TL;DR: Students and Faculty should form an organization to #SaveMills which raises funds to sue the Board of Trustees and President, seeking their removal and an injunction to prevent the College from closing.
Students, staff and alumnae of Mills College are starting to wake up.
When the leadership of an organization drive it into a position of financial failure where it is no longer a going concern, the leadership should be held accountable for this result. Their excuse "it was an impossible situation, we did our best, nobody else could save it and no other plan could work" should be seen for what it is. Just because THEY couldn't make it work doesn't mean NOBODY could make it work.
What happened at Sweet Briar College has uncanny similarities to the Mills College situation:
In 2015 the President and Board of Trustees of Sweet Briar College, a small womens' college in Virginia founded in 1901, announced that after more than a century of successful operations the college could no longer continue as a degree-granting institution. The financial predicament was impossible to solve, enrollments were down, everything had been tried and the only option left was to close.
Students and faculty weren't buying it. They organized around an incorporated company Saving Sweet Briar Inc, fundraised for a legal defense, sued for regime change...and ultimately won. The President and 13 Board of Trustees members were forced to resign, allowing Saving Sweet Briar Inc to appoint new Trustees and recruit a new President. After new leadership came in and made some tweeks to the curriculum, enrollments surged to the highest level in decades, the drawdown on the endowment didn't need to be touched, and Sweet Briar is still granting degrees 6 years later.
Saving Sweet Briar hired forensic accountants to go through the College's finances. They found the President and Board were providing incorrect information:
Millsies have already reached out to people from the Saving Sweet Briar team:
In 6 months the Saving Sweet Briar team was able to raise $21 million in gifts and pledges.
Students, alumnae, faculty and supporters of Mills College...what are you waiting for? The time to fight this is IMMEDIATELY! Don't sit there waiting for the Board of Trustees or Board of Governors to save you. Incorporate and take legal action. Make the fight to #SaveMills real.
SIMILARITIES
- announced right before Spring Break
- presented as a fait accompli
- challenges described as "insurmountable"
- started with not admitting new first-year students
- tried to raid the endowment
- lack of demand for womens' colleges used as an excuse
- merger with State university presented as the only option
- board made the decision without much thoughtfulness
- financial challenges over-stated
- lack of transparency/"high level of secrecy"
- lack of consultation with stakeholders
- previous decisions and statements from the board did not indicate financial exigency
MORE INFO
We have provided many links to case studies and reference articles at the bottom of this post.
The savingsweetbriar.com web site is available from the Wayback Machine
This page has links to all the various legal filings, there were three separate suits from students, faculty, and Amherst County.
TIMELINE/REFERENCES
March 4, 2015 Inside Higher Ed - Shocking Decision at Sweet Briar
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/03/04/sweet-briar-college-will-shut-down
March 30, 2015 Legal Filing from Amherst County Attorney
http://files.ctctcdn.com/898ef372401/51844371-4681-49d8-a59d-c50b9ef50f4b.pdf
March 30, 2015 The News & Advance - Faculty of Sweet Briar Votes No Confidence in Board, President
https://newsadvance.com/news/local/faculty-of-sweet-briar-college-votes-no-confidence-in-board-president/article_8809eddc-d74a-11e4-844a-a39cfb5fbb71.html
March 31, 2015 Inside Higher Ed - Suing to Save Sweet Briar
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/03/31/county-attorney-sues-block-closure-sweet-briar
April 8, 2015 Business Insider - There Are Two Very Different Pictures Emerging of an Imploding College's Financials
https://www.businessinsider.in/There-are-2-very-different-pictures-emerging-of-an-imploding-colleges-financials/articleshow/46844647.cms
April 15, 2015 10 News - Judge In Sweet Briar Hearing Grants Temporary Injunction
https://www.wsls.com/news/2015/04/16/judge-in-sweet-briar-lawsuit-hearing-grants-temporary-injunction/
April 25, 2015 Washington Post - Now Faculty Are Suing Sweet Briar College Too
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/04/24/now-faculty-are-suing-sweet-briar-too/
June 16, 2015 Academe Blog - Sweet Briar Faculty Speak Out
https://academeblog.org/2015/06/16/sweet-briar-faculty-speak-out/
