SmileThese days, pouring oil on

troubled waters only rilesthem up a bit more. Public(ISSN 0033-3808) 110th Year No. 182 Wednesday, Febri

Nearly 100 WilsonWCGA president Gretchen Van Ness reads speech at Wednesday rallyin front of Norland Hall, the President's building.

Statement read by Gretchen Van Ness, President of the WilsonCollege Government Association, at the rally at 10 a.m., Feb. 21, 1979.

We are here today as members of the Wilson College communitybecause we refuse to let one hundred and ten years of education, life,struggle, love, and achievement become merely a memory.

We are here today because we refuse to forget the thousands ofwomen who have found their hearts, souls, and voices on this campus.

We are here today because Wilson is more than a set of buildings, aparticular body of students, a budget, and a Board of Trustees.

We are here because we are Wilson.The decision to close the college at the end of this academic year

comes as a shock to all of us. We realize there are problems, some ofthem very serious, but we refuse to accept the Board of Trustees'decision that there are no viable solutions.

We are rallying today to show the strength and commitment of thecommunity to this entity called Wilson College. We feel that Wilson'sdemanding academic program, her excellent resources, and hernumerous extra-curricular activities continue to make her a strongand relevant institution. Some of the qualities that make her great,such as the Honor Principle, are elusive and hard to sell, but they existnonetheless and every effort must be made to promote them at thistime.

It is impossible for us to imagine a world without Wilson. We declarethrough our presence here today to do everything in our power tomaintain and improve our college. Wilson College, as a tradition, as anideal, as a way of life, deserves our utmost effort and this we arecommitted to give. Students gather in front of Riddle Hall.

Photo by Susan White

Students DenStudents gather at the entrance to Wilson College to demonstrateSupport for the College. Photo by Christopher Shatzer, Public Opinion

photographer. """•• • "I V / l l v / k l UkVr Devotion for College

OpinionAB A Gannett Newspaper

jary 21, 1979 Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

RainClearing by late tonighiDetails, map on page 2

36 Pages, 20 Cenl

Students gather on Norland porch to demonstrate opposition to thetrustees' seemingly hasty decision ^°tl° |?^£istopher Shatzer> Public °Pinion

Residents of Prentis Hall used the snow to their

advantage, building a snow-woman to demonstrate

the trustees' decision to close Wilson College.

Her name, "Wilson", was scrawled beneath the

lopped-off head, which lies in the snow to the left.

. — Photo by Susan White

Signs abound during the demonstration. A favorite was "Odd or Even— We Won't Be Leavin'." Photo by Christopher Shatzer, Public

Opinion photographer.

AlumnaeAn informal group of alumnae,

students, faculty and friends ofWilson College met on Saturday,March 3, 1979, to discuss theBoard of Trustees' decision toclose the College. The meetingtook place in Thomson Chapeland was chaired by NancyAdams Besch.

During this meeting Mrs.Elizabeth Diely, President of theAlumnae Association, announcedtwo resolutions that had beenadopted earlier in the day by theAlumnae Association Board ofDirectors. The first resolutionstated that the AlumnaeAssociation would remain aliveand intact. The second stated thatrepresentatives from theAlumnae Association wouldrequest to meet with the Board ofTrustees regarding additionalpertinent information concerningthe closing of the College.

A group of alumnae adoptedthe following proposals:

1. We challenge the Board ofTrustees' decision to close theCollege and enjoin them toreverse their course of action.

2. We propose to further in-vestigate the criteria upon whichthe panel of experts based theirsuggestions, and upon which theBoard of Trustees subsequentlymade their decision.

3. We propose that the effortsto recruit students should bethoroughly reevaluated. We willsupport an intensive recruitingprogram and volunteer our ef-forts.

4. Alumnae will be com-prehensively polled to determineresources for recruitment,communications, professionaltalents, and finances.

List ATnTs5 ur«5. We propose that the com-

munications network be im-proved in order to accuratelyinform the alumnae.

