PEC Update, May 10, 2008

One of the benefits of working on the litigation to preserve Randolph-Macon Woman's College and its world-class art collection is that we have had occasion to learn about the many bold and courageous women and men who built our college and whose legacy we are trying so hard to protect.

We've had the privilege to meet and work with many of you who feel strongly that we have an equal obligation to continue to protect R-MWC's legacy, to ensure that the same opportunity remains available to young women who have yet to experience the life-altering education that we obtained.

Our best chance at protecting that legacy is the decision by the Supreme Court of Virginia in the charitable trust appeal. With your support we have done everything possible to win this appeal. We hired the finest lawyers we could find. We raised unprecedented sums to fund the litigation. Our briefs and arguments were as fine as any the lawyers on our Board have ever seen, and our counsel presented our cases to the Supreme Court on April 14, 2008, effectively and persuasively. At counsel table, we had two former Virginia Attorneys General (Wyatt Durrette and Anthony Troy) and a former Solicitor General for the Commonwealth (William Hurd) to argue our cause. We have done all we had the power to do within the legal system, and we have all of you to thank for bringing us to this point. We expect a decision from the Supreme Court in early June.

As many of you know, the College has decided not to wait for the decision of the Supreme Court – they have announced that they are proceeding with the sale of the Tamayo painting "Troubadour." It appears to be an irrational decision on the part of the College – to essentially thumb their noses at the Supreme Court on the eve of an important decision.

Perhaps the College is worried about the lackluster admissions numbers – numbers they refuse to release to faculty, let alone alumnae, but which reportedly stand at less than half the number of first-years that they need. Perhaps they feel pressure to sell art to fund the new track and field that the Board of Trustees has approved for the campus (never mind the foreign language programs that have been eliminated – clearly they believe that a Global Honors college needs a track instead). Or perhaps they require new money to pay for the inauguration gala of President John Klein scheduled for the upcoming fall semester. It is certainly hard to know what the Board of Trustees and Administration are thinking when their communications have been infrequent and secretive.

Regardless of their reason for the sale of art, what can be done? We have explored all of our options and determined that the best chance of saving the College's art collection still remains with the outcome of the charitable trust suit. Many people are active behind the scenes exploring different ways to keep the Tamayo in Lynchburg, and we encourage all of you to do what you can to stop this sale until after the Supreme Court has issued its opinions at the beginning of June.

What can you do? Continue to let the College know that you want the woman's college back (clearly the coed experiment is failing), that you don't want any art sold to pay for athletics, galas, or anything else at the College, and that you believe the Board of Trustees continues to be negligent in their management of the College. Write to the Attorney General of Virginia and ask why he is allowing the College to ignore the judicial system in Virginia instead of keeping the assets of the institution intact until all legal matters are resolved. Write to your favorite professor and ask why the faculty, in light of the manifold failures of the Trustees and Administration, still has failed to take a vote of no confidence in the management of the College.

As soon as we hear from the Court we will let you know their decision.

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)

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