June 20, 2015 New York Times - Sweet Briar Reaches Deal to Stay Open
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/21/us/sweet-briar-reaches-deal-to-stay-open.html
June 25, 2015 Chronicle of the Horse - Sweet Briar College Will Remain Open Next Year
https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/sweet-briar-college-will-remain-open-next-year
September 6, 2017 Chronicle of Higher Education - After All But Closing, Sweet Briar Will Shift Curriculum and Pricing
https://www.chronicle.com/article/after-all-but-closing-sweet-briar-will-shift-curriculum-and-pricing/
CASE STUDIES
April 3, 2015 Inside Philanthropy - Interesting Lessons from the Sweet Briar College Lawsuit
https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/the-gift-adviser/2015/4/3/interesting-lessons-from-sweet-briar-college-lawsuit.html
June 22, 2015 Insider Higher Ed - Lessons from Sweet Briar
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/06/22/what-case-sweet-briar-means-other-colleges
March 22, 2016 Sweet Briar College - How the Legal Fight to Save the College was won, from the attorney who fired the first shot
https://sbc.edu/news/how-the-legal-fight-to-save-the-college-was-won-from-the-attorney-who-fired-the-first-shot/
June 23, 2016 Bustle - The One Thing That Saved Sweet Briar College
https://www.bustle.com/articles/131533-the-one-thing-that-saved-sweet-briar-college-could-be-what-keeps-womens-colleges-alive
February 9, 2017 University of Richmond - The Will to Prevail: Inside the Legal Battle to Save Sweet Briar
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/law-student-publications/132/
May 10, 2017 University of California, Council for Advancement and Support of Education - CASE Study
https://www.ucop.edu/alumni-constituent-affairs/_files/CASE%20-%20Saving%20Sweet%20Briar.pdf
March 7, 2018 Chronicle of Philanthropy - Sweet Briar's $44 Million Rescue Offers Unusual Fundraising Lessons
https://www.philanthropy.com/article/sweet-briars-44-million-rescue-offers-unusual-fundraising-lessons/
2017 ResearchGate - How Stakeholder Mobilization Saved Sweet Briar College
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333250880_How_Stakeholder_Mobilization_Saved_Sweet_Briar_College
Lessons From the Sweet Briar Patch
https://www.natlawreview.com/article/lessons-sweet-briar-patch-financially-distressed-higher-ed-institutions
More Lessons From the Sweet Briar Patch
https://www.steptoe-johnson.com/sites/default/files/More%20Lessons%20from%20the%20(Sweet)%20Briar%20Patch.pdf
DISCLAIMER
DISCUSSION OF INFORMATION IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST. PUBLIC COMMENTARY WELCOME. WE PROVIDE CITATIONS TO PRIMARY SOURCES, FOLLOW THE HYPERLINKS. ANY PERSON MENTIONED HERE IS INVITED TO SHARE THEIR SIDE OF THE STORY IN THE COMMENT SECTION. ALL IMAGES USED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES UNDER FAIR USE PROVISIONS OF THE COPYRIGHT ACT. WE ARE NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY ORGANIZED MILLS COLLEGE GROUP, BUT WE JOIN THEM ALL IN RESISTANCE TO ANY ATTEMPTED TAKEOVER.
SEE ALSO
1. Mills College is Worth Billions - Who Gets the Prize?
2. 135 Acres Worth Less than $300,000? College Owns Hundreds of Millions in Equities, Real Estate
3. We Got the Mills College Receipts - From the IRS
4. Mills College Financially "Very Healthy" With 100% Rating From Charity Navigator
5. Mills College 2017 Financial Stabilization Plan
6. Gasoline on the Burning Platform - Men to Live on Mills College Campus
7. UC Berkeley "Life and Death" Financial Crisis, How Can They Afford Mills College Problems Too?
8. Strong, Proud and Determined to Save the College We Love
9. Sue the Board - It Worked For Sweet Briar, Could It Work For Mills College?
10. Déjà Vu - Organized Faction of AAMC Pushing UC Merger Plan Similar to Board of Trustees
11. Mills College Leadership Caught Speechless by AAMC Resistance
12. Save Mills Coalition Steps Up, Hillman Administration Gets Voted Down
13. Mills College Community Stunned by Another Hillman Hand Grenade
14. The Art of the Steal 2.0 - Billion Dollar Black Holes From Barnes to Bender
15. Trustee vs Trustee - Mills College Board Members Sue For Transparency
16. F*CK YOUR INDEPENDENCE: Hillman Declares War Against Mills College Alumnae
17. White Supremacy Reigns in Mills College and Northeastern Boards
18. The Defendant Tells The Media About The Plaintiffs
19. Good News For Women's Colleges - Congratulations, Beth!
20. $25 Million To See The Books
21. "Damage So Severe The Community May Never Recover"
22. Desperate Defendants Finally Speak: Gaslighting Frenzy Before Court Monday
23. Failed Leadership Fakes Support With Fake Forum
24. Mills College Has $85 Million Without Restrictions, So Why Can't It Stay Independent?