher, founder Indiana Fletcher Williams‟s schoolteacher father; Tudor roses appropriate to heraldry and suggestive of the Sweet Briar rose from which the property took its name; and the College motto, “Rosam quae meruit ferat.”
In heraldry, it is customary when two families marry one another to divide the shield in half or quartering. When quartered, the most important family appears on the right.
Below the three tudor roses, the coat of arms of the Fletcher family and the arms of Lord Amherst are quartered.
Amherst County Flag and seal, adopted from Lord Amherst’s seal.
The arms of Lord Amherst are three tilting spears, gold with silver tops on a red field. When Dr. McByrd designed the crest, the use of the Amherst crest was deliberate to emphasize the connection to Amherst County.
Sweet Briar College’s land sits in Amherst County and there are generations of families who lived on campus and attended the College. The Mayor of Amherst filed an amicus brief in support of the County Attorney’s standing in the case against Sweet Briar College. He spells out numerous financial holdings and relationships. Given the history and current reality, it seems fitting that the Amherst seal would be in the place of prominence.
The Fletcher arms, which used to hang in Sweet Briar House, were a silver cross on a black field with four bezants each charged with an arrow.
In the Sweet Briar crest, the Fletcher family is represented by the cross from its family crest. The importance of the family is remembered and significant, but not as significant as the role of Amherst, represented by the arrows, in the upper right of the seal.
Fletcher Family Crest
Before we leave an examination of the family crest symbols on the seal, I would like to give credit to one of my readers “Geneology Girl” who pointed out that Coat of Arms were originally granted in England and are technically only for the person to whom they were granted. She has a point there, of course. In the case of families using their ancestor’s crests, it stems from both pride and a sense of honoring history. That is the spirit in which I am sure the Sweet Briar seal is intended.
As referenced from a 1938 publication, the rose is positioned three across. On the seal, a tudor rose is used.
Heraldic tudor rose.
Three roses stretch across the top of the Sweet Briar seal representing the motto, “She who has earned the rose may bear it.” The motto stems from Lord Nelson’s motto, ” Parmour qui meruit fert” (Let he who is merited take the palm). The rose symbol and the motto is used to describe the academic environment of Sweet Briar and the beauty of the campus. This rose is also used as the Fletcher family planted many Sweet Briar roses across its plantation.
One of my readers, Richard McClintock, a Latin Professor (so we will trust him!) of Chapel Hill, writes, “Sweet Briar’s motto actually says “Let the one [her, although that is not specified] who has earned the rose bear it,” not “she may bear it.” And Lord Nelson’s motto is “Palmam qui meruit ferat.” – “Let the one who has earned the palm [of victory] bear it.” Some old French (for “lover”!) seems to have slipped into the transcription above.” He also added, “All of you seem to be earning roses right and left nowadays. Keep it up until you may carry palms, too.”
Tudor rose on gold background.
The Tudor roses symbolize Sweet Briar, though not the color of the Sweet Briar rose. Pink is not thought to be a proper heraldic color. The roses on the shield are red in a field of gold.
An example of a “rise vine” in heraldry, framing important symbols.
As a background to the shield is a rise vine supported by the College motto. The colors of the vine, green, gold and brown reflect the early colors used in College marketing materials.
In recent years, the crest and the motto faded to embrace a new brand and image depicted in marketing materials of all kinds. Replacing the crest and more subtle colors is bright pink and green and the emphasis on a pink Sweet Briar rose.
Marketing materials (no images of the College crest or motto)“Think is for Girls” – some would prefer to lose this “motto”.Sweet Briar seal (taken from my graduation diploma).
If Sweet Briar is fortunate to live into its future, I would advocate for a return to the traditional crest and motto. The symbols expressing the ties to Amherst County, honoring the Fletcher family, the dignified colors and the seriousness of the motto are worth revitalizing.
History is worth repeating….
Blanton family crest of my paternal relatives who lived, worked and are buried in Amherst, Virginia.
Stacey Sickels Locke, CFRE, is a proud graduate of Sweet Briar College, Class of 1988. She served as an employee of the College in the early 1990s working on the $25 million Campaign. During that time, she solicited many leadership gifts which make up the current endowment and she feels a sense of duty that those donations are not used for the closure of the College or for any other purposes than the donors intended. Since then, she has spent her career building support for higher education and the nonprofit community as a staff member and consultant for boards. As a volunteer, she has served Sweet Briar since graduation as a fundraiser, admissions ambassador and now advocate for the #saveSweetBriar movement. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), is affiliated (through the University of Maryland) with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and holds a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) certification from CFRE International.
Cow Money Challenge? That’s $1642.03 for a bred heifer in 2012.
This is a post about fundraising. And a post about cows. I never knew the two went together until the Saving Sweet Briar movement.
Allow me to explain.
In the hours after the announcement of closure by the President and Board of Sweet Briar College, students, faculty, staff, alumnae and the community were reeling. A range of emotions greeted this news from shock to resignation to sadness to anger to passion to advocacy. Those who saw a future got to work. One brave alumna, Sarah Clement, a former board member, sparked a movement to save the College. Saving Sweet Briar was born.
In the early days of Saving Sweet Briar – before a website home was established – Facebook and email provided the fertile soil for the germination and later growth of many powerful ideas.
Fundraising in all forms began. Direct contributions as of this writing surpass $1 million with multi-year commitments over $11 million.
At first these efforts were like the “Wild West” and not tied together; however, leaders emerged and lassoed the organized women and friends of Sweet Briar into groups — some classic to successful fundraising and some not.
Major Gifts Committee
I sit on the Major Donor Task Force, a group of professional fundraisers and volunteers with experience. Beth Ann Trappold Newton recruited me. This is the logical place for me to volunteer since I got my fundraising start at Sweet Briar as a student in 1984 and later after my reunion in 1993 (and Beth Ann helped me get my first job after leaving campus – in fact I took the job she left to have her first baby). Having helped raise $13M of the $25M campaign at the time, I cannot sit back and watch the President and Board try to spend down endowment given by people I remember and some I still know! The Major Donor Task Force reaches out personally to those who have been very generous to Sweet Briar over the years. We are organized into regional groups and are led by a volunteer, Mary Pope Hutson, and now pro-bono fundraising consulting through Alexander Haas. Through weekly conference calls and many emails inbetween, we coordinate our efforts. The response is inspiring.
Class Representatives, Regional Representatives, State Representatives
I had the pleasure of meeting with Evangeline Taylor, a dedicated Sweet Briar alumna, who provides encouragement and support to hundreds of volunteers.
Class representatives provide regular updates to class leaders which they in turn send to their class.
State representatives have reached out personally by phone, email and personal letters to those in their state.
Some, like my classmate, Katie Keogh Widener, do both!
Challenges
Back to the Cow Challenge….. It began in the Bedford County Courthouse. Those of us who could not be in Bedford followed a series of journalists. Hawes Spencer captured not only the flow of testimony, but his acerbic humor gave those of us working to save Sweet Briar some of the best laughter we had enjoyed in many weeks.
Leader of #SaveSweetBriar group Sarah Clement testifies she'd have reached into her "cow money" had she known of closure risk.
Up until this moment, I didn’t know what “cow money” was.
So what is “cow money” and what is a “Cow Money Challenge”? I asked and got this answer: Susan Finn Adams wrote to me, “Sarah ‘ s uncle was a cattle farmer. He left the farm to her family, they later sold it and split the proceeds. Proceeds = “Cow money”. “Cow Money” is the most precious money you have. You don’t spend it unless you REALLY need it.
How do you turn “cow money” into gold? Make it into a challenge of course! I told you this blog post was inspired by Cows:
Cow Money Challenge: Sarah reached into her “cow money”, now reach into YOURS!
Brooke Linville created the “Cow Challenge” with the following post:
Our fearless woman Sarah P. Clement told the court that had she known the condition of the college, she would have reached into her COW MONEY to help. So how much is cow money, we wondered…
As it turns out it is $1642.03 for a bred heifer in 2012. I am sure some of our awesome rancher vixens can help us out if this number is wrong. Anyhow, this is our FUNDRAISING GOAL tonight. We are going to raise us some COW MONEY!
Before the Cow Challenge, there was the “Latte Challenge”. Hundreds posted photos of themselves holding a cup of coffee (while providing a challenge to Saving Sweet Briar). This past weekend, there was a challenge around the Kentucky Derby.
Events. From Washington DC to San Francisco to around the world, events helped alumnae and friends connect and raise needed funds. At one event in Atlanta, pledges totaling over $600K have matched an initial challenge by Teresa Tomlinson, Sweet Briar alumna and Mayor of Columbus, Georgia.
Shopping for Sweet Briar
Meanwhile, back on the web, fundraisers of all kinds continued to grow. When the going get’s rough….
Clothing. Sweet Briar Alumnae Goodsfeatures something for every corner of your home. Virtually anyone with a shingle and a heart can make a contribution. Examples include: Coffee Table Book, Decals, Luggage, baby clothes, ring dishes, prayer beads, men’s ties….
Goods of all kinds to #saveSweetBriarBaby clothes and fashion galore!
Home and Garden. Everything you might need for home, garden and College: Yard flags, cookbooks,
Everything for home and garden and College….Wine plugs, ornaments, key chains…Stelladot jewelry – a favorite.
They Sell That? Some of the more unusual offerings included “Jamberry” press-on fingernail polish, Tattoos and even bull riding competitions,
Bull riding? This alumna offers a 50:50 raffle at her husband’s bull riding competition!Tattoo fundraiser. Yep, we had that too. Who says SBC is all pink, green and pearls?“Sometimes you have to put on some pink and green and crush it! Rise Up Climbing will changing their colors from black and red to host a pink and green climb night.” (Raleigh Durham Club)Sports fundraisers – many SBC field hockey and lacrosse players returned to campus.Bumper stickers, decals, anything to share our #saveSweetBriar spirit (Margaret Fisher).Vixen vodka – the perfect compliment to fundraising….
As of this writing, alumnae gave the equivalent of multiple cows. One alumna, Christina Savage Lytle, joked, “Now we are going to need to raise enough for a barn…”
There is no category for this… it just made me giggle.
What we have here is a recipe for fundraising success. We have a recipe for institutional success. HUNDREDS of volunteers divided thoughtfully into groups by expertise and passion are working hourly, daily, weekly and constantly for Saving Sweet Briar.
This is the most fun I’ve had fundraising in a very long time. The last time I had this much fun was when I was Reunion Gift Chair for my 25th Reunion. Before that, calling as a Freshman in 1984 when I literally “dialed for dollars’ (and treats).
This is all without formal records or professional staff. Imagine what could be done for the future?
P.S. For a post about “cow money” I would be remiss if I didn’t add a parting comment by an amazing woman (whose name I did not catch) who served in the Marine after Sweet Briar. On the call with the “President”, Missy Witherow, Interim VP of Development, and Sandra Taylor, member of the Board and President of the Alumnae Association, she said,
We have a term for this kind of behavior in the Marines. It’s called BULL. I throw down the “bullsh*t flag” on this behavior leading to this decision.
