Today while at someone else’s home I couldn’t help notice a piece of furniture out of the Stratton Library. When I asked the lady about it she said she paid cash for it at a yard sale last summer. I had to wonder how many of SJ’s old assets have been sold for cash. Both, legitimate sales and non-legitimate. I have also heard many rumors of items being purchased for cash from the SJ campus. I guess at this time it really doesn’t matter. However, I do know many things that are now possibly being sold off were purchased with grant funds or were donated by people who would be sad to know their donations are enriching someone who more than likely did not come by the item legally.
Have any of you seen or heard of other SJ items being sold for cash around town?
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The report of last month from David Dobler to the Presbyterian Church USA is revealing but leaves some significant questions. (See at http://www.pcusa.org/gac/business/march09/information/223.pdf ).
The "conversation" with the U of Dubuque, for instance, seems a bit unlikely to result in students on the SJC campus unless a few million dollars are invested in the deteriorating infrastructure. Why is the debt listed at $7 million instead of the $13 million elsewhere? Anyone else see anything likely to come out of this debacle?
Quite a bit of equipment is kicking around town with SJC incribed on it. I have seen a fair number of these myself. Now I can't say whether they were purchased or.....
I went to the website you suggested & it said 'only for national staff' whatever that means- I couldn't get access. So, whoever you are, if you could pls pass along pcusa future info it would be greatly appreciated as there doesn't seem to be a way for us regular folks to find things out.
A member of the board just sent this to me. See SJC.doc
Since then, the first piece of extraneous property in Sitka -- the "uplands" -- was sold to the Baranof Island Housing Authority for $2 million. Most of the money was used to pay off debts, including a $138,000 loan to the PC(USA). The rest of the non-core campus property is slowly being put on the market and will be sold off to pay remaining debts. Once the debt has been retired, the college will determine the best, most sustainable way to re-open.
Anyone who thinks the college will ever reopen is smoking something that is not legal to smoke. If the board really thinks they will ever reopen the school they must be a bunch a dope heads or think that we are.
http://www.pcusa.org/
gac/business/march09/
information/223.pdf
one should take careful look at the cash balance sheet.... three things pop off to me: legal fees, outside/professional services and salaries. I'd be very interested to see the line items on these!
It just isn't right. I wanted SJ to thrive as much as anyone but how, exactly do they intend to re-open with NOTHING? They will just digg back into debt.
This goes to show the level of mismanagement.
I can’t help notice that many people just do not want to accept the fact that SJ is closed for good. My hat’s off to Dan and the hatchery folks they did save the hatchery, but the hatchery is not and will not ever be part of SJ again.
The simple fact that the debt service, legal fees, maintenance fees, and other cost still exceed any revenue that the might be generated at the old SJ campus is in it’s self enough to keep the school from reopening. I’d guess off the top of my head the cost to refurbish the quad buildings, Rasmuson, and David Sweetland Hall would total over 50 million. Yes, you read that right 50 million. Rasmuson keeps sinking to the point that in my opinion soon it will not be safe to occupy. Sweetland, has a bad roof, rot in many of the walls, failing plumbing and many other problems. I could write a book on all the problems with the quad buildings. And, none of the major problems with the quad buildings can be addressed until a million or more is spent to clean up the asbestos contaminated crawlspaces.
Any of you that were around during the contaminated soil clean up and remember the big piles of contaminated soil that doted the SJ Campus might also know there is about that much or more contaminated soils to still be remediate. So, I have to wander where the very deep pockets are going to come from to rejuvenate SJ. As much as I hate to admit it, SJ is DEAD, and can not be rejuvenated.
Opps, I forgot to mention the tons or problems with Stratton. Heck a simple walk or drive by that building and you can see the damage that moisture is causing the building since the heat has been off.
"clean up the asbestos contaminated crawlspaces."
What!? You don't mean the attics do you?
They let students live in a building with asbestos? Aren't there laws against that?
The asbestos in the quad buildings is confined to the crawlspaces under the buildings. The asbestos that is there posed no health risk to the students, unless they were someplace they shouldn’t have been. Since most of the wiring and all of the plumbing runs through the crawlspaces workers can not legally enter that area unless they are properly dressed and are using the proper dust mask. Basically what that means is that before heat, water, wastewater, phones, network cables, wastewater lines, etc could be restored to any of the quad buildings asbestos would need to be cleaned up. When the school closed SJ was under orders from Alaska OSHA to clean up the asbestos and fines had been levied against the school for exposing workers to the asbestos. Since SJ management now knows there is a health risk associated with the crawlspaces of the quad buildings they can not send anyone down there to work on any of the above mentioned without first assuring that the workers are properly trained and wearing proper exposure equipment. Knowingly putting workers at risk can be a criminal offence, so I hope that SJ and the management firm is not asking contractors and or employees to enter those areas.
