Finally Some Good News

Judge delays sale of Randolph College art

Friday, Nov 09, 2007 - 12:09 AM

By CHRISTA DESRETS

MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE

LYNCHBURG -- A judge yesterday granted a temporary injunction that would delay the sale of four paintings from Randolph College's Maier Museum of Art until other litigation against the school is settled.

Lynchburg Circuit Judge Leyburn Mosby Jr. said his decision to grant the injunction stemmed from his belief that "the harm if the art is sold is greater than the harm if the art is not sold."

The college will appeal the decision to the Virginia Supreme Court with the hope of a reversal before the first auction, scheduled for Nov. 19, Randolph spokeswoman Brenda Edson said.

The injunction would be finalized when opponents to the sale post a $10 million bond, Mosby said after hearing several hours of arguments from both sides. The judge rejected a motion from the college asking him to dismiss the case.

College officials said they hoped the sale of the four paintings would raise at least $32 million to add to the school's $153 million endowment.

The artwork is expected to bring tens of millions of dollars at auction, including possibly as much as $35 million for one of the paintings, George Bellows' "Men of the Docks." The other works are Edward Hicks' "A Peaceable Kingdom," Ernest Hennings' "Through the Arroyo" and Rufino Tamayo's "Trovador." They were removed from the museum on Oct. 1.

The paintings are slated for sale on Nov. 19 and Nov. 29 through the New York-based Christie's auction house.

Christies' spokesman Rik Pike said last night, "We have not seen the ruling and therefore are unable to comment."

A group of 19 students, donors, patrons and former employees of the Maier Museum filed a request last month seeking to halt the sale of the art until the conclusion of several cases related to the former Randolph-Macon Woman's College. The name changed during the summer after the board of trustees decided to admit men.

Two of the cases are related to the college's decision to become coeducational. Mosby dismissed both cases in January, but the Virginia Supreme Court has agreed to hear appeals, which likely will be scheduled in the spring.

If the court rules in favor of opponents of the college in those other suits, the plaintiffs argue, then the court should permanently prohibit the sale of the paintings and order that they be returned to the museum.

Another ongoing case involves legal action the college filed in August to determine whether it could sell or share 36 pieces of art bought from a trust bequeathed in the will of Louise Jordan Smith, the school's first art professor.

But none of the four pieces of art slated for auction were bought with that trust, Edson said, so they would not be affected by the case. The college bought two of the paintings and received two as gifts, she said, but none of them had any restrictions on sale.

Litigation filed last month in response to the college's filing asks the court to declare that the entirety of the collection is interconnected and should be protected from sale. A hearing for that case has been scheduled for Thursday, also before Mosby in Lynchburg Circuit Court.

Richmond-based lawyer Anthony F. Troy, who represents the plaintiffs, has said that the central issue revolves around donor intent and whether gifts to the college can be used in ways not intended by the donor.

Edson said the school's board of trustees has made difficult decisions in the past year but that those choices will be legally upheld.

"We strongly believe that the suit is without merit," she said, "and we're confident that the college will prevail."
Christa Desrets is a staff writer at The News & Advance in Lynchburg.

Association of Art Museum Directors

This was released to 180 museums across the nation.

New York, NY, October 3, 2007 –

In response to Randolph College's decision to sell works of art from its Maier Museum of Art, the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) made the following statement:

The AAMD, an organization representing some 180 leaders of North
America's leading art museums, expresses grave concern about the
proposed sale of paintings owned by the Maier Museum of Art for the
purpose of supporting the college's general operating endowment. The
prohibition against the sale of collection objects for general
operating purposes is a fundamental covenant between museums and
donors. It is a promise that exists across generations, to prevent the
financial challenges of a given time – no matter how pressing or how
valid they may be – from depriving future beneficiaries of such gifts.

The AAMD was deeply disturbed to learn of the removal this week of
important paintings by George Bellows, Edward Hicks and others, for
sale at auction for the purpose of replenishing your college's general
operating endowment. In the Association's judgment, such a sale
violates the fundamental integrity of the Maier Museum of Art, and by
extension, Randolph College.

The AAMD condemns Randolph College's sale of paintings from the Maier
Museum of Art.

###


Association of Art Museum Directors
120 East 56th Street
Suite 520
New York, NY 10022
Tel: 212.754.8084
Fax: 212.754.8087

Never Ending Controversy

Callen Bair blogs...

I refer you to...