Stacey Sickels Locke, CFRE, is a proud graduate of Sweet Briar College, Class of 1988. She served as an employee of the College in the early 1990s working on the $25 million Campaign. During that time, she solicited many leadership gifts which make up the current endowment and she feels a sense of duty that those donations are not used for the closure of the College or for any other purposes than the donors intended. Since then, she has spent her career building support for higher education and the nonprofit community as a staff member and consultant for boards. As a volunteer, she has served Sweet Briar since graduation as a fundraiser, admissions ambassador and now advocate for the #saveSweetBriar movement. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), is affiliated (through the University of Maryland) with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and holds a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) certification from CFRE International.
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Never ever depend on Governments or institutions to solve any major problems. All solutions come from the passion of individuals. – Margaret Mead
While there are many issues to examine with respect to the President, Board and operations of Sweet Briar College, it seems fitting to focus for a moment on the efforts to SAVE the College. I feel I can take a little break from my ranting against the horrible leadership, governance and lack of proper administration for a bit. The legal team inspires confidence and there national experts rolling up their sleeves and taking aim at those issues. Most recently it is the Amherst County Board of Supervisors. I thought today I would share a glimpse at the amazing work being done to #saveSweetBriar.
Yesterday I attended a farewell gathering of a colleague at the University of Maryland and was asked by many in the room about Sweet Briar. I found myself describing my efforts and those of my fellow alumnae and felt my spirits rising with each retelling. It is a story built on determination. It is a saga filled with drama and intrigue. It is a case study in alumni activism that will likely become an inspiration for our sister Colleges and other small liberal arts Colleges around the country. I can also confidently say we have worthwhile lessons to share with colleagues around the WORLD. I met a visitor from the University of Manchester in England who asked me to share some of the key lessons learned. The Saving Sweet Briar efforts are the very example of what Margaret Mead famously wrote. Wait for it… (this isn’t the quote you are thinking I am going to use),
“Never ever depend on governments or institutions to solve any major problems. All social change comes from the passion of individuals.” — Margaret Mead.
I have served on many boards from schools to arts organizations to sports teams. Alongside many passionate parents (and some alumni), I have added my weight to a collective effort to move something forward. Never in my 30 years of volunteerism or professional experience have I seen the likes of the mobilized alumnae of Saving Sweet Briar. Allow me to pull back the curtain and share a few examples….
Saving Sweet Briar, Inc. Within days of the announcement of the Sweet Briar College President and Board’s decision to close, a group of courageous women banded together to formally fight the closure. First, they opened up their pocketbook to pay for necessary legal counsel in Troutman and Sanders. Second, they established a Board. Third, they applied for 501C3 status for Saving Sweet Briar, Inc. They had a vision and mission statement, a segment of which is here:
Saving Sweet Briar, Inc. was established to block the closure of Sweet Briar College and provide accurate information to students, faculty, and alumnae about the true financial condition of Sweet Briar College and the viable alternatives to closure. The organization is also dedicated to raising the necessary funds to fight the closure and help erase the school’s financial shortfall. Saving Sweet Briar, Inc. is also committed to identifying highly talented individuals who can serve on the Sweet Briar College Board of Directors to help lead an immediate turnaround for the institution while developing a longer term strategy with input from key stakeholders. Success in achieving our mission will ensure that future generations of women can proudly call themselves Sweet Briar alumnae.
In their own words, they all wish to be “out of a job” and see themselves as temporary stewards. An example of the kind of top-notch experts they have hired to provide advice and guidance for the future include a forensic accountant, R. Stephen Spitzer, and a college turnaround expert with solid examples of other institutions. The Board vets candidates for a new Board; they have a list of interested College Presidents with proven turnaround experience; experts on a number of fields are being vetted to provide real advice for the future.
The call to action is clear:
Spread the word
Share your Sweet Briar Story with your friends on social media using the hashtags #savesweetbriar and #thinkisforgirls
Volunteer
Do you have particular talents that would help us with our mission to save our school? Contact us.
Raise Money
We need money to support our school! Given the state of financial aid and higher ed, Sweet Briar needs to grow its endowment to stay viable. Crowdfunding information to follow.
Help Keep Our School Alive
There are over 500 women on campus who need our support. Help us help them keep our school alive.
In the meantime, the thousands of alumnae have managed to create an organizational structure rivaling some of the largest Universities (I speak with experience working for a B1G school, University of Maryland and serve on the University Senate). There are literally HUNDREDS of Committees of EXPERTS in their professional areas reporting up through Chairs who compile the information into master documents. The first of these documents, a Strategic Plan, was delivered to the Saving Sweet Briar board in time for the first injunction hearing. There are PhD experts, attorneys, professional fundraisers, accountants, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, medical doctors, coaches, scientists, elected officials, C-suite executives of every type providing advice that the College — any College or nonprofit — would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to secure (I say this with experience having watched schools hire consultants for narrowly focused work and deliverables). Sweet Briar College itself by the Board’s own admission paid over $1 MILLION for a report that was never concluded and the Board members were not able to keep after reading it and voting to close the College.
Committee Structure. This is a case for the power of social media if there ever were one. Facebook, in particular, has provided the platform for alumnae to organize their efforts. Early in the process, pages were created for experts to share suggestions in different areas in the “Saving SBC Professional Roundtable” (a closed group so not hyperlinked here). Categories include every aspect of operations:
Academic Affairs, Admissions, Development/Fundraising, Diversity, Career Counseling, College Placement, Grounds & Facilities, Information Technology, Land (Creative Use of/Maintaining), Legal, Student Affairs, Social Life.
Each group has professionals who have spent their careers in these areas with best practices to share. The alumnae’s willingness to help is not just lip service. Examples of alumnae offers and efforts to assist include:
Deferred maintenance problems? Check. Habitat for Humanity-like plans for improvement including painting, plastering and even building repair by licensed contractors paid for by alumnae or their own companies. These are documented offers to help as they cannot execute these plans without coordination from the facility leadership.
Admissions/Recruitment problems? Check. Alumnae from around the Country have offered to reinvigorate a dormant network of volunteers to attend College Fairs, visit area feeder schools (and aspirant feeder schools), house admissions staff traveling, personally write interested students and their families. In addition, the Alumnae Angel Network are alumnae who sponsor students needing support transferring to another College. Even if this might mean losing a student needed for the future, the movement is supporting the current students in tangible ways.
Fundraising problems? Check. As of this writing, over $1 million in cash is in the Saving Sweet Briar accounts. Over $10 million in pledges over five years are being held in trust by Saving Sweet Briar for the College once the closure decision is reversed and there is a Board and Administration committed to the future. A Major Donor Task Force (of which I am a part) has weekly conference calls to coordinate outreach to past donors to the College and those who care and aren’t even affiliated. A Regional Task Force from each state writing to their residents, particularly those not on social media. Liaisons to classes (a traditional way to communicate with alumnae) share information on a weekly and even daily basis with links to give, participate and support. All of this has been accomplished without the tools fundraisers usually have (I know because I am one). For example, a donor database has been faithfully RECREATED through years of magazines publishing giving information and even programs from past campaign celebrations kept as keepsakes — now data for a defacto giving database. It is INCREDIBLE to watch and witness. This is worthy of its own blog post, stay tuned.
Communications Strategy? Check. The initial news stories reported the Board’s decision to close. The news of the alumnae outcry and mobilization was relegated to the comment section of most stories. However, the tide has turned. Now, major news outlets are reporting on the success of the alumnae efforts and on the amazing accomplishments of our alumnae, the morning of my writing the New York Times wrote about our alumnae and the efforts to save the College. This type of media battle and reversal of message does not happen easily. It has occurred through professionals and passionate individuals working with contacts to share opinion, provide worthwhile facts to report, verify stories and share perspective. Interestingly, the headlines of some of the earlier stories have changed from “College imploding” to “Alumnae Fight Closure”.
Conspiracy Theories? Check. One of my favorite movements within the Saving Sweet Briar collective, is a group a la Erin Brokovich that dedicates itself to researching the “back story”. The team (which includes some with investigative journalism experience) posts pieces of documents, theories, lists, etc. and a broad network do their further work and reports results. Some of these get passed along – once vetted — for journalists or the Saving Sweet Briar Board. Just when my own efforts to Save Sweet Briar might flag or my confidence wane or my enthusiasm might be dampened by some new comment by the “President”, someone from the group will post some new theory or angle that gets me MAD. They have even inspired and commissioned political cartoons. I have the one of the women turning over the rock next to my phone (for when I “dial for dollars”).
The efforts of the alumnae are truly inspiring.
Imagine – just imagine – if their efforts were harnessed BEFORE the College announced it must close.
Imagine if the Board took stock of this advice and reconsidered their decision?
Imagine if YOUR organization harnessed your stakeholders?
Sweet Briar is receiving DAILY national attention. Sweet Briar students, faculty, staff, alumni and community are rallying to share their expertise. The future IS bright and there is much to hope for with this kind of passion.
At this point, I cling to the other Margaret Mead quote – the one you know by heart – because I am seeing it validated on an hourly basis.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has. — Margaret Mead
Our aim is not the world for now. For now it is a small piece of the planet located in Southern Virginia, Sweet Briar.
Stacey Sickels Locke, CFRE, is a proud graduate of Sweet Briar College, Class of 1988. She served as an employee of the College in the early 1990s working on the $25 million Campaign. During that time, she solicited many leadership gifts which make up the current endowment and she feels a sense of duty that those donations are not used for the closure of the College or for any other purposes than the donors intended. Since then, she has spent her career building support for higher education and the nonprofit community as a staff member and consultant for boards. As a volunteer, she has served Sweet Briar since graduation as a fundraiser, admissions ambassador and now advocate for the #saveSweetBriar movement. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), is affiliated (through the University of Maryland) with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and holds a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) certification from CFRE International.
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There are a few more men joining the President on top of the “no stone left unturned”….
Update: When this post was originally written, I was working hard to save my alma mater, Sweet Briar College. While I did not like Mark Herring’s initial reaction to the former board’s decision to close the College, I would like to thank him for, ultimately, assisting Sweet Briar. Furthermore, my opinion on Mr. Herring was narrowly focused on this one issue. When I consider what I care about – women’s issues, the environment, health care access, education, and more — Mark Herring would be my favored candidate for office. Now, onto the original post….
As many know by now, I am passionately fighting the closure of my beloved College, Sweet Briar, by the President and the Board. I have written about my thoughts on the lack of governance. This post will focus on the curious and shocking lack of leadership by the Virginia attorney general, Mark Herring (you can find his contact form here), contrasted to the swift action of the County Attorney, Ellen Bowyer. I also share another example of leadership by the New York attorney general intervening in the Cooper Union College.
In the early days of the Sweet Briar College closure announcement, the Virginia attorney general remained strangely silent on the matter of the announced closure. The President and Board referenced meetings with Mark Herring, Virginia’s attorney general, to “unwind” College operations and unrestricted the endowment for the purpose of closing. This stunned me. There was no leadership by the Virginia Attorney General with respect to an investigation into the closure — which would seem a logical first step (well before any closure announcement, but certainly upon learning of one).
