WHAT CCFW HAS BEEN DOING

Written By Denise Barberet

No doubt you remember where you were when you received the news that the Board of Trustees had voted to close Wells College. While in some ways this news was not a surprise, the abruptness of the closure and what we’ve since learned about actions of the Board and the former president have indeed been shocking.

Everyone reacts to traumatic events in their own way. Feelings of loss and grief are natural. Certainly members of the CCFW have felt these emotions. But we have also felt anger that things have happened in this way, and certainty that our alma mater should not end her days with such a lack of honor, grace, and dignity.

This is why a group of alumnae from the 1970s to recent graduates have come together to form the Cleveland Commission for Wells (CCFW). We are an all-volunteer group that has been working to find a path forward for our alma mater. Here’s what we’ve accomplished since we first began to meet.

We have:

  • Incorporated in the State of New York

  • Received an EIN (Employer Identification Number) from and applied for 501(c)(3) (nonprofit) status with the IRS

  • Written and approved bylaws, elected officers and directors, and established committees

  • Agreed on a common set of goals

  • Retained legal representation, and developed and initiated a plan of action

  • Requested critical information from the college

  • Requested a meeting with college administration

  • Examined publicly available financial information from the college going back 20 years

  • Written to the Board of Regents, the Attorney General of the State of New York, and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (the college’s accrediting body), detailing our many concerns over the closure

  • Reached out to those who may have class status for potential actions against the college

  • Built a website

  • Built a database of donors

  • Been interviewed by various press outlets, including the New York Times

  • Raised over $40,000 to support our legal efforts

  • Received in-kind donations for fees for the website and domain name, filings, and other expenses associated with establishing the Commission

  • Monitored recent real estate sales of college-owned properties, as well as those newly advertised for sale

  • Monitored responses of the Village of Aurora to the college’s closure

  • Researched the histories of other small liberal-arts colleges that came back from the brink

  • Brainstormed plans for Wells 2.0

  • Kept hope alive that our alma mater is NOT beyond saving!

(Originally published on 12 July 2024)

Denise Barberet
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