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PSC alumni may get legal standing in renaming

Since the July announcement of a controversial proposal to rename Paul Smith’s College as Joan Weill-Paul Smith’s College, alumni have considered themselves “interested parties” to the decision but have had no legal standing. Now the court may consider them an “interested party” as well.

Alumni opposed to the renaming came one step closer to making their case Tuesday. Franklin County state Supreme Court Justice John Ellis signed an order for the college’s lawyers and the state attorney general’s office, whose Charities Bureau represents the legal interests of deceased donors such as Paul Smith’s College founder Phelps Smith, to show cause through written argument why the interests of the college’s alumni should be left out of the legal process. Smith established the college upon his death in 1937 to honor his father, famed Adirondack businessman Apollos “Paul” Smith.

“(The judge) is ordering Paul Smith’s and the attorney general to show a good reason why my clients cannot intervene and be a party in this case,” said Plattsburgh lawyer Mark Schneider, who represents PSC alumnus Scott Van Laer. “He’s given Paul Smith’s and the AG about a week to file their papers.”

Van Laer, a forest ranger living in Ray Brook who graduated from PSC in ’93, said he represents “Alumni and Friends Against Changing Paul Smith’s College’s Name,” a Facebook group with over 3,000 members.

The college and the attorney general’s office must present their written arguments to the court by 9:30 a.m. Sept. 9. Should they argue against the alumni group’s involvement, Van Laer and company can respond.

“(Ellis is) going to make a decision whether or not the alumni can intervene, and if they can, they’ll be a party and they can present more evidence,” Schneider said. “Then, they can also appeal if they’re not satisfied.”

In July, the college announced its intent to change its name in exchange for $20 million from Joan Weill, a billionaire philanthropist who is also the former chairwoman of the college’s Board of Trustees. Weill 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.

At the heart of the dispute is a restriction in Phelps Smith’s will that said the college should be “forever known as ‘Paul Smith’s College of Arts and Sciences.'” The college argues that restriction is “fatal” to its fiscal prospects.

The state attorney general’s office filed a statement of “no objection” to the proposal. The Board of Regents approved the name change, provided the court approved it as well.

At a legal conference Aug. 18 between Ellis, the college’s lawyers and representatives from the attorney general’s office, Schneider, unexpectedly appeared to speak on behalf of Van Laer and the alumni group. VanLaer had hired Schneider the day before the hearing, but he was not allowed to address the court.

Van Laer said he heard about the proposal the day it was announced July 16, but wasn’t able to research it until a few days later. He said the more he learned, the less he liked it.

“I was upset about it,” he said. “It seemed to be more of a purchase of naming rights than an actual donation.”

In an affidavit filed with the court, Van Laer wrote of his deep affection for the college.

“My father encouraged me to attend Paul Smith’s College because of his experience as a ranger,” he said. “He told me that if I graduated from Paul Smith’s College, I would have a very good chance of getting hired as a forest ranger.

“I went to Paul Smith’s because of its unique atmosphere and location as well as its name recognition within the field. I received a very good education. The faculty and students had a very close, community relationship. … I am proud to be an alumnus of Paul Smith’s College. All of my friends and classmates feel the same way. I feel obligated to help Paul Smith’s College continue to educate young people in its special way.”

Van Laer said that although he regularly monitors events at the college, he was surprised to hear it was in the type of financial distress that would require the renaming, especially of light of recent statements made by college officials.

“At various alumni events, the administration has recently said that Paul Smith’s College was in good shape financially,” he said. “In the most recent edition of the ‘The Sequel,’ Summer, 2015, the Paul Smith’s quarterly alumni magazine, President Cathy Dove stated … ‘We are doing extremely well! … Bottom line is that our financials look very good this year. We’re optimistic that future years will continue to be strong.’

“There have not recently been any emergency fundraising drives. … There was no consultation with me or any of the alumni about this proposal. Only two of the 26 trustees are alumni. I do not believe that these two trustees shared the name change consideration with anyone else. If asked, we would have given an almost unanimous ‘no’ to it. We would have predicted the type of hue and cry that has resulted.”

Van Laer speculated on the Board of Trustees’ strategy.

“I think that the trustees were being sneaky and trying to rush this through under the cover of dark,” he said. “I do not think that the trustees told Mrs. Weill of the probable reaction to the name change proposal.

“I would like to see Mrs. Weill modify the terms of her generous gift offer so that Paul Smith’s can retain the important heritage of its name and still be able to appropriately honor and memorialize her.”

Van Laer said members of the Facebook group have sent about 300 letters and responses opposing the name change to Assistant Attorney General Glen Michaels in Plattsburgh.

“I believe that the value (of) my degree from Paul Smith’s College will be diminished, both financially and emotionally if the name is changed,” Van Laer said, adding that other alumni in the Facebook group feel the same. “We are afraid that ‘Joan Weill-Paul Smith’s College’ will become a laughing stock, a target of late night TV jokes. … We do not want to be the ‘Enron Stadium’ of colleges in the future.”

Van Laer also said Tuesday he believes officials have exaggerated the college’s financial distress.

“It’s very hard to argue when a president of a college is telling you, ‘We will go bankrupt without this. The doors will be locked imminently.’ How do you argue with that?” he said. “People are taking it at face value.

“When the assistant attorney general says in open court that the college does face long-term difficulties like any small college, however, they are not in imminent danger of insolvency, then that really questions the message and the narrative the president was giving. … We’re open to a dialogue with Ms. Weill. We don’t necessarily have to see this all the way through. We can open up and discuss this. I just very much object to President Dove saying the decision is final with no consultation from the alumni. We do have standing, whether it’s legal or emotional. We do.”

“We’re confident in the merits of our proposal plan, which is before the New York State Supreme Court,” said college Chief Marketing Officer Shannon Oborne. “We look forward to a positive decision on this important matter in the life of the college.”

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