State attorneys general oversee nonprofits both because they’re generally exempt from state taxes and because they represent the interests of donors who may lack the means to enforce the terms of their gifts or, once they’re dead, the capacity. (Since such institutions are also exempt from federal taxes, the Internal Revenue Service is charged with ensuring that organizations adhere to their tax-exempt purposes.) Credit: Michael Appleton for The New York Times
The County Attorney of Amherst, Ellen Bowyer, has boldly taken action on behalf of donors and to request an injunction. Her suit charges that:
Closure would violate the terms of the will under which the school was founded and that charitable funds have been misused in violation of state law. (Susan Sverlunga, Washington Post).
Mark Herring, by contrast, evidently is HELPING the leadership of Sweet Briar College to release restrictions on donor’s contributions given over the years. As a fundraiser, I find this terribly concerning. I’ve written about the topic of protecting donor intent here.
Virginia Senators have written to the attorney general to express concern and to ask that he take action to protect the rights of donors and the substantial campus.
On Wednesday, Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, asked Herring to issue a legal opinion on what must be done with money and other gifts that have been given to the college, including its substantial campus. He also asked Herring to clarify the obligations of Sweet Briar’s board of directors.
“It seems to me if their duty is to try to fulfill the mission of the school, they ought to be making some effort to keep it open or at least look at the option of keeping it open,” Petersen said. (Alicia Petraska, Lynchburg News and Advance)
Cooper Union College in New York is under scrutiny by the New York attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman. It provides a contrast in leadership and action:
In what should be a ringing alarm for nonprofit boards across the country long accustomed to minimal scrutiny or accountability, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman of New York has signaled that the laissez-faire approach to nonprofit governance is over. (James Stewart, New York Times)
By contrast, Mark Herring of Virginia sees his role as meeting with College officials to violate donor intent. How can he think he is doing his job? One would think he would have more Virginia citizens wanting him to advocate for the College and to examine any possible mismanagement of funds. The Washington Post reported,
Herring essentially argues that in such a situation, with a charitable institution (the college, a nonprofit established in a bequest from an estate) disbanding, the state attorney general has been granted authority by the General Assembly to determine what is necessary to protect the public interest. (Susan Sverluga, Washington Post).
Back in New York, Eric Schneiderman boldly stepped in BEFORE Cooper Union College faced financial ruin. The New York Times reported:
Apart from the impact on Cooper Union itself, what’s striking about Mr. Schneiderman’s investigation is that his office is intervening before its financial problems ruin the school. Cooper Union’s endowment stood at $735 million at the end of its most recent fiscal year and, despite its financial woes, it is in no imminent danger of failing.
“It’s easy to forget, but New York’s charities, collectively, are a big and important part of our state’s economy, and I consider it my responsibility to promote and protect the nonprofit sector,” Mr. Schneiderman told me this week. “In part, we do that by aggressively investigating and prosecuting fraud. But we work just as hard to prevent mismanagement before it starts and, whenever possible, get troubled charities back on track.”
It would be appropriate for the Virginia Attorney General to aggressively review the President and Board of Sweet Briar College. He might consider how the President was elected; whether the Board truly took all measures possible before resorting to closure; whether the financial records accurately state the condition of the College. He might consult neutral experts such as the accounting firm which audited the Colleges’ financial statements most recently or the accrediting body of the College which granted accreditation for another 10 years in 2011.
By contrast, in New York, their attorney general takes action before “disaster strikes”:
The Cooper Union investigation fits into the New York attorney general’s office’s broader strategy to get ahead of potential crises by “stress testing” nonprofits that show signs of potential trouble, such as large operating deficits and excessive spending rates on endowments, said James Sheehan, the chief of the office’s charities bureau. “Once an organization is in trouble, donors don’t want to give money and people don’t want to join the board,” he said. “We want people to anticipate these issues before they become disasters.”
Such disasters have befallen the New York City Opera and Long Island College Hospital, two major New York institutions that collapsed in financial disarray in recent years, and the Crystal Cathedral in California, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2010 after accusations that its board had imprudently borrowed against the endowment.
Unfortunately, Virginia did not have any “stress testing”. Perhaps it was a matter of staffing or a view of role. However, wouldn’t it be safe to request that the Virginia attorney general take efforts to investigate these types of important matters? Minimally, might he not stand in the way of his own County Attorney who filed suit against the wrongful closure?
The President and Board of Sweet Briar College are now being held accountable by the people they did not inform or allow to help: students, parents, faculty, staff, alumnae and the wider community — the majority citizens of Virginia. Might he not consider the thousands of people begging for at least a proper process within the legal system?
Whatever the outcome at Cooper Union, Mr. Schneiderman deserves credit for putting nonprofit boards on notice that they’ll be held accountable, said Jack B. Siegel, author of a widely used guide for nonprofit directors, whose subtitle is “Avoiding Trouble While Doing Good.” “More states should emulate New York,” Mr. Siegel said.
This is no small matter, given that nonprofits accounted for 9.2 percent of all wages and salaries in the United States and 5.3 percent of gross domestic product in 2010, according to the National Center for Charitable Statistics. Given the many illustrious universities, hospitals, museums, orchestras, theaters and other arts organizations, nonprofits play an outsize role in the nation’s culture. But they have traditionally received little scrutiny until a scandal erupts or they’re on the brink of collapse.
Indeed, more states should emulate New York. Virginia should take a lead and PROTECT Sweet Briar College, its employees, its students and its donors from the reckless leadership of the current President and Board. Sweet Briar College employs hundreds of faculty and staff. Hundreds of students call it home. Millions in the endowment needs to be protected — not raided. Finally, the donor’s will should be honored. The one person in the state who should be advocating for the will of the founder has turned his back. This is very sad.
Thankfully, we have a leader in Ellen Bowyer who took swift action.
“Time is of the essence,” the suit, filed on behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia by the county attorney, Ellen Bowyer claims, as college officials appear to be rapidly moving to sell assets, destroy documents and “obliterate contractual relationships governing tenancies and endowments.” (Susan Sverluga, Washington Post)
Meanwhile, Saving Sweet Briar, Inc., along with thousands of alumnae, hundreds of students and parents, community members, the citizens of Virginia and people across the country are doing all they can — primarily through donations and grassroots efforts to raise awareness. Please share your comments below and, should you be moved to give, make a commitment here.
To share your comments with Mark Herring, Virginia Attorney General, you can use this contact form.
In response to the President’s comment that he “left no stone unturned”, this image shows the will of the students, faculty, staff, alumnae and CITIZENS of Virginia crying out for leadership.
Stacey Sickels Locke is a proud graduate of Sweet Briar College, Class of 1988. She served as an employee of the College in the early 1990s working on the $25 million Campaign. During that time, she solicited many leadership gifts which make up the current endowment and she feels a sense of duty that those donations are not used for the closure of the College or for any other purposes than the donors intended. Since then, she has spent her career building support for higher education and the nonprofit community as a staff member and consultant for boards. As a volunteer, she has served Sweet Briar since graduation as a fundraiser, admissions ambassador and now advocate for the #saveSweetBriar movement. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), is affiliated (through the University of Maryland) with the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and holds a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) certification from CFRE International.
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The President and Board of Sweet Briar College announced on March 3, 2015 its intention to close. Since that time, the actions and culture of this Board have revealed themselves shedding troubling light into the dark shadows of the Board’s governance (or lack thereof). It is important for all who care about their schools, colleges, universities and nonprofits to understand how their Board operates and governs.
Types of Boards — Definitions
Governing Board. A governing board leads the organization from the top. They are responsible for articulating the organizational mission and executing plans as well as monitoring the effectiveness of programs. The also have the authority to recruit, hire, evaluate and terminate the President or Executive Director of an organization. Finally, they serve as a fiduciary of the fiscal health of the organization.
Who serves on a governing board is determined by the type of board it is:
Shared Governance Institutions that have a shared governance model include the voices and leadership of stakeholder groups on the Board. A leader from each constituency group has a “seat” on the Board and participates in decision making. In a College or University, this means that the head of the official student, faculty, staff, parent and other key groups would sit on the board. In addition, “at large” members may be recruited from those groups or the wider community.
Self Replicating A self replicating Board replenishes itself by a nominating group within the Board. Usually, this is a Nominating Committee. If there is an Executive Committee, that group sometimes has a role in nominating. Ideally, the entire board is canvassed for suggestions for new members. Board members meet with potential candidates and their names are put forward for nominating committee review. The up-side of this model is that the Board has a pipeline of candidates. The down-side is that the board can become insular as people tend to reach out to people they know and who share a similar point of view. Diversity of all types becomes threatened in this model (not to mention solid decision making)
Advisory Boards. Advisory Boards provide industry expertise to academic programs. In many institutions, they review curriculum to make sure that what is being taught is in line with what job requirements are after graduation for jobs hiring in the field. John McElroy, PhD, CFLE and Linda Dove, MS, ZA, Western Michigan University in an excellent paper on Advisory Boards describe them as follows,
“..Their main function is to offer support to institution administrators and faculty….comprised of accomplished experts offering innovative advice and dynamic perspectives….can provide strategic direction, guide quality improvement, and assess program effectiveness.”
Sweet Briar College Board of Directors
In the case of Sweet Briar College, they have a self replicating Board which does not consist of constituency group leaders officially. The majority of the Board are alumnae. As the Board does not share its Minutes or documents, the only glimpses we get into their operations are their own statements as well as statements by former members. The President’s own words describe the decision-making process as a small group of people:
“The board, some key alumnae and I have worked diligently to find a solution to the challenges Sweet Briar faces….”
One member of the Board, Richard E. Leslie, who felt pressure to resign because his ideas and opinions seems to run counter to the “Executive Leadership” gives us a frightening glimpse into the current culture of the Board. He contrasts the current operating of the Board to his past experience prior to Rice, the current board chair:
During my early years of my seven year tenure the board had vital and rigorous discussions on most issues before reaching consensus.
Fiscal restraint and enrollment increase ideas were monitored and discussed at every meeting. Times have changed. Now I must add my name to the list of directors departing before the end of their terms.
Most disturbing is that he states that differences of opinion were not tolerated by the Executive Leadership of the Board.
Each time I tried to argue for fiscal prudence, I was denigrated or ignored.
This is not a sign of healthy board deliberations. Mr. Leslie was trying to raise some warning calls. This also gives some idea as to the remaining members of the Board. If they saw board members who disagreed or raised a contrary opinion being forced to resign and leaving before their terms – and a lack of tolerance for any opinions differing from the Executive Committee – those who chose to remain were likely silent if they held any concerns.
In the past year, Committees met less and less…. We discuss less and less and the presentation of the budget is a foregone conclusion. Is this good governance?
No, Mr. Leslie, you are exactly right, this is NOT good governance and it is appalling to hear that this is how the current board operates. Your comments are echoed by others who have left the board, some of whom who have stepped forward to create Saving Sweet Briar.