6. We propose that there will bean examination of the curriculumand that the suggestions sub-mitted by the Middle StatesAssociation be implementedimmediately.

7. We adopt a vote of no con-fidence in the decision of theBoard of Trustees and the Ad-ministration to close the college.

8. We proposed that thealumnae support the formation ofthe necessary committees toimplement these proposals.

Fundamentally, those presentwere calling for the Board ofTrustees to be held accountableto the Wilson community for itsdecision and actions.

The motion was approved toestablish the C. Elizabeth BoydFund specifically to provideresources and legal counsel onbehalf of the alumnae in-vestigating the policies andprocedures of the Board ofTrustees. Contributions should besent to the C. Elizabeth BoydFund, 122 Park Ave., Cham-bersburg, PA, 17201. This fund iscompletely independent of theAlumnae Association and theCollege.

The motion was approved toappeal to the administration andthe Board of Trustees to stop allpublicity regarding the closing ofWilson College until the AlumnaeAssociation Board of Directorsmeets with the Board of Trustees.

The alumnae intend to tap theirgreat potential and skills andkeep Wilson College avital institution.

Faculty ResolutionA resolution towards President

Waggoner's resignation wasintroduced by Prof. Townsendand was passed by the faculty attheir monthly meeting on May 1.The resolution is as follows:

The faculty requests thatMargaret Waggoner resign,immediately as President of'Wilson College and remove,herself from all affairs related to,the endingof the college year andfrom the negotiations amongtrustees, alumnae, faculty, and/students regarding the closing of-the College. We consider that she.no longer represents any con-,stituency in the College and thather continued involvement Isdetrimental to the welfare of theCollege and all its constituencies.

Also at the faculty meeting, theAcademic Procedures Com-mittee reported that they haverevised and finalized theprocedures to be followed byjuniors who wish to receive aWilson degree. The procedureswere passed by the faculty andcopies were distributed tostudents through the Post Office.

"Top Administrative Positions Available. NoPrevious Experience Necessary. Interested? Call 9-5,weekdays: 264-4141"

^Aff..>*

nfom AppearsTo Dispel Rumors

In these troubled times, rumorsare running rampant andclouding the real problems. As apublic service, we have decidedto list all those rumors that areabsolutely, unequivocally andpositively false. Comments areadded to some of the rumors.

(1) "The campus will beturned into a girls' reformschool."

(2) "MW has dumped JM andplans to elope with DD."

(3) "After the vote to closeWilson was taken, the Presidentof Byrn Mawr — a Wilson trustee— leaped for joy and rushed tothe dorms to recruit students forByrn Mawr."

(4) "The President is keepinga list of library books checked outby faculty members." This kindof rumor simply adds to thetension on campus. The

By "The Wilson Phantom"President would certainly not actin such an undignified manner,especially considering herrespect for the faculty. Why, thenext thing we might hear is thatthe locks on the doors are beingchanged.

(5) "The Board of Trusteesdoesn't care about the plight ofstaff, faculty and students." Weall know how deeply concernedthe Board is; witness the fact thatthey have set up the WilsonCollege Foundation to providelifetime employment for at leastone Wilson person.

(6) "The Board failed to studyall options carefully." We allknow that the Board — and thetrustees are all honorable people— spent an unusually long time(at least 10 days) consulting witha variety of experts and the onlyviable option was to close the

(Continued on page 4)

66Save Wilsonheadquarters openHad the Save Wilson Com-

mittee realized that most Wilsonstudents would not be inChambersburg on the Mondayfollowing Easter, they mighthave planned it differently. Butthe opening of the Save WilsonHeadquarters on N. Main St.,Chambersburg, happened asscheduled on Monday morning,April 16, at 9:00.

The Wilson students who hadstayed on campus over the LongWeekend started gatheringaround 8:30 a.m. to walk to thenew Headquarters together.There were between 20 and 30 ofus altogether and when wereached Headquarters we werejoined by many alumnae fromthe area and several professors.

