Amherst County Attorney Ellen Bowyer issued a warning Wednesday afternoon to Sweet Briar College President James Jones and the college’s Board of Directors regarding how the college’s leadership will handle the school’s endowment — valued approximately at $94 million — which will remain outstanding following the school’s scheduled close at the conclusion of this academic year.
Bowyer’s warning marks the latest in a series of events which represent potential logistical problems for the closure of Sweet Briar, an all-female institution located approximately 50 miles south of Charlottesville.The decision to close the institution, which many found as a surprise, has received heavy backlash and national attention due to a perceived lack of transparency exhibited by school’s leadership in the decision-making process.
The most notable resistance has come from Saving Sweet Briar, Inc, a nonprofit organization consisting of faculty and alumnae which has raised $3.2 million in efforts to keep the school running and has demanded the resignation of both President Jones and every member of the Board of Directors.
Bowyer’s warning correlates with several tenets of Saving Sweet Briar’s dissent of the school’s leadership, particularly regarding the status of endowment funds and legal issues surrounding its application.
“State law provides that funds solicited for the general purpose of a charitable organization must be used for that purpose,” a statement released by Bowyer’s office said. “The use of any funds solicited for general operation of Sweet Briar College (“College”) since its founding to support activities to close the College may not be consistent with that statutory requirement. Code § 57-59(D), to take action in the name of the Commonwealth to ensure compliance with State law.”
Troutman Sanders, the firm representing Saving Sweet Briar, issued a statement March 23 providing greater insight into the specifics of the Board’s purported violations. Specifically, their statement implicates the Board and President for violating the Statute of Charitable Solicitation, a protective legal mechanism for nonprofit and charitable organizations which ensures that funds belonging to the organization must be used in the capacity outlined in its original charter.
Sweet Briar’s charter specifically outlines the college’s foundation on the mandate of a “perpetual memorial” to the daughter of Indiana Fletcher Williams and an entity which may not be “sold or alienated” by the corporation it created.
Saving Sweet Briar spokesman Eric Cote said the organization wished to replace the current board and president with a group of their choosing, whom he claimed could make Sweet Briar sustainable.
“[Saving Sweet Briar] wants to work with alumnae, faculty and students to put Sweet Briar on more stable financial footing,” Cote said. “We are currently working on a slate of references for new Board of Directors.”
Cote said they are prepared to release some of the references for new leadership, some of which are members of Saving Sweet Briar. He also stressed the devotion of the faculty and students of Sweet Briar to maintaining the institution and said although many have made backup plans for next year, a significant portion of the school’s 530 students have held out from transferring as long as they can, per direction of Saving Sweet Briar.
However, he said the organization is short on time as the semester is winding down, which will become increasingly problematic without a public course of action to pursue.
”We’re not ready to share our plans at this point,” Cote said. “We have a lot of options to look at. That’s something we have been doing and something we will continue to do.”
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