The most troubling of his comments is important to emphasize:
Why do we even need Committees? Why do we even need a Board? All decisions are not even made by the Executive Committee but rather a small sub-group of the Executive Committee and passed along to the board for rubber stamp approval. … the interim President selection was passed along to the Board and it wasn’t even felt necessary to take a vote!
My distrust for Mr. James Jones aside, the Board not having a proper vetting and vote for his appointment as President casts serious doubt as to this Board’s ability to govern. Furthermore, it gives credence to the call for Mr. Jones to resign or be removed if he was not ever properly voted upon by the Board.
A lingering question I would have related to the changes Mr. Leslie cites are whether the by-laws were amended to change the decision making to a small group. I cannot imagine a full Board voting to allow a small group to make decisions for them, but let transparency provide the answers in this case. My understanding is that there were two votes evidently to change the number of board members required for a quorum: Once before the February vote from 24 to 23 and then again down to 20 after the announcement.
No outside directors have been appointed to the Board since you (Rice, the current Board Chair) and I (Richard Leslie) were appointed to the Board seven years ago. All new members have been alums. This is not healthy and fosters a very insular focus that does not encourage the diversity of views necessary for any institution to thrive.
Indeed, the lack of diversity not only in type of stakeholder on the board and the lack of diversity in the alumnae appointed to the Board is cause for concern. Combined with the fact that the full Board may not have had access to important information or deliberations by the smaller group within the Executive Committee casts doubt upon this particular Board being capable of proper governance. I would add the lack of representation by stakeholders is also of serious concern including the voices of faculty, staff and the wider community.
There is no plan or even discussion of a plan for Presidential accountability. In my view one of the reasons for the many sad failures in admissions, retention and fiscal restraint is the absence of any performance goals for the President.
This is a shocking. One of the important fiscal roles a Board plays is the hiring, goal-setting, evaluation and removal of a President or Executive Director of a nonprofit. They are the only entity that holds a President accountable. If this is true, combined with not having a fair vote for the President’s appointment, this would be further grounds for a lack of confidence in and removal of the current President.
I was the lone vote for voting against $1M of our endowment money being spent for yet another strategic plan…. As a member of the “working group” I have repeatedly asked for and not received any information about the actual survey protocols. I have received no information about who at the College is in charge of this massive effort. … Really!!? An outside consultant supervising the work of an outside consultant she hired?
Hats off to Mr. Leslie for being willing to be a lone vote on a Board that seems to take a “rubber stamp” approach to its decision making. He raises incredibly important points. Whenever an outside consultant is hired, there should be strong controls put in place for deliverables. Surveys are only as good as the questions asked and results are only as good as sound methodologies of analysis. If the protocols were not reviewed by the very working group charged with reviewing and implementing the results, any conclusions those surveys suggest would be in question. We know now what some of their recommendations were and there are thousands of alumnae who join Mr. Leslie in his concern.
Request for Board Transparency (and best practices)
In the interest of transparency, I would like to see the Sweet Briar Board of directors provide the following (which incidentally is normally available to constituents of non-profits, schools, colleges and universities either upon request or even more readily such as via a website):
Copies of its by-laws.
Copies of its Minutes.
The Committees of the Board and the staff members who staffed those Committees.
Committee Minutes and Reports. I would like to see reports provided to the Committees of the Board would also like to know whether staff members were included in those Committees whose work focused on important areas such as Admissions, Development and Finances.
Documentation of historic by-law amendments over the past five years if the Committee structure were changed and proof (through Minutes) of a vote taken to approve those changes. The rationale for having to change the numbers on the board twice in a year.
Documentation of the vote of the Board to approve the hiring of the President and the change from Interim to full President.
An accounting for fees paid to outside consultants and a release of those reports — particularly since endowment funds were used to pay for the study.
How members of the board are found, vetted and nominated and the role of staff when extending invitations (reference Teresa Pike Tomlinson being asked about serving on the Board by a staff member).
How the Alumnae Board and the Board of Directors sees its role (if the by-laws are not clear on this)
How other entities of Sweet Briar with their own Boards relate to the Board of Directors
Are there Advisory Boards for any of the academic areas for Sweet Briar?
As an employee of Sweet Briar College in the 1990s, I participated in the Development Committee of the Board and was invited to attend Board Meetings. Granted, I sat on the side of the room, but I was present for board deliberations, votes and reports from all Committees, not just Development.While there were some deliberations that occurred in closed session, my recollection was that it was only pertaining to the evaluation of the President. I do not recall a board member ever leaving before their term was out. The fact that the current board has had several members leave before their terms expired is not a good sign. Mr. Leslie gives us a clue as to why he resigned – he felt he was forced out. We do not know about the other members, but one could reasonably guess that they had concerns. Having to amend the by-laws for the number of members twice in a year is also troubling.
At the University of Maryland, I have been elected to sit on the University Senate. A shared governance model is a strong model for higher education and one that I think a future Sweet Briar should employ. By having shared governance, all key stakeholders can deliberate their unique issues and present a unified voice to a larger Board or Trustees.
One of the most powerful lessons I have learned in managing boards came when I served as Executive Director for the Foundation for Anne Arundel Community College, voted the top Community College in the country and with an enrollment of over 50,000 students. The Board Chair, F. Carter Heim, abolished the Executive Committee of the Board as one of his first actions when he took office. As a staff member, I liked the Executive Committee, it allowed me to write reports and handle business within a small group. However, I quickly saw the merits of Mr. Heim’s philosophy. Board participation in meeting attendance, committee attendance and giving increased dramatically. Mr. Heim’s philosophy was that there should not be anything outside the purvue of the entire Board.
Finally, I would suggest that a strong network of Advisory Boards be employed in each major on campus for Sweet Briar to maintain its connection to graduate-level education progression and hiring opportunities.
Sweet Briar College offers some important lessons for nonprofits, schools, colleges and those who love those institutions. I will continue to share those I find most pertinent. Please comment below if there are issues you would like to see discussed.
Stacey Sickels Locke is a proud graduate of Sweet Briar College, Class of 1988. She served as an employee of the College in the early 1990s working on the $25 million Campaign. During that time, she solicited many leadership gifts which make up the current endowment and she feels a sense of duty that those donations are not used for the closure of the College or for any other purposes than the donors intended. Since then, she has spent her career building support for higher education and the nonprofit community as a staff member and consultant for boards. As a volunteer, she has served Sweet Briar since graduation as a fundraiser, admissions ambassador and now advocate for the #saveSweetBriar movement. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and holds a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) certification from CFRE International.
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The Donor Bill of Rights was developed so that donors — and the staff and volunteers who work with them — are aware of their rights.
Philanthropy
PHILANTHROPY is based on voluntary action for the common good. It is a tradition of giving and sharing that is primary to the quality of life. To assure that philanthropy merits the respect and trust of the general public, and that donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in the not-for-profit organizations and causes they are asked to support, we declare that all donors have these rights:
I
To be informed of the organization’s mission, of the way the organization intends to use donated resources, and of its capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.
II
To be informed of the identity of those serving
on the organization’s governing board,
and to expect the board to exercise prudent
judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.
III
To have access to the organization’s
most recent financial statements.
IV
To be assured their gifts will be used for
the purposes for which they were given.
V
To receive appropriate acknowledgement
and recognition.
VI
To be assured that information about their
donations is handled with respect and with
confidentiality to the extent provided by law.
VII
To expect that all relationships with
individuals representing organizations of interest
to the donor will be professional in nature.
VIII
To be informed whether those seeking
donations are volunteers, employees of the
organization or hired solicitors.
IX
To have the opportunity for their
names to be deleted from mailing lists that
an organization may intend to share.
X
To feel free to ask questions when making
a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and
forthright answers.
I believe in these rights. As a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, AFP, I sign a code of ethics to support them. I operated under this code when I worked for Sweet Briar College in the 1990s, and helped raise a number of leadership gifts which make up the current endowment. I believe that the actions of the Sweet Briar Board of Directors to close the College and attempt to utilize the endowment for purposes other than that which the donor’s intended, is unethical. Shortly before this post, Ellen Brower, Amherst County Attorney, filed suit asserting that this breaks Virginia State Law.
So what is the issue at Sweet Briar? It comes down to a plan on the part of the President and Board of Directors to tap into the endowment. Why is this a problem? Read on….
Endowment
Webster defines endowment as:
: a large amount of money that has been given to a school, hospital, etc., and that is used to pay for its creation and continuing support
: the act of providing money to create or support a school, organization, etc.
: a person’s natural ability or talent
Endowment: Unrestricted and Restricted Gifts
As a donor, I have left Sweet Briar College in my will as a beneficiary of funds (this is currently being revised). I have not left any particular purpose for those funds (this is currently being revised). When someone makes a gift to an endowment and does not have a specific purpose for the funds, that is called “unrestricted”. Unrestricted funds, pooled together, generate income used by Colleges, Universities and nonprofits for operating costs.
Restricted gifts to endowment are made to achieve specific goals. Endowed scholarships (usually have a minimum) are created and the interest provides scholarships for students. Endowed funds for specific purposes generate income for those programs annually. Endowed professorships support a portion of a professor’s income or fund research projects.
As a former employee of Sweet Briar College, I worked with many donors who made contributions to the College’s endowment. In fact, nearly ALL of the $13 million raised from Regional Campaigns around the country was to build endowment. The agreements people signed at the time talked about funds being used for student scholarship, program enhancement and a few other priorities. I feel a sense of duty to those donors with whom I sat thoughtfully and provided written agreements assuring them of the endowment’s strength and legacy.
Endowment Spending
Boards of Directors – fiscal agents for an institution – have spending policies that determine the amount that can be spent from the endowment. A healthy spending rate is thought to be between 3-5%, even in good years. The idea is that some years investments will be up, sometimes down, and a smoothing effect of taking a smaller amount ensures for the long-term success of the funds.
At Sweet Briar, the Board’s spending rate has been a higher 8% as the operating budget needed more income. This is not healthy or sustainable, but there is nothing wrong with it.
Endowment Raiding
I never thought I would write on the topic of “endowment raiding”, but the intentions of the Sweet Briar College Board of Directors forces me to do so.
The Sweet Briar College Board of Directors voted to close the College and “wind down operations” including seeking legal intervention in order to tap into its endowment to provide severance packages, debt payments and other things unrelated to what donors intended. This action is also inconsistent with the mission of the College.
Apart from my being horrified at such a sudden move by the Board (I have written about this topic on another thread), I am personally and professionally sickened by this action. It is unethical and unnecessary. I picture the donors with whom I worked. Many of them are no longer living. Others are contacting me by phone and on Facebook imploring me to do something (one of the reasons I have written this post). Many of those donors no longer trust the people they worked with in the Development Office. Who would?
Donors who give to endowment give with the idea that they are creating a legacy and are making a gift in perpetuity. The memory of many dear people will be violated if the Board of Directors is successful.