The level of disconnect is fascinating. This past Monday, members of an SJ task force met to plan for a possible future for the campus. Many of the folks in that room care deeply for the campus and community. While they do not represent, in my mind, the naivete of past SJ administrations, I worry that they have yet to fully comprehend the hole that SJ is in.
My concern is that there is still fundraising going on for this possible "re-opening". I feel bad for those donors, who, like you said Chris, care deeply for the school. But look where their money has gone up to this point....it's a bare, broken campus that is boarded up!
Let me begin by saying that I no longer have a formal or informal role in the Stratton. I was let go at the same time as the rest of the staff and spent almost two years volunteering to save the Stratton’s treasures. I have received many phone calls, emails and stern talking too about items missing from the Stratton. I can only speak to the items I know are safe. It was very important to remove the irreplaceable materials from the Stratton and have someone care for them. We simply could not save everything and hard decisions had to be made. It was heart breaking to leave things in the building with no idea what would become of them. The Sheldon Jackson School and College archives are on a five year loan to the Alaska State Library. I went to Juneau in March and visited the collection. They are in good hands and are well taken care of by excellent librarians. It is my understanding that they are being accessed by the public. The E.W. Merrill plate glass negatives are on loan to the Sitka Historical National Park. I helped move the plates to the park a week after the closure of SJC. We inventoried the plates and none were missing. The framed and mounted Merrill prints are on loan to the Sitka School District. They are being stored right now, will be cataloged this summer and displayed in SSD buildings. The Stratton Alaska collection is also on loan to the Sitka School District. We will be processing the Alaska books this summer and hope to have them circulating at SHS, Mt. Edgecumbe and Kettleson libraries soon. Ownership of the C.L. Andrews collection has been transferred to Kettleson Memorial Library. The Sitka Library Association was the original owner of the collection and transferred the items to SJC because the Stratton had room and the city library did not. It was only right that they regain ownership after the closure of Stratton. I personally helped move this Andrews collection in January 2009. That was the last time I was in the Stratton.
Ginny Blackson
Bless you Ginny!
Thank you SO much, Ginny, for your work on behalf of the Stratton Library. It is a relief to know that you managed to place most of the highly significant collections in good homes! I have thought about, and grieved over, that library and its collections quite often.
Ginny, it is good to see that someone cared enough to make sure some of those irreplaceable items found good homes. While they will probably never have a place on the SJ campus again, at least they wont be destroyed or hidden from the public and left in neglect.
Thanks, I know you were not at SJ long, but you did a great service.
Anyone see the money for SJ Hatchery in the capital budget? I missed it if it was there.
Ginny,
Would you please contact me if there are still preservation needs for those collections wherever they may be. Thanks so much for your post and letting us know what has happened in the last months. Your advocacy for this cause is admirable.
Susan
VIM 04
SusanF5133@aol.com
Not that this helps really, but I will make a commitment. If ever my lottery ticket purchases in Oregon result in significant income (more than oh say 100 million) I'd gladly donate the bulk of the restoration money.
Call it half baked, and I am fully aware that the Presbyterian Church USA is fundamentally against gambling (Thanks to my dad, Rev. Rick R. Ribeiro, Warm Springs Presbyterian Church, OR), but I'd much prefer to spend a few dollars here and there toward Oregon Education, in the hope of helping SJ start over.
Long shot, but hey, it might happen.
If you go to KCAW's website, you can hear the news story of "Goodbye SJC"..a very well done and matter of fact story by Robert Woolsey.
Marcel and others, I share your concern about stewardship and accountability and am deeply embarrassed by my church's inability to provide discipline and oversight. What you have observed, Marcel, is the tip of the ice berg. I solicited money from churches with student stories that generated scholarship monies. I sold bricks for Allen and raised "seed money" for advancement efforts that never came to be. I hosted churches in our home to engender relationships that helped raise money for special targeted ltems. I regret having not spoken out earlier against the inner borrowing practices that were so blatantly misguided. All of these gifts, which, back in the day, including the Christmas Joy Offering totaled about $600,,000 annually. And to my knowledge, there has been virtually no accounting of the same made public. The quarterly Board reports chronichled the moneys it is not difficult to track and assess. I can only surmise that lack of interest or capacity on the part of the officer, board, and the PCUSA's presbytery, synod and national offices explains this. I have tried to converse and warn most of these entities. But the responses have not given me confidence. The other alternative explanation for this mess is manipulation and or glossing over details by executive leadership. But, a rigourous Board should have their pulse on the place. It remains, to me, a perplexing enigma in organizational leadership. Thankfully, fond memories of colleagues and students offset the blundering of buearicrats. I will be far more outspoken against mismanagement in the not for profit sector in the future. Nice job keeping us in the loop. Your friend, Pat Sheahan P.S. Planning to get to Sitka in late August. HOpe to fish for the vim reunion coming in October. Hope to see the remnant as opportunity comes up. Marcel, is there any room at your place?
