The Auburn Citizen
Sunday, November 7, 2004

Wells decision offers unfair financial gain

The more information that comes out of the Wells debacle, the muddier the water becomes. For anyone who wants to follow the money, Pleasant Rowland is the place to start. What is happening at Wells may or may not be legal (that will have to be determined in a court of law) but it definitely is not ethical! Ms. Rowland came into Aurora several years ago and donated something like a million dollars to Wells and, of course, took advantage of the tax break for that donation. She then gained control of much of it by establishing the Aurora Foundation with the college. Rowland holds 51 percent of that foundation with Wells holding 49. Interesting? It gets thicker. Some members of the Wells Board are also employed by Ms. Rowland.

Then there is the report given to Wells a year or so ago that told them if they went coed, they wold lose up to 50 percent of their enrollment. Last year, Wells was offered recruiting on a pro bono basis that wouldn't have cost the anything. Did they take advantage of the offer to boost enrollment? Nope. Obviously, the report is being ignored and not all alternatives to coed have been explored. Hidden agenda? Financial gain for someone?

Wells was established to provide women the best education possible. The ethics of the decision to go coed are questionable at best, and the people pushing for those changes have much to gain if Wells fails. Information being disseminated by Wells PR is simply wrong. They do not have the support of parents, alumnae, and enrollees.

I implore all Wells alumnae to become more involved in the actions taking place to prevent this terrible mistake from further disrupting the lives of all those enrolled at Wells and to keep the integrity of Wells as a single-sex institution for future generations. Wrong decisions can be made right.

M. Victoria Hoffman,
Auburn
Hoffman is a 1985 graduate of Wells College