Pledge Forms, Memorandum of Understanding, Gift Contracts
There are legal agreements which back up major gifts to any institution. That is also the case for Sweet Briar. Campaign Pledge Forms are legal documents with donor’s intent captured and co-signatures by campus officials. Memorandum of Understanding are draw up for more complex gift agreements. Letters of Agreement are drawn up for many five and six figure contributions. In short, to try to “unrestrict” an endowment, these legal agreements will need to be properly revisited. It is also not the case that a College or University can go to the heirs of someone and ask that funds be revisited. There are many examples of courts upholding an original donor’s intent and rejecting even signed agreements made with decendents (unless the original donors outlines those who can make decisions for them later). Trying to get children or family members to sign something should not be grounds to use funds in a way contrary to a donor’s intent. Yet, as I write, the staff of the College are doing just this.
Of all of the rights of donors (a full copy of the rights are above), those I think are most important are the following:
II
To be informed of the identity of those serving
on the organization’s governing board,
and to expect the board to exercise prudent
judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.
III
To have access to the organization’s
most recent financial statements.
IV
To be assured their gifts will be used for
the purposes for which they were given
To make any attempts to unrestrict endowment is violating not only Section II of the Donor Bill of Rights, but also Section IV. Furthermore, the behavior by staff or administrators to take these action is a violation of the professional code of conduct.
Board of Directors and administrators taking these actions shakes the very foundation of philanthropy. Donors and prospective donors should have full confidence in the not-for-profit organizations and causes they are asked to support. I feel my own professional reputation is harmed by the stated plans of Sweet Briar College.
The only way to protect donor intent in this case is legal action on behalf of those donors. I am grateful that SavingSweetBriar.com is taking on the important stewardship of these gifts. It is sad that the Alumnae Association has not made more public statements condemning the plan.
On the heels of this, it also seems appropriate to advocate for stronger State and Federal law to protect donors. But that is for another chapter of Being UnLocked….
Stacey Sickels Locke is a proud graduate of Sweet Briar College, Class of 1988. She served as an employee of the College in the early 1990s working on the $25 million Campaign. During that time, she solicited many leadership gifts which make up the current endowment and she feels a sense of duty that those donations are not used for the closure of the College or for any other purposes than the donors intended. Since then, she has spent her career building support for higher education and the nonprofit community as a staff member and consultant for boards. As a volunteer, she has served Sweet Briar since graduation as a fundraiser, admissions ambassador and now advocate for the #saveSweetBriar movement. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and holds a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) certification from CFRE International.
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Anyone part of a College, University or nonprofit would like to feel that their Board of Directors has the institution’s best interests at heart. It is hard to think this is true when a Board of Directors takes the shocking and extreme action of closing an institution. This is the case at Sweet Briar College.
When this happens, the natural thing to do is to turn to your constituency group leaders. In the case of students, to the Student Government. In the case of faculty, to the Faculty Senate. The faculty of Sweet Briar College voted unanimously to oppose the closing of Sweet Briar College. In my case, I turn to my Alumnae Board. In the case of Sweet Briar College, the Alumnae Board has issued no response. The President of the Alumnae Board, Sandra Taylor, is a member of the Board which voted to close the College and she sat on the call with alumnae shortly after the closure reiterating the President’s talking points.
I wrote the following letter to the Alumnae Board (via a staff member in the office who promised to forward it) and have, to date, not had a response. While I have addresses for individuals on the Board, I felt going through the office was the most respectful approach. I am posting it here in an effort to invite a response from any of them individually or collectively:
Thank you for taking your valuable time to speak to me about the status of the Alumnae Association and the Alumnae Board. As promised, I am summarizing the points (and questions) I’d like to make below:
Alumnae Association independence. To what degree is the Alumnae Association independent of the College? I recall when I worked at the College in the 1990s, the dues were eliminated (in order to strengthen annual giving). At that time, some staff were paid for by the Alumnae Association themselves and not funded by the College. The VP at the time brought all the staff under the College.
Ongoing funding for Alumnae Association. I would like to see a return of an independent Alumnae Association funded by dues and, should the efforts to save the College not succeed, have equal consideration for funding along with other staff-related positions.
Staff & Board. I understand the STAFF are employees of the College, but the Alumnae Board are dedicated volunteers. Shouldn’t the Alumnae Board have some leadership and messaging regarding the closure? The absence of any statement is extremely disappointing. An Alumnae Association Board should – even if it does not agree with all stakeholders — listen and respond to the feelings of their stakeholders. I have heard that the Alumnae Association Board has been told they cannot speak due to the College’s legal counsel. Surely this cannot be true.
President’s statements and Alumnae Board President’s Role. I would like to implore the Alumnae Board to speak out against the President’s comments that he has made verbally and in national media that strike many as sexist and racist (not just Sweet Briar alumnae either). Current students and their families are reeling by the negative comments he has made about current students and the “changing demographics”. I find myself continually apologizing for the President’s comments to my colleagues in higher education and national media — praying that there are people like the Alumnae Board who realize his comments are at a minimum insensitive and out of touch. I would rather have Sandra Taylor as spokesperson – or some other woman who is not likely to make such comments. For a review of the comments people have cited, you can read my blog at: http://beingunlocked.com/2015/03/how-not-to-speak-about-higher-education-or-women-or-diversity-in-2015/
Alumnae Board’s role in stewardship. Given that the majority of the endowment has been donated by alumnae. I feel the Alumnae Board has an important role to play in advocating on behalf of donors — that donor’s donations are used as intended. I worked for the College and brought in some of the leadership gifts that make up the endowment. I feel a strong responsibility that those gifts I help broker not be used against the donor intent. I realize this may mean that the Alumnae Board would have to step away from the College’s position, but it I feel it has a duty to advocate for alumnae.
I realize everyone is very busy, but I would appreciate very much the courtesy of a reply.
Kind regards,
Stacey Sickels Locke `88
I have not received any response to my letter and I suspect I will not.
There is a post on social media of an Alumnae Association Facebook group (below). Their letter is here, but I would assert is NOT the kind of action we need. Shedding tears, listing and digesting news is not enough when you are a leadership group representing stakeholders. Planning a Reunion is certainly admirable, but now is a time for ADVOCACY.
As your Alumnae Board, we learned an hour before everyone else about the Board of Directors’ decision to close the College this summer. We have spent the past weeks digesting that news, talking with classmates, engaging board members and shedding more than a few tears. We have been impressed by the passion and energy that alumnae are bringing to this moment, whether they are backing the legal strategy behind the Save Sweet Briar movement or supporting the Board of Directors’ efforts to bring an orderly closure to the campus.
Through meetings, phone calls and emails, we sense that all alumnae agree on a few points: Everyone wants to support current students, provide for faculty and staff, and preserve Sweet Briar’s legacy. The Alumnae Board hopes to provide a space where the entire Sweet Briar community finds common ground and works collaboratively.
We are also working to evolve the Sweet Briar Alumnae Association into an independent entity that can serve everyone with an enduring commitment to the ideals of Sweet Briar and the vision of educating young women.
Actually, we do NOT agree on much. The fact that the Alumnae Board says they learned only an hour prior to the Board of Director’s decision means that the members of the Alumnae Board who serve on the Board of Directors must not have thought the Alumnae Board should have a voice or a role. We do not all agree that the role of the Alumnae Board is to support current students, provide for faculty and staff and to preserve Sweet Briar’s legacy. The role of an Alumnae Board should be bolder than all of that and focused on alumnae needs.
Here are a few suggestions for the Alumnae Board. PLEASE, be a leader and not a passive audience of the attempted dissolution of our College. Consider the fact that if the #saveSweetBriar movement is successful, there may still be a College and alumnae to serve. Which side of history would the alumnae board like to sit?
1. Acknowledge there is a difference in opinion and strategy between the alumnae behind the #saveSweetBriar movement and the alumnae on the Board of Directors who supported the closure. Even if you cannot condemn the decision (which I personally would appreciate), acknowledging the large number and passion of the women would be appreciated. Recognize the amazing dedication of the alumnae being expressed. Note the fundraising commitment. Be part of this historic wave of alumnae connection and advocacy.
2. Call publicly on the President to use more respectful language when speaking of the large movement of alumnae. Using terms like “small” and “irrational” and “overwrought” is sexist and disrespectful. “Well-intentioned” isn’t in the family of appropriate language either. It would show leadership for alumnae, students and women everywhere to call out disrespectful language where it exists, even if that language is not intentionally sexist (many in the majority do not realize when they are being offensive).
3. Acknowledge the pain expressed by current students and alumnae of color at the way the President has described the “changing demographics” of Sweet Briar as negative. Acknowledged that diversity is a strength of Sweet Briar and that some of his comments have been interpreted as racist by students, parents, alumnae and leaders in higher education outside of Sweet Briar. It would show leadership for students, alumnae and people everywhere to call out disrespectful language where it exists, even if that language is not intentionally racist (many in the majority do not realize when they are being offensive).
4. Call on the President and Board to comply with the mandates by outside parties to preserve records and to respond swiftly to any possible legal action.
5. Advocate for donor intent. The majority of the contributions in the current endowment were made by alumnae. Realize that the Alumnae Association has an important role to protect and defend the rights of alumnae donors.
6. Call for better and more thorough research by independent parties rather than support the decisions of the Board of Directors which has relied on what may be questionable “research”. Be public about what information the Alumnae Board has – or has not received – with respect to the Board of Director’s decision. If a lack of information does not allow you to support their decision or make an official comment, state that.
7. Exercise indepence. Request a briefing by the Forensic Accountant when those financial findings become available. Request a briefing by Professor Dan Gottlieb who has dug into the “data” submitted by the Board and raises grave and essential questions. If the Alumnae Board has questions regarding the financial statements and conclusions used by the Board of Directors to close Sweet Briar, say it and request additional review. Take back the Alumnae Board’s financial holdings within Sweet Briar and reestablish your financial independence.
8. Recommit yourself to your charter and mission. Re assert your independence of the College. I would remind the Alumnae Board that you should represent the wishes and voice of the alumnae, not employees or any other stakeholders of the College, even if that is difficult given that the Alumnae Board is staffed by College employees. You may have an independent role to play in the future, even if that future is only to gather alumnae.
9. Review the mission of Sweet Briar College. Consider the role alumnae leadership should play. Articulate that role. I would urge advocacy. Current students and parents have a short-term need for their daughters to finish their education. Faculty and staff are incredibly dedicated, but they also have a financial relationship as employees of the College. Alumnae have an important role to care about the long-term of an institution – they receive no “benefit” from their affiliation. Alumnae have a critical role in saving the College now.
10. Allow individual members of the Alumnae Board to speak. Do not allow silence to be your message. If you cannot speak as a unified Board, allow people to resign and speak individually. Alternatively, issue a statement that you cannot agree and that there is a difference of opinion. If necessary, disband yourself and acknowledge who IS speaking on behalf of alumnae (I would assert that the only alumnae leadership right now is Saving Sweet Briar and those stepping forward through social media).
