 HBCU Digest Radio, I'm your host, Jared Carter, and we are joined today for an exclusive interview with leadership from Bennett College for Women, who if you have been paying attention to the news lately, is in strong position to reclaim its reaffirmation with the Southern Association of College and University's Commission on Colleges for its full and unchallenged accreditation with goals of raising upwards of $5 million by February 1 deadline to approve to the commission that there is financial solvency and a sound plan of sustainability and forward moving for the Bennett Bells. And today to talk to these issues, we are joined by the distinguished president of Bennett College, Dr. Phyllis Worthy Dawkins and Gwendolyn Mackle Rice. She is the president of the Bennett College National Alumni Association. She told me to make sure I say that correctly to identify the sisters as an association. So, sisters, I appreciate both of your time today. Let us begin, so to speak, with the elephant in the room, which is an update on where things stand with Bennett's fundraising. We know what the total is, but how much, if you can share, has been raised and what are the sources that have helped to contribute to that total thus far? Good afternoon. Total, the total amount that has been raised so far is just over $1 million and we still counting every day. We have about 2,000 people who have made donations and these donations are coming from a variety of different organizations, churches, individuals, especially throughout social media campaign. So we have a very aggressive social media campaign and the amount that the people have given, the amount has ranged from $1 to up to $10,000 and we are receiving also checks and people are also texting to give and of course they are giving through our website, www.bennett.edu slash donate. Now, this total is, since the letters received or overall since you guys have been working with SACs to improve financial solvency. This is overall, this is overall, because our budget year with SAC is July 1 through June 30th, but we have received an increase since the announcement since December 11th and I can't give you that total because it's coming in every day. President Rice, the Alumni Association has been renowned for its power in giving in philanthropy even in times where by most measures you would say, well that's a small group of graduates but annually you guys are giving upwards of a million dollars in support of the institution. How has that changed since the receipt of this letter in December 11th? Has this activated the sisters more or what's been the tone of the alumni since this news came in? Well indeed it has activated us more as a matter of fact, if you look at last year, we raised, we had a goal of 1.2 million dollars but we raised close to two million dollars so we increased our given by 100% last year. Now I don't know what the totals are that have come in to date. I think it's probably maybe close to a half million. I'm not sure we don't have that exact date yet. We're waiting for that, that data yet but we're waiting for that. But right now we're charged up. We have a campaign going for asking every alum to give 1% and we mean every alum, not just those who, the 34% who are giving at this point who have traditionally given at least given last year. We are asking them to ask others, their friends, their associates, people they do business with. We're putting a lot of examples out there. We are also providing form letters, not form letters but templates for them to use. In addition to that, we're reaching out to some celebrities. There's a, we have a group, we have a little think tank that's really working things out. We have a group of young ladies who are really focused on social media. And in addition to that, we're capping that. You know, Bennett was built on faith and we have a prayer line that will be launched beginning on Sunday evening and we have galvanized all the clergy sisters to help us with that. So we're moving right along and we're also looking at what we can do more with Bennett so that in terms of not only raising the five million, helping to raise the five million but also to be more engaged and more collaborative in our work with the college because we believe that contributes to sustainability. Let's talk about, is there any sense of that you guys can provide of how the college got here? You know, it's not everyone who is a higher education aficionado or works at a college. A lot of folks don't understand how do you lose accreditation? What does it mean to be financially unstable for lack of a better term? How does the school get here? And what are the definitions you've been provided by SACs that say this is why the goal is what it is and this is why the decision was made? Okay, so when we learned of the news on December 11th that we were removed from membership in SACs a pilling, and that's now based on our appeal so we were still accredited, I wanna say that. We were told that it was due to one standard out of 88 to 90 of them. And that one, so that standard is on financial resources. So while we had a good year last year, we had a clean audit, we have no findings, we had a surplus in our budget, retention, had increased by 9%, overall enrollment had increased by 16%, we just didn't have enough additional cash in the bank to meet the standard around financial resources or financial stability. Is that- So that's why we need at least $5 million by February 1st to support our financial stability. When you think about cash on hand- I would add that it's