Darrel Laurant's blog

Art Raid

STUDENT/ALUMNAE/ DONOR GROUP

ASSAILS RANDOLPH ART "RAID"

LYNCHBURG, VA, OCT. 2, 2007 - An organization representing students, alumnae
and donors of the former Randolph-Macon Woman's College - now known as
Randolph College - assailed Randolph College officials today for their
"dishonorable raid" on the Maier Museum of Art collection, portions of which
were secretly hauled off under armed guard yesterday, to be auctioned off
next month by Christie's New York. The college announced the controversial
move after the fact, triggering the resignation earlier today of Museum
Director Karol Lawson.

In a joint statement, Anne Yastremski, executive director of Preserve
Educational Choice and Ellen Agnew, former associate director of the Maier
Museum, said, "Randolph College officials have shown why they are not to be
trusted with the finances or future of Randolph College or the Maier Museum
of Art."

"To divert attention from their own mismanagement and continuing poor
judgment, they are now putting at risk the treasure and legacy of
Randolph-Macon Woman's College and the Maier Museum, one of the leading
institutions of its kind and one of South Central Virginia's most important
cultural assets."

The college, which promised that such decisions and actions would be
"transparent, " instead secretly removed the pieces from the museum yesterday
afternoon and delivered them to Christie's, where they will be auctioned
publicly in November.

The college's thinly-lined excuse for what most in the art
community consider a highly unethical decision? An email sent to alumnae
defending the college's need "to make a substantial infusion into the
endowment and reduce our endowment spending rate."

But even a brief look at the facts reveals no endowment problem,
leaving one to conclude that college officials are, in reality, only robbing
Peter to pay Paul.

Randolph College - with a student body of only 665 students --
has an endowment of $153 million. This is an endowment that is the envy of
its peers, and larger than many colleges twice its size.

According to the 2006 endowment rankings survey conducted by the
National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO),
only 291 colleges had endowments larger than Randolph College's. (At $153
million, its current value, only 278 would have larger endowments.) This
survey includes universities with tens of thousands of students (and often
multiple campuses), such as Ohio State University, the University of Texas
system, and the University of California system. The average endowment of
all of the colleges and universities surveyed: approximately $79 million.

So why does Randolph College keep crying poor?

Because it is trying to mask the real problem: out-of-control
spending and financial mismanagement, neither of which will be fixed by
selling pieces from the art collection.

It is true that in December 2006, Randolph College was put on
warning by its accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and
Schools (SACS), for not complying with Core Requirement 2.11, which requires
that member schools have a "sound financial base, demonstrated financial
stability, and adequate physical resources to support the mission of the
institution and scope of its programs and services."

But the College insinuates that SACS told them they need to
increase their endowment. This is not at all what they said. The specific
issues that SACS cited the college for - astronomical tuition discounting
(in the mid-60 percent range instead of the 30 percent range which is
considered normal), excessive deferred maintenance, and operating deficits -
are all signs of fiscal mismanagement, not a too-small endowment.

The actions that Randolph College officials have been taking
show they have little understanding of how to fix their problems. The
consequences of the administration' s actions will be extremely negative, and
could permanently damage the College's viability.

First, Randolph College will become the pariah of the art world,
as selling off portions of an art collection to support a general operating
budget is considered highly unethical and violates the ethical code of
museums.

Second, the Maier Museum art collection is one of the finest
collections of American art in the country and, with the college's related
programs in studio art, art history, and museum studies, has helped attract
many students over the years. De-accessioning some of the most important
works from the collection will likely discourage students from choosing the
college and have a negative impact on its ability to attract students - an
impact already being felt this year as the student body dropped nearly 8% as
a result of the decision to adopt coeducation -- further harming the
college's ability to generate revenue from student tuition and fees, the
backbone of a well-run institution.

Third, the College's decision to sell these four paintings will
harm future fundraising efforts. Several major donors have already said
they would stop giving to the College if they sold part of their permanent
collection.

Fourth, the College's relationship to the Lynchburg community
will be irreparably harmed, particularly with the sale of George Bellows'
"Men of the Docks." The Maier Museum of Art is a community treasure, and a
major cultural attraction in central Virginia. The Lynchburg community
banded together in 1920 to buy the Bellows painting, raising 72 percent of
the needed funds.

The College's actions are even more questionable in light of the fact that
two court battles are currently being waged to decide whether the College's
Board of Trustees can properly sell or divert its assets away from their
original charitable purposes, and whether donors, students, or others have
the ability to challenge those actions.

In one case, the Supreme Court of Virginia just agreed to hear an appeal of
two lawsuits brought by students and donors that challenges the College's
decision to change its charitable purpose last fall, one of which has the
potential to restrict the use of all assets of the college to the purpose of
women's education.