Alumnae Board, your alumnae NEED you, your leadership and your independence right now. Why the silence? Let’s hope this quote is true for you:
“Silence is the most powerful scream” — Anonymous
Stacey Sickels Locke is a proud graduate of Sweet Briar College, Class of 1988. She served as an employee of the College in the early 1990s working on the $25 million Campaign. During that time, she solicited many leadership gifts which make up the current endowment and she feels a sense of duty that those donations are not used for the closure of the College or for any other purposes than the donors intended. Since then, she has spent her career building support for higher education and the nonprofit community as a staff member and consultant for boards. As a volunteer, she has served Sweet Briar since graduation as a fundraiser, admissions ambassador and now advocate for the #saveSweetBriar movement. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and holds a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) certification from CFRE International.
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“Bursting the Fundraising Bubble” — the idea that someone else is going to step forward and my support isn’t needed.
This post is inspired by the incredible outpouring of support in opposition to Sweet Briar College’s Board announcing they plan to close the College, but its themes can be relevant to anyone who has or is working on a fundraising campaign.
As a fundraiser for over 25 years working with all types of groups — schools, nonprofit boards, church stewardship groups, etc. some dynamics often occur. I thought I would gather them together in one place for consideration (and debunking).
Executive Summary (a.k.a. My articles are long so I am summarizing for you here :))
Warren Buffet or Knight on a White Horse will help us….Nope, while tempting, it is the key stakeholders of any Campaign who will ensure its success (or not).
A Major Corporation or Foundation will help us….Not likely. Corporations and Foundations have specific goals which often aren’t in sync with a charity and they have complex timelines and grant procedures.
Bystander Effect…someone else will help us….If you think someone else will step forward — and you don’t have to – you are wrong. Buck the trend and the bystander effect.
Buy-A-Brick Efforts…and pretty much anything that has a fixed price tag….Cute, fun and good for public relations, but not a sustainable fundraising strategy.
Major Gift Campaign & Baby Boomers… Major gift campaigns are critical, baby boomers are important, but all ages and demographics can and should be pivotal!
The “Knight on a White Horse” (artwork by Zetallis) Phenomenon (P.S. It is REALLY hard to find images of women on a white horse)
The “Knight on a White Horse” or what I also call the “Warren Buffett Syndrome” (my term) occurs when a group discusses how to meet its goal and looks outside of itself. It sounds something like this:
Who knows Warren Buffett (insert wealthy person’s name here who is not affiliated with the institution)? I’ll bet HE would support our cause.
It is true that those who can be the most generous are critical to any fundraising campaign’s success — 80% of the funds come from 20% of the people and sometimes it is an even narrower margin. But in nearly all cases with only extreme exceptions, the supporters of a fundraising campaign are the stakeholders of that institution: students, service recipients, parents, alumni, community.
The exception to this is when someone has a close personal or professional relationship to a celebrity or benefactor and can make a personal appeal. I have ONLY seen this work when someone has a long-time personal relationship built on trust with reciprocity when their request for support is in alignment with the benefactor’s charitable goals. A person not associated with an individual trying to get a message through has never worked in my experience. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying, but I would never want others to sit back and not think their own contributions were important when they hear of a possible “savior”….
The exception to this is when someone has a close personal or professional relationship to a celebrity or benefactor and can make a personal appeal. I have ONLY seen this work when someone has a long-time personal relationship built on trust with reciprocity when their request for support is in alignment with the benefactor’s charitable goals. A person not associated with an individual trying to get a message through has never worked in my experience. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying, but I would never want others to sit back and their their own contributions were not important when they hear of a possible “savior”….
“A Large Corporation or Foundation will help us…”
A Large Corporation or Foundation will help us….
Charitable Foundations and Corporate Foundations are another often misunderstood source of support. People hear of large holdings of Foundations and see large grants and think:
If ONLY we appealed to (insert name of famous Foundation), I’ll bet THEY would help us….
While it is true that Foundations and Corporations make generous gifts to institutions, it is always aligned with the core mission of those entities. In Corporations, there is usually a return-on-investment goal meaning they give, but they also wish to boost their brand, hire talent, etc. Foundations have specific missions to achieve and their grants come with complex reporting requirements which institutions often find onerous and sometimes realize to accept the funds they are diverting from their mission. There are also timetables for submissions and often closed processes for inquiring about support. In a fundraising Campaign with any sense of urgency, large foundations and corporations are rarely a solution. Family foundations, on the other hand, are often a good solution to a short-term need; however, there is always a personal connection to someone serving on a family foundation for a gift to come.
Bystander Effect
Bystander Effect — everyone thinks someone else will step forward (image courtesy University of British Columbia)
The other dynamic that causes fundraising campaigns to be sluggish is the phenomenon of bystander effect and bystander apathy. This socio-psychological effect is when a bystander will offer no assistance to a victim of something if others are present. The more people there are, the less likely someone is apt to step forward. In fundraising, it is the idea that someone thinks others are stepping forward and their support isn’t needed. The more successful the Campaign, the more people assume others have stepped forward.
Buy-A-Brick – great concept, but usually at the end of a successful campaign.
Buy-A-Brick Efforts…and pretty much anything that has a fixed price.
People love buy-a-brick efforts. And there is nothing wrong with them. The problem is this: Anything that has a price tag takes a donor’s charitable ability and reduces it down to a fixed price. Successful campaigns rarely succeed on these efforts alone. I’ve seen fundraising committees thrilled that they got a $100 brick from someone when that individual is giving six and seven figure gifts to other charities. Furthermore, usually the profit that comes off of an item is a small portion of what actually comes back to help a cause. This is not to say that the efforts aren’t worth it, they ARE (particularly for public relations purposes such as anything visible that helps get the brand and message out for a cause). It is just important to know that funds allocated to the cause itself and given outright and tremendously important and should be considered first before purchasing items where a percentage is given. The other down-side to these efforts is that the portion that could be tax-deductible is usually negligible.
I have been absolutely delighted to see the outpouring of support in response to the Saving Sweet Briar College movement. There is an entire website dedicated to all of the various things people are doing to help the College from t-shirts to stick-on nails to even tattoos. This is absolutely wonderful and inspiring. The important thing though is that people who purchase these things also make sure that they can – if they are able – make a direct and generous contribution to the cause itself. Here is a sample of the amazing creative and dedicated projects devoted to Saving Sweet Briar:
Major Gift Efforts & Baby Boomers…ALL ages and demographics count.
Baby Boomers represent 43% of giving, but that does not mean all ages can’t be pivotal.
It is true that 43% of total giving by individuals comes from Baby Boomers, but that also means that 57% comes from all other generations. Millennials are an incredibly passionate generation volunteering for causes they care about at a faster and larger rate than all other generations combined. Millennials are also generous.
Friends of Diversity is a movement within the Association of Fundraising Professionals — successful because it recognizes the strength of diversity in fundraising success.
It is also false that “changing demographic trends” lead to less giving or an inability to conduct a fundraising campaign.
Sweet Briar determined in 2011 that the alumnae’s changing demographics made it impossible to effectively conduct a large-scale fundraiser, Sweet Briar’s vice president for finance Scott Shank told The News & Advance.
This. Is. Bunk. In fact, diversity of institutions has strengthened giving and communities. Furthermore, socio-economic diversity DOES NOT mean families and alumni cannot give or become donors themselves. In fact, data shows that some of the most generous donors to Schools and Colleges are not from wealthy families, but rather are those who received scholarships and felt a duty to give back. Scholarship recipients are also far more likely to be loyal donors — critical to an institutions long term success.
What is missing from the Saving Sweet Briar College efforts is a major gift effort. Peer-to-peer, alumna-to-alumna requests to give, to give generously and to give more than the individual thought possible. These types of efforts are the backbone of any strong fundraising campaign. It is the next step in Saving Sweet Briar reaching its goals. How can you give a major gift? Give monthly, seek matching gifts, enroll your friends.
A small group of committed women can do amazing things, great example:
Saving Sweet Briar has raised over $3M since the Board announced its intention to close the College.
In the meantime, WHO is the best person to reach a fundraising goal?
YOU! YOU are the person who will meet the fundraising goal!
If you have read this far, PLEASE make a donation at this link.
Stacey Sickels Locke is a proud graduate of Sweet Briar College, Class of 1988. She served as an employee of the College in the early 1990s working on the $25 million Campaign. During that time, she solicited many leadership gifts which make up the current endowment and she feels a sense of duty that those donations are not used for the closure of the College or for any other purposes than the donors intended. Since then, she has spent her career building support for higher education and the nonprofit community as a staff member and consultant for boards. As a volunteer, she has served Sweet Briar since graduation as a fundraiser, admissions ambassador and now advocate for the #saveSweetBriar movement. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and holds a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) certification from CFRE International.
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James Jones — the Commonwealth of Virginia requests his removal in its injunction.
“Argue for your limitations, and surely they’re yours.” — Richard Bach
The announced closure of Sweet Briar College provides much fodder for every stage of grief. The current President and leadership’s statements continue to horrify many alumnae and the public at large. Each time the President takes the microphone or speaks to press, the quotes get worse. The President of the Board, the President, the President’s wife and other leaders: How is it possible in 2015 that people could speak this way?
Here is how NOT to speak about higher education — or women — or diversity — in 2015
“Sweet Briar’s rich-girl days were long gone.”
— Sweet Briar President and Chair of the Board, Paul Rice
Rich girl days? Really? While every School and College may have a percentage of students whose parents are able to pay for tuition without any loans or grants being taken and provide for many of the extras, Sweet Briar has never been a majority “rich girl school”. Even back to the founding days of the College there were scholarships for financial need and students were able to work in all types of jobs to provide for their education and expenses.
Jones told The New York Times that for students who entered Sweet Briar in fall 2014, 37% are first-generation college students, 32% are minorities, and 43% received Pell grants — federal financial aid grants for low-income undergraduates.
To use this statement as a reason for the College closing is one of the most egregious Jones has made and has generated widespread ire. To have this statement made as a negative is extremely unfortunate. Some have picked up on this statement and repeated it in front of current students and their families both on campus and around the country — as if this is a negative. Colleges and Universities across the country are THANKFULLY becoming more diverse in many ways — racially, socio-economically. Mr. Jones’ wife describes it this way in a public Class of 1969 webpage:
Then you thought about the cost of four years of college today. That cost is far beyond what an average American middle class family can afford without great sacrifice and careful financial planning. But, Sweet Briar had a world-class riding program, so surely there were girls from super wealthy families attending, weren’t there?
Evidently not, Mrs. Jones. The majority of families in higher education today are described by the statistics your husband quoted and the average middle-class family. Sweet Briar should embrace these students and their families. A school of “girls from super wealthy families” is never a goal for even families who are blessed with extraordinary wealth. Diversity is a blessing to all.
Mr. Jones’ comments not only appeared in print, but on a call with thousands of alumnae he was bold to say:
“I guarantee you that the students of today and the students applying are not of the same caliber as your generations.”
This phrase has been repeated by some in support of closure and is extremely disrespectful for current students and their families.
Frankly, students who are bringing in Pell Grant income may be, in fact, contributing significantly to the bottom line. I raised a question to the former President when I visited for my 25th Reunion and she said, “It is the traditionally full-pay families who are sometimes paying the least – because they know they can negotiate. ”
Every school has a range of socio-economic diversity. To blame the closing of the school on a change in the percentages is irresponsible and offensive.