been the accumulative effect of deficits in the last 11 years, not every year but several years and so with that $5 million would begin to make us whole at least until and to help us to stabilize so that we can move on to more sustainable efforts there. So I would just add that, but that cumulative deficit has been a result of the withdrawal of plus loans in that period when everybody suffered, particularly HBCUs. And we've had a lot of change in leadership. So I think all of that contributes to that and we have to rebound from that. Well, that was the question I wanted to ask. It was just a few months ago, Bennett was one of several colleges that received some deferment relief from the capital loan program from the US Department of Education. That frees up some cash. But is this an issue where this is something that you point to we have more debt than we can manage or we don't have enough student tuition revenue coming in? Is there something singular or is there many little things that contribute to this? And if it's many little things, how do we address them? It's a combination of what you just said, okay? So it's basically due to the fact that, and it really started just as Ms. Wright said that it started back in 2008, 2009 with the economic downturn when the market crashed. As a result of that, many of our students' parents lost their jobs and then when a federal program under the FAFSA, it's a financial aid program called the Parent Plus program was altered to increase the number of years that parents had to demonstrate in terms of their credit history. As a result of job losses that impacted African-American students more than any other population. So what Bennett went through was not just a Bennett problem but an HBCU problem. And during that time, many of us lost students all of a sudden because of a rule change that increased the number of years that you had to demonstrate credit history. And so the other part, so when that hit, enrollment declined, okay? Now that we've deferred that, Bennett initiated that. As president, I went to the Department of Education and asked, what can we do because we were paying off one of our loans, it's called the HBCU capital loan program. And that program funds more than 60 or 70 HBCUs to help with infrastructure on campus. And so we were making the payment that almost equal the amount about annual debt, okay? So when we got the deferment, it's gonna allow us six years to make those payments to, and it allows us to grow in enrollment and to financially stabilize. What have the conversations been like with the students and alumni so far? Obviously everybody knows this is an intense period. But what are those conversations like on and off campus? I'll speak to the students, with the students and immediately when I returned to campus from New Orleans, the facts meeting was in New Orleans. I met with the student body and with my vice president, known as the leadership team, we met with the student body. Of course, the students had questions in regards to what does that mean for our degrees in terms of graduating from institution that's accredited. So we had a good discussion, they asked the right questions, but at the end the students pledged to return this semester and to also assist us in fundraising. So they are a part of our social media campaign to get other people to donate to Bennett. We also sent them a letter that they could use during the holidays to get their family and friends to donate to Bennett and those donations are coming in as a result of that as well. I'd like to add, I spoke with the SGA president last night and she is working with other SGA presidents that are the HBCUs and they are working together on a campaign so that students, I can't, I don't wanna reveal what they're planning to do but they're working, they are working. The students are really fired up. And I think that has to do with the fact that there's a lot for Bennett that goes down through the years and Jared, of course, you speak about that. When you talk about Bennett alumni, we do that. And so the students are working and I can attest to that. And the alum, yes, and we also have met with the alums, have conference calls with the alums to inform them of where we are in terms of our accreditation status. And Trustee Rice is spearheading in the Lumney campaign as well. So there are multiple groups. Let me also share with you, Jared, that in addition to the Lumney student parents and faculty staff campaign to raise money and the social media campaign, we have a lot of organizations that have joined Bennett, the Women's College Coalition, the National Association on Negro Women, UNCF, United Methodist Church, and other organizations including basketball groups, organizations. I got a chat yesterday from the commission, from the commissioner for ASIAC, which is a basketball lead, including Benedict College, Morehouse, and some other institutions. So we are surprised about the type of donors and the number of donors coming in. And we're very grateful for all the outpouring of support. I think that it's one of the beautiful things when something like this happens with an HBC, that the entire HBC community kind of galvanizes around the campus. And there is no sense of, well, you know, well, it's just too late, that it is what it is for that school. That's not the approach that we take. What has been the communication with SACs since the announcement? Do you remain in communication with them? Are they continuing to, if they provide any guidance about what are the steps that could help, helpful