PEC Update, December 3, 2007

We are grateful for all of the support that we have received over the past two weeks and we are delighted to report some good news today.

Since the November 16 decision by the Supreme Court of Virginia to lower the injunction bond requirement to $1 million, we have worked diligently to raise the necessary funds. The success of our grassroots fundraising effort among students, the people of Lynchburg, alumnae of Randolph-Macon Woman's College, and national museum and art professionals clearly shows how important these paintings, and the larger issue of donor intent and public trust, are to a wide range of people.

In the two weeks since the Justices issued their decision, we have received donations from more than 650 people, ranging from spare change collected by students on campus to checks for $100,000. As of today we have raised a little more than $500,000 – a remarkable sum given the very short fundraising timeframe.

One student donated $2,500 she saved from work during the past two summers. A group of students went door-to-door in the dormitories and raised more than $2,200 from 213 of their fellow students (approximately one third of the student body). In addition to student efforts, the Art Defense Fund has received contributions from more than 450 other individuals - from residents of Lynchburg to alumnae living overseas to museum directors from around the country.

On Friday November 30, we filed with the Supreme Court of Virginia and asked them to accept the $500,000 that we had raised to date and extend the deadline for the remaining $500,000. We learned today that the Court heard our plea and granted our request. We deposited the first $500,000 with the Circuit Court in Lynchburg today thus keeping in place the temporary injunction on the sale of the four paintings from the Maier Museum. These treasures of Randolph-Macon Woman's College are protected from sale while the underlying charitable trust and art lawsuits make their way through the legal system. We are continuing our fundraising drive to raise the remainder of the required funds by the deadline extension of February 15, 2008. As always, the legal pleadings in this matter can be found in the "Legal Pleadings" section and all press coverage and news releases can be found in the "Press" section of the PEC website.

Other News

The College announced on November 29 that it intends to drop the Louise Jordan Smith lawsuit (at least in the near term according to their spokeswoman Brenda Edson) in order to focus on the other art lawsuit. We had filed before the College's announcement to combine the Louise Jordan Smith lawsuit and the lawsuit about the four paintings. We will keep you posted on how this matter proceeds.

On December 6, PEC's Executive Director, Anne Yastremski, will be speaking at "Donor Intent and the Future of Higher Education Philanthropy" a conference organized by the Center for Excellence in Higher Education. She will be on a panel entitled "Broken Covenants: Three Stories, Several Lawsuits" along with William Robertson, the lead plaintiff in Robertson v. Princeton, and Renee Seblatnigg, President of The Future of Newcomb College, the group supporting the lawsuit to restore H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College.

Clearly the fight to preserve Randolph-Macon Woman's College and its charitable assets continues. We hope that our collected efforts that raised $500,000 in two short weeks (including the Thanksgiving holiday) not only foreshadows the success we will have in raising the additional $500,000 by February 15 but also demonstrates to the current Board of Trustees that there is an active community of people willing to work for R-MWC and its future. Next week (December 10) SACS will make a decision on the College's accreditation and in early January we will know how many students have left Randolph College after only one coed semester. We hope that the Board of Trustees is willing to critically evaluate if the strategic plan of coeducation and global honors has performed as expected or if it is time to come to the table to negotiate a return to R-MWC and a brighter future for the College that we will all support proudly.

Vita Abundantior,

PEC Board

Diane U. Montgomery (R-MWC '85)
Carol Curcio Lang (R-MWC '68)
Anne Yastremski (R-MWC '05)
Madeline Miller (R-MWC '66)
Chantel Sheaks (R-MWC '91)

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