3/27/1981, Burlington Free Press
MONEY IS WHAT'S NEEDED, NOT HOT AIR, GODDARD FACULTY,
STUDENTS TELL TRUSTEES
By NEIL DAVIS
MONTPELIER - Goddard College faculty and students sent this message
Thursday to the board of trustees: The college needs money, not hot air.
The trustees were asked to dip into their own wallets and to use their contacts
to solicit other donations to help stave off collapse of the financially shaky
liberal arts college.
Petitions circulated on the Plainfield campus drew 29 faculty members and about
50 student signatures.
"What we wish to know is what specific dollar amounts the board is committed
to raising and will itself give," said the faculty petition.
One of the authors, writing teacher Roger Weingarten, said trustees ought to
"lead the way both in giving and fund raising. We're simply asking the board
to do that."
In a resolution adopted by the board Sunday, the trustees called for an aggressive
fund drive.
The board also endorsed reducing the teaching staff, streamlining administration,
pursuing accreditation renewal and developing new money-making education
programs.
Although applauding those initiatives, the petitioners said the board ought
to do more than make decisions on the college's direction.
Both the faculty and student petitions called for activist trustees to be
appointed to about six vacancies on the board and for the 21 existing trustees
to do more.
"We insist that you act aggressively in your role at this critical time,"
said the student petition.
Undergraduate Kenneth Brief, who predicted up to 200 other students may sign
petitions, said, "We're not being snotty about it, but we felt we have to have
active board members.
"At least if they put their heart into Goddard's survival we would have a better
chance than if they just sit on their thrones making judgments," he said.
The student petition said its signers supported the notion of keeping the
college independent.
A previous petition, which hung on the cafeteria wall for more than a week before
being presented with about 175 signatures to the board Sunday, opposed a proposed
merger with Norwich University, a military college.
Goddard president Victor Loefflath-Ehly said trustees range from rich to
relatively poor and have differing abilities to make donations to the college.
"It certainly is as fair to ask trustees to dip into their own pockets as it
was to ask faculty and staff in December to take a cut in pay.
"If they can't dip into their own pockets, they should feel pressure to go out
and hit up their friends," he said.
The faculty petition was presented to board chairman Richard Sontag of
Stamford, Conn., who was on campus Thursday. He is senior vice president
of Connecticut Bank and Trust.
Weingarten said every faculty member contacted was willing to sign the
petition. About a dozen others were unavailable.
The student petition was posted on campus Thursday and will be presented to the
board after "100 or 150" more students sign it, Brief said.
He said he is majoring in "campus politics," adding "I guess I came to the
right place."
Goddard is about $3 million in debt and its enrollment has been on the
decline. Five years ago, 1,900 students were enrolled. The projection for
next fall is 800.
Up to a third of faculty members may lose their jobs this year.
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