Moreover, just last month, the College filed a lawsuit seeking to break the
will and trust of Louise Jordan Smith, a trust that governs a large number
of the most valuable paintings in the Maier collection. Students, alumnae,
former faculty and museum directors, art donors, Lynchburg citizens and
teachers, and relatives of Louise Jordan Smith have filed an Motion for
Leave to Intervene in the College's suit, and a hearing on that motion is
scheduled for November 9.

"Randolph College's administrators and Board must to be taken to
task for their actions," said Yastremski and Agnew. "What they have done is
unacceptable and cannot be allowed to go forward."

Maier Museum Has Been Robbed

The Maier Museum of my beloved college Randolph-Macon Woman's College was robbed of four important American paintings. I am sickened by the college and it's continued underhanded way of doing business.

More news

I am disgusted with Randolph College

http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/

Still Fighting for Educational Choice

Dear PEC Supporters,

We are pleased to be able to tell you that the Supreme Court of Virginia has
decided to hear both appeals - the student contract case and the charitable
trust case. This is the first critical step in our ability to win our
college back and we are gratified that our hard work and your perseverance
and generosity have brought us to this point.

We all know how long the legal process has taken so far and the appeals are
no different. Although the Court has combined the two cases for the purposes
of oral arguments and filing, it could be up to three months before the
cases are briefed and ready for oral argument. Here is a brief description
of the appeal process. First we must file opening briefs with the Court
within the next 40 days. Then the College will have 25 days to file their
briefs - we then have 14 days to file reply briefs. At that point oral
arguments will be scheduled.

This is a milestone that we have all earned the right to celebrate. If we
win the appeal, we will return to Lynchburg for our day in Court. We are
only in the first stages of this process, but it is the best way to get our
college back. (Although we will continue to encourage the Board of Trustees
to reconsider their decision and allow us to help them restore R-MWC). As
with all other court documents, the Supreme Court's orders granting the
appeals are posted on the PEC website.

Art Intervention

As you know, we have agreed to support those who are attempting to intervene
in the College's bid to sell artwork from the Maier Museum. The intervenors
include relatives of Louise Jordan Smith, current art students, former
faculty and museum staff members, art donors, alumnae and Lynchburg
residents who believe that the College should not sell the Maier Museum's
remarkable collection of American art to fund operating expenses. All of the
documents from the filing (including all of the exhibits) can be found on
our website and we encourage you to read them to better understand Miss
Louise's intent when she set up her trust and how this world-class
collection of American art ended up at a small college in Central Virginia.
The Court will schedule a hearing on the Motion for Leave to Intervene
shortly, and it should be argued sometime in the next few months.

Donations

With two cases now on appeal before the Supreme Court and one case in trial
court, it would be remiss of us not to remind you of how you can make a
donation to help fund these actions. Donations to PEC can be mailed to:

Preserve Educational Choice, Inc.
P.O. Box 29612
Richmond, VA 23242

If you would like to make a donation to help fund the art intervention,
please send a donation to the PEC address above with a note on the check
that it is for the "Art Defense Fund." These monies are being kept
completely separate from the general fund - our ability to pursue the art
intervention is dependent upon our ability to fund the work that must be
done.

PEC Board for 2007-2008

We are pleased to announce the new Board and officers for PEC for the
2007-2008 year. We have one new Board member - Madeline E. Miller '66.
Madeline served as a trustee of R-MWC from 1978-1992 and 1993-1998 and was
President of the Board of Trustees from 1987-1992. We are grateful for the
deep institutional knowledge and passion for R-MWC that Madeline brings to
the PEC Board.

We want to thank Gail Ballou '64, who served the remainder of Ellen Reid
Smith's term as president of PEC's Board, and Martha McClerkin Durnett '85,
who ably served as PEC's first Board treasurer, for their service during the
past year. While both still actively support PEC's mission to restore
Randolph-Macon Woman's College, professional obligations have meant that
they can no longer serve on our very active Board.

Finally, we are pleased to announce that Diane Montgomery, PEC's founder,
will be serving as President of the PEC Board this year. We are delighted
that she has agreed to serve in this leadership role as our legal challenges
to the actions of the R-MWC Board of Trustees continues into a second year.

Board of Directors and Officers 2007-2008

President: Diane U. Montgomery '85
Treasurer: Carol Curcio Lang '68
Secretary: Anne Yastremski '05
Madeline Miller '66
Chantel Sheaks '91

Anne Yastremski continues to serve as PEC's Executive Director, responsible
for the day-to-day operations of PEC, community engagement and development,
media relations, and other activities.

