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As College Officials Meet With Students Over Name Change, Alumni Rally In Opposition

Pat Bradley/WAMC

It’s a school that doesn’t usually find itself in the headlines. But in the latest chapter in a controversy that has been brewing for weeks, a small group of Paul Smith's College alumni gathered at the school’s entrance Thursday evening to express their concerns about a possible college name change attached to a major donation. At the same time, the president was meeting with students to explain the situation. WAMC’s North Country Bureau Chief Pat Bradley was there.

A proposed 20 million dollar donation to Paul Smith's College in the Adirondacks comes with a caveat – the name of the college must be changed to include the donor to Joan Weill-Paul Smiths College.

The plan faces a court challenge based on Phelps’s Smith will, which included a clause that the school would be “…forever known as Paul Smiths College of Arts and Sciences.”

College President Cathy Dove met with students Thursday evening to explain the reason for the name change. Alumni and media were not allowed to attend.  A small group of alumni gathered across the street.  Two-time graduate Abbie O’Grady  summarized the key concerns many alumni and students have about the donation and name change.   “I think the integrity of the school is first and foremost.  It’s a sell-out and it shouldn’t be about money.  It shouldn’t be about her name. It should be about heritage and the history and the culture that’s built here.  Not $20 million, which is a drop in the bucket for her.”

1993 ecology and environmental technology alum Scott Van Laer has numerous concerns about the donation and name-change plan.  “The will of Phelps Smith should be upheld.  And I think it’s totally inappropriate for the college to attempt to get out of one forever clause and then at the same time enter into another forever clause with another person. Let’s say hypothetically if Jack Mas came by and offered a billion dollars, the school wouldn’t be able to accept it. And it makes no sense financially.”

Two freshmen on their way to the meeting passed by and said they had several questions about the name change.  
“I’m Logan Hazard. I’m from Oneonta, New York.  She’s given so much and her name is plastered all over the campus. Whay does she want to make it so drastic? Just like ‘You know let me just cap off the top of the iceberg with my name on the school.’”  

“My name is Hunter Godette and I just don’t understand why they can’t just name a school after them like Joan Weill’s School of Sciences or something like that instead of naming the whole entire college. There was a petition going around to stop the name change and there was many, many people who signed it.  I definitely signed it.  So I fell like that shows that more than enough people that are applied to the school now think that it shouldn’t be changed.”

College President Cathy Dove says college officials had previously met with alumni but last night was the first time they had discussed it with students.   “This news broke over the summer when the students weren’t around. So at the time we told them that as soon as they get back to campus we absolutely wanted to sit down with them and really talk this through. And this was the opportunity to do that.  We set the meeting up and I thought a very good and robust conversation.”

Dove added that while court proceedings restrict how much she can comment, she believes this is a transformational opportunity for the college.   “The Weill’s are donors who have known us for years.  They have supported us for years.  Joan has personally been involved with the school,  cares passionately about the students and our mission here. And with this gift will give us the ability to position us just so well for the future.”

Paul Smith's Natural Resource management and policy sophomore Drew Caprood described himself Thursday as “a student that’s pretty” upset, but used a stronger word, before he went to the meeting with the college president.  He reported Friday morning that there was a good turnout and students had a number of questions.   “She started out really by explaining her side of things and that she couldn’t discuss things that were directly related to this case.  Starting out everybody was pretty agitated as evidenced by people in the room everybody had their arms crossed and like not very big smiles.  She really didn’t go into that much detail on a lot of things. She was very professional about the whole thing.  It is her job, but a lot of students she didn’t answer the questions.  But there was also a lot of questions that were repeated the same because people want answers but she wasn’t answering it.  The answer was like a not-answer.”

The college’s library and student center already bear Joan Weill’s name.