Marji Halpine led several

cheers and finally Dean Disertand WCGA President GretchenVan Ness stepped up to cut thefluttering blue ribbon stretchedbefore the door. "For all Wilsonstudents," Gretchen began, "andall Wilson alumnae," added DeanDisert, "now and forever!" andthey cut the ribbon together.

A brief reception and petitionsigning followed. Save WilsonHeadquarters will be openMonday through Saturday, 9:00a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Volunteers areneeded to help with all facets ofthe Save Wilson Campaign.Please contact the Headquartersif you would like to help.

The address is the "SaveWilson" Headquarters, 127 N.Main St., Chambersburg. Thetelephone number is 263-5184.

Phantom, con'f.College. There was certainly noneed for the Board to consult withstaff, faculty, students andalumnae, since the Board is wiserthan all that riff-raff.

(7) "The College failedbecause of poor management."This rumor is the silliest of all.The fact that, in the last 3%years, we have had 4 deans, 3business managers, 3 publicinformation people, 3 studentservices directors, 2 alumnaeaffairs directors, 3 admissionsdirectors, a complete turnover ofadmissions staff at least twice,and a massive turnover of staff inthe office of development andpublic relations has nothing at allto do with the demise of WilsonCollege. We must look at thepositive side: we have had onlyone President in that time.

(8) "Alumnae are a valuableasset to the College;" Nonsense.Alumnae are a necessary evil forobtaining money on occasion.Nevertheless, the Collegedecided to go to the trouble andexpense of informing thealumnae that the College isclosing, although we were able tokeep expenses low by mailing thenotices at bulk rate. (We triedmailing them postage-due, butthe Post Office wouldn't acceptthem.) The College continues inits never-ending battle to balancethe budget at all costs.

(9) "The College, afterFebruary 19, gave notice of non-renewal of appointment to twofaculty members." How silly!Why would the College do thatafter announcing the closing ofthe College?

(10) "Faculty and staff plan tosue for severance pay." Facultyand staff certainly have no rightto expect any extra pay justbecause they have been at theCollege for 1, 10 or even 30 yearsand will probably be unable tofind other employment anytimesoon. Their salaries have beentoo high anyway.

*.(!!) "The College will notclose." No way. The Board, bypublicly announcing the closingof the College without consultingthose most affected by theclosing, has ensured that theCollege shall close.

Statistical death

They're killing Wilsondespite its potential'

The article below is an open letteraddressed to the Board of Trustees ofWilson College by Raymond K. An-derson, associate professor of religiousstudies at the college.Dear Colleagues:

A number of concerned people, whothink of themselves as part of the life ofthe college, have been calling my atten-tion to the recently published news itembelow (Editor's note: A copy of anarticle from Working Woman entitled'New era for women's colleges?' wasattached) as one more piece of evidencethat the well-intentioned persons whowere party to the recent decision to killthe college have been wronged by havingwell-woven wool pulled over their eyes.

The item in question documents howinstitutions of a nature and missionsimilar to ours have been experiencingvigorous growth and increasing expecta-tions. To all who are close to oursituation the image which was pushedoff on the Trustees of the decliningprospects and irreversable weakening ofan institution such as ours is becomingclear as a fabrication unwarranted by allthe facts.

Unhappily, it now must become pub-licly apparent that to have painted sucha picture of inevitability around Wilson'sdemise makes sense only as part of ourlong-faltering administration's last-ditch effort to cover up its own severeand continuing ineptitude in admissions,public relations, staff relations and(more to the point) in human relations ingeneral.

The failure to mobilize the college'shuman resources has become manifest—and this is an even more screamingblunder than the mismanaged financialresources (although the latter has meantfailure to maintain our program at the'critical mass' attractive to a broadgroup of students). On the crucial, hu-man relations side, the administration'srecord shows fiasco after fiasco. Andthere has been little or no vision for thecontemporary potential or goals of achurch-related institution, whose man-date has always been to serve the needsof an actual human community withflexibility, rather than to follow anelitist academic abstraction and exist,

as Margaret Waggoner has been cited",'for the mind's sake' alone. Ivory toweridolatry was not for a school of Wilson'scalling.

