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Court holds PSC renaming conference today

MALONE – At 9:30 a.m. today, Franklin County State Supreme Court Judge John Ellis was scheduled to hold a conference to decide whether Paul Smith’s College can legally change its name to Joan Weill-Paul Smith’s College.

Ellis will consider whether the proposed name change violates the terms of the college’s founding gift established by Phelps Smith upon his death in 1937. In Phelps Smith’s will, dated 1928, he wrote that the school for “boys and girls” should “be forever known as ‘Paul Smith’s College of Arts And Sciences.'”

It is unclear if Ellis will make a decision on the matter today or at a later date, according to the court’s chief clerk, Jodi Wood.

Ellis has the final say on a controversial proposal. The college announced July 16 it plans to change its name to Joan Weill-Paul Smith’s College in exchange for a $20 million gift. Weill, a billionaire philanthropist and former chairwoman of the college’s Board of Trustees, and her husband, retired Citigroup CEO and Chairman Sanford “Sandy” Weill, have donated nearly $10 million to the school over the last two decades and helped raise over $30 million more from donors, according to college officials. Two buildings on campus already bear her name, due to donations: the Joan Weill Adirondack Library and the Joan Weill Student Center.

The college’s application, filed with the Franklin County Clerk’s office July 17, states, “Petitioner seeks judicial relief relating to the restrictions on a charitable testamentary gift from the estate of Phelps Smith.

“The restriction of the gift limiting the name of the institution to ‘Paul Smith’s College of Arts and Sciences’ nearly fatally impedes the ability of Paul Smith’s to seek large gifts from a single donor in order to make the investments it needs to remain viable,” continues the petition written by college lawyer Frank Patyi, of the Syracuse-based firm Bond, Schoeneck and King. “As such, the restriction has become impractical and wasteful, by not allowing Paul Smith’s to seek the investments that it needs in order to make the investments necessary to remain viable in the future. Modifying the restriction to still retain the Paul Smith’s name the donor intended to be used, but to also add the name of another significant donor – Joan Weill – is consistent with expressed purpose of the gift, namely, the erection of maintenance of a college of higher education for boys and girls.”

The state attorney general’s office, which became involved because of Estate, Powers and Trusts Law and Not-For-Profit-Corporation Law, was informed of the petition and submitted an affirmation of “no objection” to the name change July 15, the day before the renaming was publicly announced. The Enterprise was unable to reach an official in the attorney general’s press office for comment.

The state Board of Regents approved the controversial decision July 20, provided the Franklin County State Supreme Court approves it as well.

The announcement has been greeted by a fierce backlash from many of the college’s alumni and students, and local residents, although some others prefer the name change to the risk of the school going out of business. More than 3,000 people have joined a Facebook page opposing the change, and an online petition on Change.org, advocating against the change, has over 3,200 signatures.

Many have sent letters to Ellis’ office and to the attorney general’s office, expressing their opinions on the matter. Wood said the judge has not reviewed the letters sent to him.

“The judge’s office has not received them,” she told the Enterprise. “They are not part of the record. They’re in a sealed file on my desk right now.”

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