Sweet Briar to Remain Open for 2015-16 School Year

Sweet Briar College, an all-women only liberal arts college in Virginia, will remain open for the 2015-2016 school year and is expecting nearly 300 students to attend after previously planning on shutting down.

The college released a statement June 22, 2015, stating that a circuit court judge in Virginia approved a negotiated settlement that would allow the continued operation of the college for an additional year. Under the settlement, Saving Sweet Briar Inc. will donate $12 million for the funding of one year.

Saving Sweet Briar Inc. was formed by students and alumni searching for a way to keep their “beloved alma mater,” according to the website. A 2004 alum, Brooke Linville, offered to build and maintain a website where pledges of financial support for the institution could be collected, and from the website came Saving Sweet Briar Inc., Virginia non-profit.

“Saving Sweet Briar, Inc. was established to block the closure of Sweet Briar College and provide accurate information to students, faculty, and alumnae about the true financial condition of Sweet Briar College and the viable alternatives to closure,” the group states as its vision.

Since the creation of the website on March 3, 2015, the non-profit has garnered $8.5 million and is in the process of collecting the additional $3.5 million to reach its milestone, which it plans to have by early September.

Also as part of the settlement, the college will have access to $16 million in previously restricted funds in the college’s endowment, and 13 of the 23 board members were required to resign, after which 18 new members would be elected.

In February 2014 the board of directors of Sweet Briar College unanimously voted to close the college because of “insurmountable financial challenges,” according to a statement released in March 2015. The decision sparked three lawsuits, all of which were dismissed when the settlement was approved.

With the knowledge that Sweet Briar would remain open, the college released a statement July 2, 2015, announcing Phillip Stone, former president of Bridgewater College and Virginia attorney, as the new Sweet Briar president.

“I am delighted to join you at the renewed, energized and determined Sweet Briar College,” Stone said in a letter to the Sweet Briar community. “We are open for business, not only for the coming school year but for the next 114 years and beyond.”

Sweet Briar, whose enrollment was about 530 students in spring 2015, is not safe.

"The institution may survive for some period but its fate will be determined in the public eye over the next twelve months," wrote Brian Mitchell, former president of Bucknell University. "Either Sweet Briar evolves or it dies a death that will be painful to watch."

Stone, nonetheless, is optimistic about the coming year.

“At Sweet Briar College, the impossible is just another problem to solve,” Stone said in the letter to the community.

Contact news assistant Helaine Ridilla at helaine.ridilla@richmond.edu.