Anyone standing by the firstjudgment of the college's "inability...toattract students" under the "leader-ship," as it was reported, "of PresidentWaggoner," must sooner or later sadlyrecognize the evidence that this trag-ically bungled administration is not to beattributed to "declining prospects' of theinstitution, as those who want a cover-upwould have it.

All of this would be irrelevant if theadministrative and human relations faiJ-ure had put Wilson past any hope or help.But it is not by any means beyond hopeor help.'

Its resources and immediate pros-pects—especially its human resourcesand potential for service—are many,many times greater today than when thecollege was founded by the vision ofJonathan Edwards' grandson and thatother minister. Wightman. one hundrgdand ten years ago. The only thing ofreduced stature today is its leaders'vision. To pursue "excellence" to theexclusion of service is small, humanlysmall. It is small to prefer death withdignity to a life of compromise withhuman needs.

The real need for a private andchurcn-related college in a societywhose higher education is increasinglydominated by the state is more crucialthan ever in its history.

We can still move out to serve today'syoung people in their career needs intoday's real world, where they must—both men and women—earn their way.Ex-Dean Martha Church took Wilson'sliberal arts finest with her to HoodCollege, a weaker school in many ways,where she has been successful throughleading in just that kind of service.Wilson's liberal arts tradition and thechanges in character necessary to betterserve in a new day are not mutuallyexclusive, as the decision to close pre-sumed.

Our college has always lived on ashoestring financially. Yet, a bit like theproverbial lump of yeast, it has had aninfluence for good in the larger society

immeasurably greater than its financialor numerical strength. It has always ,been a good investment, judged by thehuman return.

Now we have been told that there iscourage in killing the college with digni-ty. Balderdash!

This is an appalling indignity.There was some courage in living

with faith, as this college has donethrough its more than one hundred stu-dent generations. It is quite simply EVILto let it die on statistics.

Since its base is modest, only apainfully modest investment of creativi-ty and good will will be necessary tomake the college work. The Presby-terian Church has not begun to bemobilized in a hearty effort to save oneof its own closely related schools. (Ap-parently concerned students visitingleaders of this 2.6 million member bodyin New York to ask what could be doneto keep Wilson open were the first oneseven to let these people know that one oftheir schools was in real jeopardy!)

It will take only a modicum of hu-mane leadership with a vision to makethe college work. There are a number ofpersons even among our talented alum-nae who could provide such leadership.If they can only be freed of the nay-sayers!

What would such leadership have toachieve?

A dozen handfulls of newly recruitedstudents, perhaps, ten or twelve strong,each attracted through a different up-to-date and appealing new idea?

The self-investment, perhaps, of afew hundred of the thousands of in-terested people?

Effective mobilization of church andcommunity support?

Enlistment of a score or two of majorcontributors?

A dollar bill from every Presby-terian, perhaps? Has anyone askedthem?

It's all pretty small potatoes! Noth-ing impossible about it; and nothing

_jnevitable about the death of £his com-munity. ~~ ~ •—

But death with dignity? I ASK you.Now for a serving community that

has lived on faith to be killed bystatistics because some of us in leader-ship are "small-faiths'" may be tragic.But that any of us should be party to amisuse of statistics to project a lieobscuring the institution's potential—that is a crime against all the livingpeople who are the college and againstall those, still unborn, who are still tobenefit from it.