As always, we will keep you updated on the progress of the two appeals
before the Supreme Court of Virginia as well as further actions by the
Randolph College Board of Trustees to sell the art at the Maier Museum.
Recent articles about the college, including articles from the Wall Street
Journal, Washington Post, and Washington Times can be found on the PEC
website in the "Press" section.

Please continue to write letters to the editor, letters to the trustees,
letters to the new president, and letters to faculty - keep up the pressure.
Let the trustees know that you still care about Randolph-Macon Woman's
College and that you are willing and able to support the woman's college if
only given the opportunity to do so. Let everyone know that the future of
the college at 2500 Rivermont is dependent upon fully engaged alumnae.
Randolph College doesn't have any alumni, but if R-MWC's alumnae get our
woman's college back we will bring our talents and gifts to bear on behalf
of our alma mater.

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)

Laptop Crash

So, of course the laptop crashes as the third week of the semester begins. I have been saying for the last few days that I was worried about the laptop-- it's age (I've had it for 18 mos.) and how often it's used-- now I wonder if I jinxed myself. For now I will have to rely on the family computer and it does not have all the little familiarities I have grown accustomed to with my laptop.

Frustration with Litigation

It's the day after the court date for my college-- Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Unfortunately, we did not receive the results we had hoped for. But, the fight is not over. Read the letter below that PEC sent out last night:

Dear PEC Supporters:

By now you may have heard that Judge Leyburn Mosby of the Lynchburg Circuit Court granted the College�s motions to dismiss the contract and trust suits this afternoon. Surprisingly, Judge Mosby ruled immediately from the bench in both cases, though the arguments were complicated and the statutory and case law support offered by both sides filled several notebooks.

Obviously we are disappointed, but those of you familiar with the legal world know that when it comes to litigation there are no guarantees, even when the cases are solid. The legal battle is far from over, and PEC will consider with counsel the advantages of appealing the dismissed suits as well as the opportunities for additional suits in Virginia and other jurisdictions. We will keep all of you informed as these efforts proceed.

From the beginning, we have all recognized that to secure the preservation of Randolph-Macon Woman�s College as a college for women we need to work on many fronts: legal, financial, student activism, donor support, and alumnae intervention. We hope that all of you remain undeterred in your commitment to see this through. It is more important than ever to get a critical mass of alumnae, students, faculty, and friends of R-MWC to work together to provide unified opposition and strong resistance to turn this around. Every voice counts - especially now! So please continue your efforts to inform all of your R-MWC friends about the problems that the strategic plan will bring to R-MWC and how they can help by joining their voice with all of ours.

We are single-minded in our focus to restore Randolph-Macon Woman�s College and we count on the justness of our cause and the gratifying support of our contributors to see us through.

Vita abundantior,

PEC Board

It's time for students, alumna, and others who are concerned to regroup. Personally, I am more convinced than ever that the Board of Trustees are in the wrong and are moving forward with a misguided plan that does not address the past and continued mismanagement of the college. A plan that lacks vision and ignores a movement towards single-sex education and classrooms which is growing across the nation. A plan that includes the consideration of selling off unique college gifts that will be irreplaceable. Suddenly, and what seems almost overnight there is a paradigm shift-- according to the trustees-- they claim that more women can be educated by admitting men to RMWC. This makes no sense given the current increasing trend of women who are attending college. So much of this plan, which is being forced through at record speed, is questionable.

The most difficult part of the unfolding events is knowing that I have waited so long to return to college, pursued my commitment to single-sex education, and uprooted my kids to move from one coast to the other only to have my college turn against their own 115 year mission. The disappointment in the college is another kettle of fish. I feel stuck between a rock and hard place as I am in my second semester of my Junior year and transferring is not really an option.

I can't thank the PEC (Preserve Educational Choice) enough. They have worked tirelessly.


Vita Abundantior

Sundance and the MPAA

Some cinematic news to ponder the MPAA (Motion Picture Arts Associaiton) plan to meet with filmmakers, producers, etc this Sunday at Sundance to make the ratings system more transparent. And speaking of Sundance the festival opened yesterday with a documentary film, Brett Morgen's Chicago 10, which is a mix of animation and archival footage from the Vietnam war-protested 1968 Democratic Convention.

As for me, classes are in full swing. Film production gets underway next week. The kids are hanging in there. Winter here is bizarre and apparently showing up on the west coast instead.

First Day of Classes

Nothing like getting caught up for three weeks and not updating blogger. So, most of the waiting is over. The kids and I have moved. Classes begin today, ironically my children have the day off for MLK Jr. Day.