Joshua,
As a trustee of the college, I would like to answer your questions. First, where does the money from tuition go? It goes to pay significantly below average benefits and salaries to cafeteria workers, maintenance workers, administrators and faculty. It goes to attempting to maintain buildings whose plumbing, heating and electrical systems are quite old and therefore expensive to maintain and even more expensive to replace.

As our President, Dr. Puglisi said, tuition doesn?t cover all of the expenses incurred in providing a college education. The short fall is typically filled by interest from an endowment, donations from alumni, grants, state funds, federal funds or loans. This is true regardless of the size of the institution or how much they charge for tuition. At Intermont, keeping the student/teacher ratio low has always been a priority. Presently the average is 12:1with a total enrollment of approximately 1100. This for good or bad has kept tuition much higher than state institutions with tens of thousands of students attending classes of 75 or more.

While conspiracy theories make for great films and news copy, the reality of what has happened at Intermont is not very exciting. It is basic economics. Over the last 20 years while costs have risen, state and federal funds to colleges have been dwindling steadily, particularly for private institutions. The Baptist Convention has also reduced funding for its affiliated colleges. This reduction has increased the competition for grants, while the funds foundations have to donate have been hit hard by low interest rates and a poorly performing stock market. The same low interest rates and stock market woes that impact foundations has meant that the Intermont Endowment has not earned enough to help defray costs as it should.

This endowment, which is only $4 million compared with $20 million and up typically found in similar colleges, is at the heart of the problem. While institutions like Harvard, Yale and the University of Virginia have a long history of graduating predominantly male doctors, lawyers, engineers and captains of industry, Intermont has not. While Intermont is proud of having graduated thousands of teachers, social workers, photographers, artists, ballerinas and equestrians, these professions feed the soul, not the pocket book. Our alumni simply don?t have the power to donate at the same level as graduates of other institutions. The end result is an endowment that is not sufficient to carry the college during hard times and in the last two decades we have had many.

In this Intermont is not unusual. All of these issues are affecting every small college in the country and explains why almost every week another college is forced to close its doors.

As anyone who reads this paper knows, Intermont?s financial woes are nothing new. For some reason however, we have failed to convey the real urgency the college was facing in a manner that would gain the support we desperately need. Pleas for financial support have fallen on deaf ears.

While that is how we got here, your other question, ?Why should I consider donating to ?a sinking ship??? needs to be answered. Well, the best reasons I can think of are people like Linda Creasey, Robert Rainwater, Jay Phyfer, Jon Mehlferber, Eddie Federwisch, Patty Graham-Theirs and the rest of the faculty and staff who have remained loyal to VI and their students despite cuts to benefits and already substandard wages. These people each have a passion for teaching and a devotion to their students that you can?t buy at any price. You should donate for the hundreds of students who love VI every bit as much as you do and would like to have the opportunity to become alumni of this college. You should donate because as a member of the Bristol community, you benefit from Intermont?s existence in the form of qualified teachers for your children?s schools, social workers who are providing services to the area?s poor, elderly, and emotionally wounded, artists and photographers who make Bristol a community with a soul, and equine professionals who make life better for horses and the people who love them.

As a sailor, I particularly appreciate your reference to VI as a ?sinking ship.? I can tell you from experience that when a ship is sinking, if you don?t want to lose the ship, you begin bailing out the water while someone else patches the hole. That is what we are asking you, the people of our community, our alumni, and anyone who respects the work we do here to help us bail out the water. We, the trustees and administration are already doing our part to patch the hole. With your help, we will be able to not only patch the hole but make permanent repairs that will prevent us from sinking in the future.

We have the knowledge and systems in place to make Intermont a solvent institution. All we need is money. What we offer in exchange is an institution with a 122 year history of contributions to our students, our community and the world at large.

Well I am suprised to see that they have lasted this long. After bieng a long time freind and former employee of VI I am saddend to see it go,but do to gross missmanagement and very bad financial decisions I am not suprised! I have seen some very bad leaders take over in critical depts. These people have ran a wonderfull school in to the ground! Keep President Puglisi and FIRE the incompentant ones! I left cuase I could see this coming and no one would listen. Oh well good luck VI

As an alumnus of VI this was a shock to me! I can't imagine how they do not have money. I'll be paying off my debt for years! It seems unfathomable to me that they would be so severely in debt as to not offer contracts again. Where does the money go?? The buildings have not been renovated in years so doesn't seem to go to that. I am both disappointed and angry. I enjoyed my experience at VI and I hate to see it destroyed by poor finances. Why should I consider donating to a "sinking ship"?