A.A. Meeting
Alumnae were invited to campus for a presentation by the administration and trustees on October 16. The meeting was called to order as a meeting of the Wells College Alumnae Association, and chaired by A.A. president Carrie Bolton. While only about 50 alumnae signed-in, the attendance sheet was removed and many late arrivals were unable to sign-in. At the end of the meeting, Carrie Bolton tried to claim this wasn't a "real" meeting, and she was under no obligation to pass on the motion to the other trustess.
Notes have been submitted on the concluding presentation by a local alumnae which lead to the motion.
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"I’ve received several requests for the notes on my brief presentation at yesterday’s A.A. meeting, the link to the Board of Regents information for Trustees, and the text of the motion as passed by unanimous voice vote by nearly 100 alumnae. See below. Karen ‘77, Aurora NY
STATEMENT NOTES:
NYS Board of Regents has specific requirements for behaviour of Trustees overseeing any educational institution in the state, which I would like to share with you and this meeting. See http://www.regents.nysed.gov/statement.html
The Trustees hold all the assests of Wells in trust for the people of the state of New York. This is based on law going back to 1784. Even though it is private, it is in fact chartered by the state, and the trustees preserve, protect, and transmit into the future those assets for the People of the State.
Board of Regents instructs Trustees not to rely completely on the guidance and judgment of the institution’s CEO, to ask their own questions, to seek independent advice on major issues, to exercise diligence and prudence in their decision making. Trustees are instructed to hold the CEO accountable for the institution’s operations and service to the public -- that includes the current students -- who have NOT been well served by this decision and its timing. (Expressed my concern about the total disruption of the academic semester).
I maintain that the Board has been irresponsible in this matter, in not anticipating in advance, or responding after the fact to the horrendous disruption their decision for a brutally fast transition to coeducation has caused on this campus. (Expressed my concern about major parent protest scheduled for next weekend; mention that Carrie is being copied on their emails, as am I.)
Regents Board also states that trustees must fulfill certain duties: of care, loyalty, and obedience. I ask the board members to review these obligations, and ask obedience To Whom and loyalty To What?
Members of the board can call for their own emergency meeting; it’s in their bylaws. I propose a motion to the meeting that you to call such a meeting, with the purpose of revisiting this decision, and overturning, postponing, or establishing a moratorium on the transition to go coeducation to allow for further input from all constituencies: parents, students, alumnae, staff, and faculty."
FINAL MOTION AS APPROVED
We ask the alumnae members of the Board of Trustees present here today to call an emergency meeting of the Board of Trustees to set a moratorium on the transition to coeducation, in order to mitigate the crisis on campus and obtain input from all stake holders: parents, students, alumnae, staff, and faculty.