The greater shame, if, as has been t;case, the administration assumes a posi-tion of conflicting interests, ( i s ) hoard-ing college resources as assets of ans asyet, nonexistent "foundation" againstthe claims and interest of the livingpersons who are the college. (As astudent of the Bible, I can'f help recall-ing that ail-too clever Pharisees madethemselves notorious by having a specialterm for that sort of thing: "Corban,"they called it. See Mark 7:11.) Thisparticular Pharisaism is simply thecrowning deed in a long series displayinga mentality that repeatedly has putabstract ideas above human beings andwhich now places a would-be legal enti-ty, a foundation (which would at best bea non-personal institution), above actualliving people of life-long loyalty, andtheir families' needs. That is evil. Noother word for it, however well-in-tended.

For those of us who worked with andoften respected a leader despite her andour manifest faults, it is terribly painfulthat all of this must become public now:Partly through the bills of particularswhich expose the three-year pattern ofbungling in admissions policy, partlyth rough wide discussion of thedeplorable ineptitude in human relationswhich has been frustrating this college'sgrowth. All of this is especially sad foran administrator who apparently hatespublicity about her actions and whostrikes people as suspicious of what thepublic might do.

Unfortunately, all the people havebeen comparing notes: they have noticedthe record number of petulant firings,forced resignations and staff walk-outswhich have occurred among those shehas hired. Any businessman looks at thatand says, "Well, if you want to kill anorganization..." And the people mustwonder if there is a record so dismal inall the annals of higher education.

We know from communication withofficers and members of the Board thatthey, like us, have long been quietlywringing their hands over this problem,hoping for improvement. And we knowthey have shared our own dismay, as oneafter another of our college's constituen-cies has been alienated and its good willbungled away.

But i s i t a p p r o p r i a t e t h a t theTrustees' flagging confidence in theiradministrative officer should be occa-sion for despairing of the college's poten-tial? It is understandable that under thecircumstances individual members mayfeel weary of carrying a burning concernfor Wilson; but other Wilson friends,who are still fresh, would be glad to pickup the torch.

The entire public will be watchingthose it entrusts with responsibility for

signs of that courage which will recog-nize when a judgment has been made ona wrong basis. They will be watching forthe courage to reverse position, as newfacts come to light, or in this case, asnew life becomes apparent in a patientalready presumed dying.

What would you think of the doctorwho tried to shut out of the sick room allother conserned specialists brought in bythe family to help the patient this doctorhas declared beyond his own ability toheal?

And yet this past week we have beentreated to the spectacle of the chairmanof our board approaching alumnae, whohappen to be on the college's staff, tothreaten their jobs under title of "con-flict of interest." Such persons had thetemerity to support the life of their AlmaMater. A sorry spectacle indeed!

And yet this fastidious legal concernapparently remains oblivious of ourchief administrative officer's blatantconflict of interest. To the bystander thechief difference between the two casescan only be that the staff persons inquestion are showing concern for theliving persons who are and will be thecollege, while the individual who issupposed to be administering this col-lege in its best interests has publiclyassumed a stance against the manifestinterests of those who are the college.

Maturity knows that many thingsmay be done in good legal form—evenwith a glossy show of "dignity"—whichare plain wrong in human terms.

Those Board members who come torecognize how things were misconstruedand who either begin to support thoseclaiming vision of new prospects for thecollege, or step down in their favor, aregoing to be known and remembered fortheir own vision and courage.

There may be others, as it wouldappear, who are teetering on the vergeof losing their own good name and publicfuture wherever a suspicion of an unwar-ranted "conspiracy to turn Wilson into aprivate little foundation" will be re-membered with repugnance among ageneral public, who are beginning tounderstand all too well "how it hasbeen."

As it becomes clear that all the livingconstituencies who comprise the collegewould have chosen some of the otheroptions which were considered by theboard, rather than kill it, and as newfacts continue to emerge, suggestingthere is potential beyond the cover-upfor successfully updating its response inits calling to serve,'please re-consideryour own position on the therapeutics ofprescribing death for a community. For

ja college is a living community.

We hope you realize that if it comesto an impasse for you, there will be greatpersonal honor for you, if having servedso long and conscientiously in difficulttimes, you choose graciously to stepdown at once if unable to go forwardwith a self-renewing college, so ( that )others, who are also worthy of the publictrust, may make their fur ther self-investment here, where you and I maycome to feel our own must end.