Sweet Briar is no longer the “horsy school on the hill,” current professor.
Horsy school on the hill? Good grief. One of Sweet Briar’s STRENGTHS which continues (based on this year’s award winning season) is its equestrian program. While a small percentage of Sweet Briar students ride horses and an even smaller percentage of students bring horses with them, to describe the College this way indicates a complete lack of awareness of the award-winning program as well as the successful athletes, including Lendon Gray, a three-time Olympian. Our award-winning sports teams and incredible coaches are one of the hallmarks of Sweet Briar — and frankly any College or University. Riding is something that gives us a niche and a good reputation.
Sweet Briar determined in 2011 that the alumnae’s changing demographics made it impossible to effectively conduct a large-scale fundraiser, Sweet Briar’s vice president for finance Scott Shank told The News & Advance.
2011 is a full enrollment cycle away from 2015 where we are now. It is very unfortunate that the College did not conduct a professional feasibility study of its alumnae testing REAL issues and themes. The last feasibility study of 200 alumnae was conducted by staff members (I have spoken to many alumnae who gave when I worked at the College and who participated in this study – they cited no confidentiality as staff were the interviewers; no theme of any concerns; no details about giving levels). This was a huge missed opportunity. Alumnae assert that the College did not come to them and the fundraising ability they have shown — in incredibly creative ways — is inspiring (to this fundraiser in particular).
To say that the “changing demographics” made it impossible to conduct a large-scale fundraiser is completely offensive. This was my reaction initially and then I heard from the editor of the leading industry publication in my field (when she read about Jones’ and Shank’s statements)
I didn’t attend Sweet Briar, but I have to say that as a person of color (and donor to causes I care about) this bit attributed to the institution raised my ire.
By the way — news flash — one of the most generous groups of alumni are those who received scholarships and support themselves because they feel a duty to give back. Some of the world’s leading philanthropists did not come from wealth — someone helped them. Chances are, your “changing demographics” may actually be the source of great support in the future.
In response to why the College couldn’t adapt or change….
Here’s more from Jones’ conversation with IHE earlier this month on Sweet Briar becoming co-ed:
Jones said that, at Sweet Briar, going coeducational did not seem like a simple solution. He said that such a move would have required lots of money for scholarships and facilities, and he wasn’t subtle about the purpose of the spending. “We would need scholarships to basically buy males,” he said.
Buying males? Are you kidding me? I have two sons, one college age. He is not “for sale”. He chose to attend a small, liberal arts College in the Midwest. As a parent, I would have loved to have him consider Sweet Briar (albeit with a different male-counterpart name). I imagine there would have been many more interested and they would not have to be “bought”. Even if it is true that merit or scholarship support might be necessary in a greater percentage initially, to frame it as “buying males” is just disgusting.
The Chair of the Board, Paul Rice stated (when dismissing the possibility of going co-ed)….
Rice elaborated on the projected increased spending in The New York Times.
“You don’t just take ‘ladies’ off of every other bathroom door and put ‘men’ up,” Rice said. “You have to add programs and facilities, athletics. All of these things take significant investment and time.”
This is the Chair of our Board folks. Obviously, a co-ed environment requires some adaptations. There are men and women’s bathrooms in every facility on campus as it is. How do you think we get through Reunions? We have men and women in dorms, attending events and classes all across campus. It would not be terribly difficult to allocate a dorm for male students. We have sons of current faculty and staff who attend Sweet Briar. With the new athletic facility, a key asset was available. Furthermore, the College has capacity for far more students than it current enrolls, so even a small percentage of men initially could no doubt have been accommodated. To hear this decision dismissed so callously down to labels on bathrooms doors is embarrassing and does not instill confidence in the decision making or deliberations of the Board.
“Leave it to a man to destroy what a woman made” – banner hanging on the bell tower.
In the initial announcement about the closure of the College, the President seems to indicate that people just don’t chose a College like Sweet Briar anymore. He wrote,
“While the College has long been part of my life, as my wife is a 1969 graduate…..The board, some key alumnae and I have worked diligently to find a solution to the challenges Sweet Briar faces. This work led us to the unfortunate conclusion that there are two key realities that we could not change: the declining number of students choosing to attend small, rural, private liberal arts colleges and even fewer young women willing to consider a single-sex education, and the increase in the tuition discount rate that we have to extend to enroll each new class is financially unsustainable.”
This statement is telling because it seems to be that there was just a small group of “key” alumni who convinced themselves there was no hope. He then refers to them as “us”. Clearly, he left out the voices of thousands of alumni and his own faculty and staff who had very brilliant ideas (and who debunk with facts and figures the statements of why they needed to close).
It seems President Jones, the Board Chair and others have forgotten that there are HUNDREDS of current students at Sweet Briar College who HAVE chosen to attend a small, rural, private liberal arts college. There are also HUNDREDS of small, rural, private liberal arts colleges who are open and have smaller endowments than Sweet Briar.
Mrs. Jones, the President’s wife, uses some of the same language in the Class of 1969 webpage where she issues a public comment.
Why were the grounds not pristine as they had always been? You noticed the peeling paint, the shabby parlors, the rotting balcony about to fall off of Alumnae House, and that uneasiness grew…. Maybe you just wanted to let this new president know that it was not “the Sweet Briar way” to have the campus looking like this.
Shabby parlors? “The Sweet Briar Way?” Actually, due to surging enrollment, many of the parlors had turned into dorms and office spaces. That isn’t such a bad thing. And, yes, deferred maintenance was a problem, but no one had thought to appeal to the alumna who have since offered to organize a Habitat-for-Humanity like work project along with funding to catch up. Some people find older homes charming….
The President’s wife went on to say,
Even though you knew the demographics information: students in 2014 were turning away from single sex colleges, they were flocking to schools in urban and suburban areas that offered more vocational type curricula, they were more concerned about spending their education dollars to be trained for a job than looking for a broad liberal arts education.
Mrs. Jones, you forgot to add the important lack of a Starbucks that your husband was quoted as saying on the call with alumnae about the closure. Seriously though, there ARE people who choose small Colleges and liberal arts education still thrives.
The announcement of Sweet Briar’s closure ends with a quote by another 1969 alumna, Elizabeth H.S. Wyatt ’69:
“If we make the decision to close now, we will have a better opportunity to conclude academic operations in an orderly, compassionate and ethical way that pays homage to those who are here today and to those who came before us.”
This sounds like someone with their hands folded in their lap, speaking to a child. Perhaps it was expected that Sweet Briar alumnae would behave like “good girls” and just take this decision and go quietly onto other interests. But, no, President Jones describes our reaction this way:
“emotional, overwrought, irrational”
Patronizing has never had a better example than this. This is classic male behavior and language. “Irrational” is such a convenient word for men, perpetuating their sense of superiority. This is CLASSIC sexism used to describe essentially what is a different way of being. One of the reasons we attend Sweet Briar is to learn such things (I was a Psychology major). Men tend to think they are logical and not use feeling words; women aren’t afraid to express and use their emotion. Emotion is the antithesis of logic. When men perceive women as being too emotional (or a way you don’t want us to be), men say women are being irrational. Crazy. Wrong. Overwrought. Minimizing somebody else’s feelings is trying to control them. If they no longer trust their own feelings and instincts, they come to rely on someone else to tell them how they’re supposed to feel. I suspect this is how a percentage of our alumnae are feeling right now (I’ll refrain from using decade generalizations) because they have people around them telling them how to feel and pointing out those who resist in negative ways. I hope they can free themselves of this path and find their voice.
The press release regarding the President and Board’s refusal to step down refined the term to describe the #SaveSweetBriar movement as:
“well intentioned”
The number of alumnae who turned out to welcome students back from their spring break — traveling far and wide — outnumbered the entire population of campus. The funds raised in 10 days exceed the entire fundraising goal for the year. The faculty unanimous voted in opposition to the Board and President. Dismissing this energy and commitment shows how out of touch the President is with the stakeholders of the institution.
To CBS, Mr. Jones was asked by the interviewer, “Was there anything anyone could do?” Mr. Jones replied,
“No, there was nothing anyONE could do.”
Mr. Jones doesn’t think there was or is anything anyone could do because he is surrounded by such a small group of pessimistic people. In fact, once alumnae, faculty and parents learned of the President and Board’s decision, THOUSANDS have rallied and raised MILLIONS. Clearly he does not see the future and sees nothing that could be done. The logical thing for him to do is step down and allow those who see a future and have more creative ideas to lead.
These are just a few examples of how NOT to talk about women, diversity and education in 2015. Certainly not as leaders of an institution with current students, parents, faculty, staff and thousands of alumnae hanging on your every word.
This alumna is embarrassed by your comments and have found myself apologizing to people well beyond the walls of Sweet Briar — including leaders in higher education and the national media.
Stacey Sickels Locke is a proud graduate of Sweet Briar College, Class of 1988. She served as an employee of the College in the early 1990s working on the $25 million Campaign. During that time, she solicited many leadership gifts which make up the current endowment and she feels a sense of duty that those donations are not used for the closure of the College or for any other purposes than the donors intended. Since then, she has spent her career building support for higher education and the nonprofit community as a staff member and consultant for boards. As a volunteer, she has served Sweet Briar since graduation as a fundraiser, admissions ambassador and now advocate for the #saveSweetBriar movement.
Stacey Sickels Locke, CFREJames Jones
Here is some suggested reading on this topic (and to avoid further embarrassment):
To help my readers and friends understand my passion for Sweet Briar College and to lay a context for the advocacy I share, I offer these comments from the wife of the current President of the College and my response. The following was posted by Jan Jones on a 1969 public website:
It would be hard for me to imagine an alumna of Sweet Briar College who is not heartbroken over the college’s closing. It is one thing to read about the loss of countless small, liberal arts, residential colleges across America either to closure or merger or absorption by a larger university. It is quite another when it is the school you love, the school that just a few years ago seemed to be thriving because you heard about new buildings and new programs. You heard that your school was one of only two women’s colleges with an ABET-accredited engineering department – WOW! Then you returned to campus for 2014 Reunion and started to feel uneasy. Why were the grounds not pristine as they had always been? You noticed the peeling paint, the shabby parlors, the rotting balcony about to fall off of Alumnae House, and that uneasiness grew.
On the 2014 Reunion schedule was a State of the College session with the President, Jo Ellen Parker, so you made a note to add that to your agenda. Maybe you just wanted to let this new president know that it was not “the Sweet Briar way” to have the campus looking like this. Maybe your uneasiness was growing and you wanted reassurance. You went to the session, listened to the report, looked at the graphs and charts that gave you the current statistics on applications, yields, number of students on financial aid, faculty/student ratios, deferred maintenance, and alumnae giving. It was all there. The President answered questions honestly without being hysterical or giving false hope. It was what it was, and you realized that this school, your school, was falling victim to all the trends that had resulted in the loss of so many other women’s colleges.
