Antioch Alumni Association Acting Board Treasurer Rick Daily's response to my questions
Here is the complete text of Mr. Daily's response to my questions. I thank him very much for taking the time.
I will refrain from responding for a while, hoping what I have already written is clearly understood.
From: "Rick Daily"
To: "'alanbenard at pobox.com'"
Subject: RE: [Alumni-chat] RE: COLLEGE REVIVAL FUND INFO
Date: Sunday, June 24, 2007 11:56:52 PM
I'm not yet on the chat board. Please pass the following along:
Stay tuned. Here's where we are right now:
The best news is that we raised over $400,000 in cash and pledges from the
alumni present at reunion. We'll be coming knocking on the rest of the
doors soon.
More to the point, our strategy is:
1. Empower College President Steve Lawry, with the assistance of the Alumni
Association, to create a new Board of Trustees for the College only, and a
business plan to operate the College as a mostly autonomous unit of Antioch
University, keeping the College open past July 2008.
In my judgment, immediate separation from the University isn't immediately
feasible. The University has federally registered the trademark "Antioch"
in connection with any educational activity or product. (Never mind the
fact that the College has used that name for 150 years before the University
came into existence; the University will argue - with some truth, apparently
-- that the College created the University and transferred all rights to the
name to the University.)
2. Either (a) keep the Revival fund within the University Endowment but
subject to the exclusive control of the Alumni Association Board of
Trustees, or (b) immediately obtain 501(c)(3) status for the Alumni
Association.
3. Negotiate terms of the College's relative autonomy with the University
Board of Trustees, including the ability for the College to raise funds
independently of the University (currently prohibited absent consent of the
University Trustees under the University bylaws), and a modest recurring
subsidy from the University to the College.
4. Provide College President Lawry with as much assistance as he needs and
the alumni can muster to develop the business plan for the newly autonomous
College, including curriculum planning, student recruitment and retention,
positioning of the College and marketing, and preservation of the physical
plant (buildings, grounds, equipment and library).
Our goal is to be as transparent and consultative as possible given the
speed with which we must move. You will be able to chart our course through
various websites.
Rick Daily
Richard W. Daily LLC
215 Union Boulevard, Suite 315
Lakewood, CO 80228
(720) 963-1121 (o)
(720) 963-1171 (f)
(720) 318-5880 (c)
-----Original Message-----
From: alanbenard at pobox.com [mailto:alanbenard at comcast.net]
Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2007 1:56 AM
To: rdaily at dailyllc.com
Subject: [Alumni-chat] RE: COLLEGE REVIVAL FUND INFO
Mr. Daily:
http://w3.antioch.edu/pipermail/alumni-chat/2007-June/000957.html
Could you please address these questions?
Thanks.
Alan Benard, '92
The full text of the link above:
Sabina Kneisly wrote:
>*The "College Revival Fund" is supposedly going to be controlled by the
> Alumni board as I understand it. How does this genuinely assure independence
> from the University, particularly as the President of the Alumni Board also
> sits on the University Board of Trustees?
Thank you.
If you don't do this right, how does one know the Alumni Board won't develop a majority in favor of dumping it into the UNIVERSITY operating fund? Stranger things have happened.
If you don't do this right, what keeps the university from suing to say the funds were gathered under false pretenses? If that happens and the funds end up in escrow, boy, are you donors gonna be pissed off.
And what if, under that scenario, the Alumni Board/Revival committee had wanted to use the umptybazillion dollars you've raised to help the faculty fight for an injunction? That certainly won't be useful, and should leave everyone feeling like a tool.
> *As assumedly the fund is using the umbrella of the alumni board as the
> 501c3 status (tax status, useful in tax deductibility) but the alumni board
> is the ANTIOCH alumni board- assumedly using the University's tax status,
> again, how does this assure independence? Is the board incorporated as part
> of the university's tax status or not?
No one should give a _dime_ before this question is answered by a competent attorney in the field of non-profit law IN THE JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE UNIVERSITY IS INCORPORATED.
> *why is the fund not a completely separate entity, and it's own tax status
> with a separate set of people controlling it, other than the Antioch College
> Alumni Board? (Yes, I know, people wanted to give money this weekend and it
> takes time, lots of time to set up a 501c3, but by using the existing have
> we alums merely collected MORE money to ultimately be utilized by the
> University in any way they see fit?)
You don't have to pay your pledge this weekend!! THESE QUESTIONS MUST BE ANSWERED! I'm not trying to be a killjoy, but these are very good questions from people not in the Revival Tent.
To quote my erstwhile chum from '92, I'm not talking out of my ass, here. I ran the business office for an educational 501(c)3. And you know what I know? I'll tell you for free.
GET AN ATTORNEY.
GET AN ACCOUNTANT.
OR YOU WILL GET SCREWED.
> *Who is the 'buck stops here' person ultimately taking responsibility for
> the fund? (is this or is this not ultimately the UNIVERSITY chancellor IF
> the alumni board is utilizing the University's tax status?)
If you are using the University's 501(c)3 (THE COLLEGE DOESN'T HAVE ONE. IT IS NOT A SEPARATE LEGAL ENTITY.), the ultimate authority is the UNIVERSITY.
Someone answer the question: Does the Antioch College Alumni Board have its own 501(c)3? If so, what educational programs does it offer? It can't exist to only provide funds to a separate educational program, because THAT'S CALLED A FOUNDATION. Not the same thing.
> *What safeguards will ensure that money spent out of the fund won't just be
> used as the college has in the past.
I'm not giving money to anyone to give to Antioch University without there being some kind of agreement about keeping the place open, and I suggest no one else do so, either. UNDER WHAT TERMS WILL REVIVAL FUND MONEY BE GIVEN TO ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY?
> At the CM this afternoon
> it was actually suggested that donations could be sent to 795 Livermore Ave
> and that someone would make sure it got to the 'right place'!
Oy! Lambs to the slaughter.
> Without any solid evidence to the contrary, reaching for the checkbook
> becomes merely "therapeutic shopping"- the act of spending money as a
> substitute for causing genuine radical (to the root) changes. The act of
> money changing hands becomes an expression purely of hope, and the desire to
> see SOMETHING happen, but without any indication of a genuine chance of
> success and written assurances that the money will go into a STRUCTURE that
> is something OTHER then the University.
Thank you thank you thank you.
> Call me a cynic, but I'm a former professional fundraiser, and I see zero
> clarity, just 100% high hopes that cash alone will somehow 'fix' this.
Will cash remove the Chancellor?
Cash may just provide us with an injunction. Will any Renewal Fund money be given to the faculty?
HOW IN THE HELL DOES THE UNIVERSITY'S ALUMNI BOARD FUND A FACULTY FIGHT AGAINST THE UNIVERSITY?
Alan Benard