Respectfully:RAYMOND K. ANDERSON. Th.D.Assoc. Prof, of Religious studiesWilson College

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Chambersburq '"^Panr717-264-4141

9. Pennsylvania 17201

March 2, 1979

TO: Members of the class of 1980

FROM: President Waggoner

I am advised that Wilson can arrange to awardthe Wilson degree in June, 1980. We will arrangeto do so!

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Save Wilson" hearingset for Monday

- Some charges reviewedBy Katie Buchler

The Save Wilson Committeeand its attorneys are currentlytrying to reverse the Trusteedecision to close the college bytaking court action in the form ofa lawsuit. A petition was filed inthe Franklin County Court ofCommon Pleas by attorneyRobert L. McQuaide, on March27.

The court will hear argumentsconcerning the suit on May 7, inthe courthouse in Chambersburg.The hearing will begin at 9:30a.m., and will be open to thepublic.

The ultimate goal of the lawsuitis to remove all 24 members ofthe Board of Trustees, and toobtain a permanent injunctionagainst the closing of Wilson.Plaintiffs in the suit includealumnae, faculty, and membersof the student body who are in-volved in intense campaignsagainst the closing of the school,which was announced by theChairman of The Board ofTrustees, Martha B. Walker onFebruary 19.

The petition charges the Boardof Trustees with 17 counts ofmismanagement. Some keycharges are:

— "Failure to fully imple-ment a report submitted to the —" &v*i is onefacu l ty , admin i s t r a t ion , million dollars by the date of thetrustees and students for use in hearing. It is hoped that the ef-1979-80 and following school forts of the fund-raising drive andyears by the Commission on the availability of qualifiedHigher Education of The successors for the currentMiddle States Association of trustees will influence the courtColleges and Schools, choosing favorably,instead to terminate the I n t e r e s t e d c o m m u n i t y

members can sign a petitionurging the Board of Trustees toreconsider their decision to closeWilson bv navir,rf « ---•-•• •

— Breach of contract withcurrently enrolled students atWilson College and with allaccepted prospective students.

— Violation and grossdeviation from the originalcharter and amendmentsthereto supplemented by 110years of history and practice.

— Failure to adequately orcompetently recruit newstudents or to utilize alumnaein the recruitment effort.

— Failure to sufficientlycurtail expenditures in view ofincome, and to secureadequate funds to meetgeneral operating expenses.

— Failure to adequatelyreorganize and maintain acompetent and effective ad-ministration staff, and todevise and implement a planfor faculty retrenchment asthe facts and circumstanceswarrented.The Save Wilson Committee is

also engaged in reviewingpotential trustees so that theymay serve in the event that thecollege stays open. Alumnae thatsupport the committee are nowconducting an enormous fund-raising drive, and have alreadyraised approximately $650thousand. Their goal is onemillion dollars by the date of thehearina ! > ; < • • J ••

.„ -I, mi in me mecollege less than a year laternotwithstanding a degree ofoptimism expressed by thereport as to the college'sfinancial picture."

(Continued from page 1)

people have already signed thepetition, and 6 thousandsignatures is the goal.

The Save Wilson Committeewelcomes community donations.The C. Elizabeth Boyd Fund isbeing used to pay for all legal andmailing expenses. Contributionsto this fund can be made in cashor check form. Contributions tothe Preservation of WilsonCollege Trust must be made inthe form of a pledge, since thatsum will be applied to theoperating costs of the school onlyin the event that Wilson staysopen as a teaching institution.

Anyone who would like furtherinformation about what thecommittee is doing should writeor call the Save WilsonHeadquarters at 127 North MainStreet, Chambersburg, Penn-sylvania, 17201, telephone 717-263-5184.

Help save our beloved school!

men uecision to closeWilson by paying a visit to theHeadquarters. About 3 thousand

(Continued on page 4)

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