It was a victim of nearly fifty years of the co-education of the formerly all-male colleges and universities and the concurrent, drastic shift in the demographics. Even though you knew the demographics information: students in 2014 were turning away from single sex colleges, they were flocking to schools in urban and suburban areas that offered more vocational type curricula, they were more concerned about spending their education dollars to be trained for a job than looking for a broad liberal arts education. But, how could any woman go elsewhere after seeing the Sweet Briar campus and spending even a day in this caring community? And, hadn’t the school added business and engineering degrees? Then you thought about the cost of four years of college today. That cost is far beyond what an average American middle class family can afford without great sacrifice and careful financial planning. But, Sweet Briar had a world-class riding program, so surely there were girls from super wealthy families attending, weren’t there? Sadly the numbers and answers to these questions told a different story.
Virtually no student at Sweet Briar pays full tuition and fees, and this has been true for years. So, what direction could your beloved school take: Co-education? – too late if ever it might have been feasible; Merger? – there is no financially strong, geographically close institution; perhaps Absorption by a large stable university? Surely the large universities, which always seem to be expanding, would love a small, beautiful campus with historic buildings, a riding center, lake, etc. But, no, even large universities have to carefully watch their own finances, and it would not be “strategic” to take on a school with over $53,000,000 in debt and deferred maintenance combined, especially at a time when state subsidies are being cut.
I interrupt this reading to draw attention to the paragraph below. Jan Jones is the wife of the current President. A President who stands to gain financially by the closing of the College through severance packages he plans to pay to faculty and staff out of the endowment, including restricted gifts. One of the primary roles of the Board is fiduciary responsibility which includes “care, loyalty and obedience”. A primary definition of loyalty is that a Board acts independently of its President. It disturbs me that the President’s wife makes these statements – which clearly indicate inside knowledge – as well as the fact that a number of her classmates are on the current Board.
So, the Board of Directors who are charged with making all major policy decisions, by the dictates of the will of the founder of your college, is faced with the hardest decision a board ever has to make. Four of the members of that board are women who were students when you were a student; they are sisters and friends. I can only imagine the heartbreak that permeated every minute of every day during their deliberations. But, they are smart, and they are strong, and they are making a decision about Sweet Briar College, the school they love. All but three on the Board are Sweet Briar Women, so the path they choose is the most heroic, honorable path available. Knowing that they have worked to increase enrollment for over a decade and that they had explored possible fund-raising ideas from every angle, they choose not to continue the downhill death spiral until every dime is spent, and the school is left with no way to help ease her students and employees into their futures. Instead, They vote to close while there is time to help students find another school and while there are still funds to pay severances to faculty and staff. The board heroically, in your opinion, chooses a closure path that honors the core values of the college: Honor and Dignity.
By now you know this is not theoretical, this is our Sweet Briar College story. If you have email, are on Facebook and/or have attended one of the recent regional alumnae gatherings, you know there is a movement afoot called #savesweetbriar. It is a small movement making a great deal of noise about nothing more than trying to block this closure. The group has no “vision statement,” and there is no consensus about how to change Sweet Briar College so that it will be a financially viable institution in today’s world. Their words and actions have become very ugly, spiteful, and irrational. They are ready to “fight” and haven’t yet realized that the Directors and current Administration are NOT the enemies. The “enemies” are intractable historical forces in American higher education that have now been working against schools like our beloved Sweet Briar for a half of a century.
From all of your comments I think the ladies of the class of 1969 “get it” and, along with many others, are willing to stand up in support of the college’s decision. We could not be more proud of Elizabeth Wyatt and Sue Scanlan who were faced with actually making this indescribably difficult decision! For these reasons I am immensely proud and thankful to be a member of this class!
Martha Brewer and I were recently reminded of the dramatic changes our class set into motion on the campus between 1965 and 1969, changes mainly in dress codes and social rules. We succeeded in removing the social rules from the Honor System and eventually removing them altogether. An alumna told us that our class was “legendary” in starting the movement that brought Sweet Briar College into the real world. She said that the classes of 1970, 1971 and 1972 had just followed our lead and built on our work and that all the following classes looked up to us for that.
I can only hope that the current women who have become stuck in the denial phase of grief and are spreading such venom across social media will quickly come to realize that the class of 1969 is again leading the way. We are grieving too, but we are looking to the future. We know that our friendships will endure, that we will still support each other through tragedies and celebrations, and that we will gather in small and large groups whenever possible. We will tell the story of a caring, nurturing community in a stunningly beautiful rural setting in central Virginia and how generations of women received an excellent education preparing them to be “productive members of society.” Then, when the second volume of The Sweet Briar Story is written, it will be recorded that the school closed as it had lived: with Honor and Dignity.
I would like to share with you the wise words of a very young alumna, Carol Ferguson, class of 2012. She is a Sweet Briar daughter and a third or fourth generation legacy:
“Grieving, but giving thanks for the family that brought me there and the family I found there. We thought we only had to bear the rose, but it turns out we are charged with bearing the seeds as well. Let us plant them wherever we are, so that the whole world might become a little more supportive, a little more unified, a little more intelligent, a little more curious, a little more confident, a little more bold, a little more fabulous—in short let us plant a bit of Sweet Briar in everything we do!!”
And, while we are following Carol’s advice, might there be a way for us to continue to honor Indiana Fletcher Williams’s vision of educating women? Perhaps a Sweet Briar Foundation set up to provide scholarships for women? Be bold and be creative- We are the class of 1969, and I for one am ready to plan our 50th reunion!!
Jan Sheets Jones ‘69
My response:
Dear Jan,
I have read your post with interest. I hope you will give me the courtesy of reading mine. A diversity of opinion and perspectives is critical at this time.
It is nice that your Class of 1969 has its own website. It is also nice that you have some of your classmates who are expressing support for you and for your husband. I am sure this is difficult for your family.
Initially when I heard of this news, I bought the talking points you are repeating here. The whole “close with dignity” rhetoric sounded so Sweet Briar and seemed the “right” thing to do. As someone who has spent my entire career since Sweet Briar supporting education and fundraising, I felt the cause to reverse a decision was utterly hopeless. However, I believe we are seeing one of the most amazing rallying of an alumnae/stakeholder body that higher education and even the nonprofit community has ever seen. I predict case studies written about this “movement” to #saveSweetBriar with other Colleges clamoring to start being more honest and employing many of the strategies being employed by our alumnae (CASE, for whom I just wrote an article in their recent issue, has already asked me to write an article about this). I am still not hopeful about the success of the efforts because of the lack of information and suddenness of the announcement; however, I would never forgive myself if I didn’t do everything I could not only to #saveSweetBriar but to support the people who are willing to work for it. I think it would be kind if you and your husband could at least acknowledge the good work being done and see that the movement to #saveSweetBriar has a motive that is just as pure as yours and certainly has a larger number of people supporting it.
I must share with you that I find your comments about the #saveSweetBriar movement inaccurate and out of touch. You have a right, of course, to post whatever you want on your Class website, but you must have known your letter would be shared more broadly. I imagine that being surrounded by a small group of people who agree with you would make you feel safe to describe the movement as you have. But your comments make you seem completely out of touch. One of the challenges of Boards is that they make decisions in a vacuum and are sometimes out of touch with the stakeholders they purportedly serve. “Group think” occurs on juries, on Boards and in small groups. Given the shock expressed by students, faculty, administrators and alumnae (who admittedly are the least impacted stakeholders), I think the Board has both explaining and listening to do right now, including reconsidering their decision. Based on the shock – and the outpouring of support — there is clearly a lack of confidence in leadership at all levels felt by large numbers of students, faculty, alumnae, the wider community and higher education.
The number of women on campus just this past Sunday outnumbers most Reunions turnouts. The numbers tuning into the discussions and efforts to #saveSweetBriar are six times the size of the student body. The funds committed through the efforts surpass most annual fundraising goals. The faculty who oppose the Board’s actions are the majority of the faculty. Do you dismiss their voice and movement as well? Doesn’t your husband still serve as their President? I suggest you listen to them.
As you, your husband, the Board and perhaps key administrators have now begun to realize, the key issue most people have with the Board’s decision is a lack of information. This is still the key issue. You did not give key stakeholders – students, parents, faculty and alumnae any ability to “move the needle” to avoid this decision. Yet, you had avenues to do so.
As a professional fundraiser, I know the general feeling is that whispering of possible closure could mean contributions would stop. Obviously, we can now see that this isn’t the reaction alumnae (and perhaps parents) would have had. I also have first-hand experience with a school facing possible closure (a girls boarding school). They elected to be honest in their feasibility study (small group of donors surveyed about fundraising trends, priorities and messages). Their alumnae rallied and major changes were made — and funded — and the school survives today. Girls boarding schools are even LESS popular than women’s colleges, as I am sure you know, but they still survive. You all must live with yourselves for not having trusted your most generous donors selected for that study. I understand not telling the broader set of alumnae, but not confiding in the 200 Sweet Briar selected for a confidential study is tragic.
I am not unfamiliar with the challenges in higher education and women’s education. I got my start in development at Sweet Briar under the leadership of Martha Clement. I was hired at my fifth reunion to work for the College. Since then, I have raised millions of dollars for education — including education for women. I just raised the largest gift in the history of the University of Maryland, $31M. Suffice it to say, I sure wish I had the opportunity to rally for Sweet Briar before the public announcement for closure was made.
It is not as you, your husband and some others would describe it – women’s education is not dead or dying. In fact, there are families who choose single sex education for their children (I did for my two sons) in elementary, middle, high school, summer camps and college). There are urban school districts creating single-sex educational environments supported by the Department of Education backed by solid research. My own University of Maryland has created women-only programs, classes and spaces. It is also not true that all or even a majority of families choose urban career training schools. My son is attending a small liberal arts College in Illinois far from any major city (he could have gone to the University of Maryland for FREE). It is ridicules and embarrassing to say that someone wouldn’t choose a College for lack of a Starbucks or proximity to a city. For one, Starbucks is served on the Sweet Briar campus. For another, many people LIKE being in beautiful, yet remote locations. My two sons attend a summer camp in Northern Michigan and we must drive almost an hour from the nearest town to reach it.
I and many others believe the problem with enrollment was a lack of marketing and admissions work, particularly not engaging alumnae admissions ambassadors. I used to regularly staff career fairs in my area and I think the last time I was asked to do so was about 10 years ago. Don’t get me wrong, I know it is hard to do this work and I have respect for the team of admissions representatives. I am simply saying that, again, reaching out to alumnae seems to have stopped and could have been helpful.
I and many others believe the problem with fundraising was a focus on a small number (which I realize staff shortages dictate) combined with a lack of true information with your most loyal alumnae. I tried to join the development office this past year at Sweet Briar and was shocked to learn that the salary being offered for the position – a relatively senior one – was actually less than I made at the College in 1993. I couldn’t afford to take it. I imagine this is also part of the challenge.
In conclusion, I encourage you to step outside of your Class of 1969. Widen your perspective. Include the voices of those who see things differently in your thinking. I read your letter. I hope you have read mine.
Respectfully,
Stacey Sickels Locke, Class of 1988
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Lessons Learned, Musings, Insights I Don't Want to Forget, Life Hacks, and the Occasional Recipe by Stacey Sickels Heckel Locke
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