The sad story Pat is that many people were either taken in or mislead by a whole slew of people. We gave $10,000 toward Allen with the story that it was needed to satisfy a challenge grant only to see the contractor leave because he was not paid. We too have mislead many people in believing that just a few more dollars and all would be well. My life has been in Not-for-profit business and I never told any one a bold faced lie about the finances of our organization. The PCUSA needs to be honest with local churches and members and tell them how their money was used.
Pat, there is always room in my home for you.
I was recently loaned a wonderful book entititled "Family After All." Alaska's Jesse Lee Home, compiled by Jacquelin B. Pels. She was recently visiting here in San Diego. The history of this Seward institution is much different from SJ.Please take a look at the book. But the importance of preserving the history of these places is what there is in common. Whether SJ comes back as a viable place of learning or not, the history of the founding of SJ, the students who attended and the great lives that they lived, and the scores of volunteers who dedicated their lives to the mission and vission of the place needs so vitally to be told. I would hope that there would be a person to step forward and start this process. It's so important to keep the spirit alive. Ginny Blackson has done such a tremendous job of preserving the documents but someone needs to tell the story.
Susan
Vim 04
Thanks, Marcel. I think I get in around the 14th. Plan to hint and fish pretty hard. Suffering from woods and water withdrawls in the high desert plains of ca. Did I mention to you that I have been dreaming about building a 22 ft power cruiser. I know you have built a boat. Maybe I can pick your brain a little when I come up. It is a boat from Sam Devlin BOat Desiegns called the Surf Scoter. Should be a challenging long project. Hope to get her to the Southeast-maybe retirement. Wow, anonymous, I'm sorry to hear that your gift was misappropriated. That's a hefty sum to have diverted. I hope some day to see John Price's wife in Indiana and explain things. Their gift was toed to his memorial and he was a big SJ fan. I have had the strange privlidge of closing two churches that ended their ministry by divesting unused assets towards like minded ministries. It provided a noble celebratory way to conclude. Coffee and pie helps these things too. It had a cathatic benefit for participants. It felt good to give to others as a final act.Thanks for the tip, Susan. I will put that one on my reading list and take a tip from your constructive outlook. Pat
Hey, Sitka folks, I'm glad I found this blog today. I've been following the demise of SJC through a google news alert but this blog is much better. I was SO SAD to hear all this. I wasn't in Sitka all that long, just a couple years (Jan '86 - June '88), but those were my first experiences in Alaska. My remembrances of the fabulous community at SJC and in Sitka have always been warm in my heart. Glad to have found similar people connections in Fairbanks but I have to say -- Sitka is hard to beat, it sure takes the prize for a beautiful place! We all have to remember that nothing in life is constant but change but oh, it's hard to see some things change so much.
warm regards, LJ Evans
Wow I am going to miss SJ. I loved that school. I was only there a year and half (Fall 02'- Winter 03') but I changed so much. I loved the teachers and the small classes.The atmosphere was unbeatable. PAT- You were an awesome chaplain! Guess nothing is forever.....
Nickie Clum ( Flanders)
I miss Sheldon Jackson College already. It was truley devestating news that the campus closed down. it was a weary walk when i went to the empty, boarded roads of Sheldon Jackson college. it used to be filled with friends talking, students going to class, and education filled in the air. I was there from 2003-2007, and got my Bachelors just before the school closed down. I loved schooling at SJ, most of the professors cared that the students succeed, there were volunteers from all over, giving %110 in their jobs. it was such terrible news, because my daughter wanted to attend college there. my dad went to college there, i did and i thought my daughter would follow in our footsteps.SJ open numerous doors of job opportunities for me. i miss ya Pat Sheahan, Dr. Allison, lori "maillady" Kathy "busylady" Dr. Madden, Louise, and last my mentor Dr. Shepard!!! Sheldon Jackson will be greatly missed..
I was given the opportunity to attend SJ in 1985/1986 and wouldn't change that experience for the world! While I suspected unscrupulous activities here and there, my experience was phenominal! As we all should know by now, there are unscrupulous activities going on all around us every day. Not that it makes them right, but if we fall to them we need to pick ourselves up and move on, living our lives in a better manner. I would like to thank all of the staff and student body there at the time for enriching my life. Fresh out of High School, I went there on somewhat of a whim but mainly because I was offered a scholarship to offset costs and would be able to experience the experience of a lifetime. While I only stayed at SJ one year (I transferred to a larger college that offered more courses in subjects I needed), it felt and still feels like it was a decade. The people I met on and off campus became my family because I couldn't afford to go home to the Midwest on holidays. This is the first time I have searched SJ in several years and it tears me apart that the school has fallen apart. What tears me up even more is the fact that some of the comments on this page suggest just giving up and tossing the school out! Why not give the newcomers a chance to make an offer to resurrect the school....maybe they'll surprise you and if not, what is there to lose at this point!
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