A Bedford County judge is scheduled to hold a hearing Monday to review a legal settlement that will keep Sweet Briar College (SBC) from closing later this summer.
According to the Associated Press, Attorney General in Va. Mark Herring announced conditions for the historic women's college remaining open. The school will access funds raised by alumnae as well as from an endowment and SBC will also get new leadership.
"The Sweet Briar College Board of Directors is pleased the College's financial situation has dramatically changed to avoid closing on Aug. 25, 2015, as previously announced. The College has been working with the Office of the Attorney General, Saving Sweet Briar, County Attorney Ellen Bowyer, and counsel for faculty members and students for weeks on a resolution," SBC said in a statement. "Saving Sweet Briar reports it has received current year pledges of $12 million with additional pledges in hand for subsequent years nearly equal to the initial amount. The attorney general has indicated he will release $16 million from the restricted endowment for the continued operation of Sweet Briar College. As a result of these two important developments, the Board of Directors decided that new leadership should be allowed the opportunity to operate the College for another year with the hope it will be able to find long-term solutions for ongoing sustainability."
When SBC President James F. Jones Jr. announced the school faced "insurmountable financial challenges," students sought transfers, faculty members looked for new jobs and the school's incoming class was without a school before they arrived. SBC still appears on track to "reopen" for the 2015-2016 academic year.
"It has been emotional for everyone," Ashley L. Taylor Jr., a member of the alumnae group who helped raised funds, told the Washington Post. "No one let their ego get in the way of doing the right thing."