with any resources, or is there a role that SACs plays in this period where you're trying to raise the money and demonstrate solvency? As I stated before, we appealed the decision right after we heard the announcement. And while in New Orleans, we talked to a vice president and the president of SACs. And we had a conversation with them and we will get the official letter that details the description. I'll tell you that we were called on one standard, dealing with financial resources, but we don't know the details as of today around that standard. We do know that it has to do with our net tuition revenue, the amount of revenue generated from what they call the UNAP, unrestricted net asset minus exclusive of plant operations. And we do know that it has to do with some of the debt that we have on campus. And so we do know that those two things that we need to erase, which totals about $5 million. And so that would impact what we call our UNAP score. Are there other things that the school, I'm sorry, go ahead. And if you go out on the SACs website, shortly a week after the announcement, they printed a posted the disclosure statement. And that's all we have right now. Down January 15, we get the details of the sanction. Is it something that the campus is working to do or is it even possible? Because this isn't the first time that Bennett has faced extended status change from SACs. But are there other assets on campus that you say, well, maybe we take this building offline, maybe we do this, maybe we do that with personnel. Are those in the works as well? Yes, so you've heard us talk about the social media campaign and individuals and organizations donating, but we are looking to liquidate some of our assets. We are looking to seek long forgiveness for some of our debt. So there are a variety of strategies we try to employ before February 1st. So- And I should add that the trustees have voted to develop a plan to re-engineer Bennett so that we sustain for the long haul. As you know, we need to rethink our, we need to rethink the whole program in terms of 21st century academics. And that's not, they were not great, but we want to be better. And we want to be more engaged with the community, more town and gown, increased collaboration with the parents and alumni, and which I mentioned before. And there are other, and the technology, upgrade our technology. So we're looking at that and we're planning to bring in a stellar group of folks in serve on that committee, not just to do it internally, but to work externally with other partners to help us to move into a direction for increased sustainability. Because if I point something million dollars will not sustain us forever, but we have to rethink Bennett College. And we're very intentional about that. So I just want to share that with you. In other words, we have to continue to, we can't continue to do business. As we've done it, we have to change and look at a different model. Yeah, a different model. Not completely. We certainly will retain the core, the core mission of Bennett, and to educate women, of course, and to continue the traditions that bind the sisterhood. All of those, we want to do, and we want to do everything better. And everybody can always do much better what they already do. In terms, particularly of our education, in terms of our fiscal management, we're looking at new ways to upgrade. So the trustees are on the case. Well, that's what I wanted to round out with, and I so much appreciate your time and your honesty with a lot of these questions. I know they're tough, and certainly not meant to pick on you guys, but just to show how diligent you're being and how much we should be loving on Bennett. But I think the last thing that I would ask is, how do you make that case at this point? Because I think that it's not a stretch or it's not disrespectful to say, there are some challenges beyond the finance. Bennett is located next to North Carolina A&T. That is a challenge. That's one of the fastest growing HBCUs in the country. Bennett is in a city that has several institutions, along with North Carolina A&T, growing UNCG, UNC Greensboro. You look at a college like Spelman College, they just got a $30 million gift. How do you make that narrative so possible when even in our sector, which is trying so hard to work and save Bennett, there are other instances that make you say, well, this is even more of a challenge because the HBCU sector is doing things that you could say are taking away from Bennett, so to speak. Well, let me go back to what I said earlier and what has occurred over the last two years. We are seeing an increase in enrollment, though small, we are growing. We called that, I said earlier last year, we saw a 16% in enrollment overall and a 36% enrollment in new students and a 9% increase in retention. So the trend, we are trending in the right direction. So the question is, why are they coming and why are they staying? And the reason they staying is because of Bennett's unique history. We are a women's institution, if you want to compare us to North Carolina, A&T is COED and we embrace our co-institution right across the street. And we have partnerships with North Carolina A&T as well, but we are uniquely different because Bennett produces strong, phenomenal women, grounded in leadership and in the sisterhood. And that's what makes us uniquely different. They become leaders in their chosen fields, whether it's STEM, whether it's the humanities, whether it's in business or social work or teacher education, they become leaders. That's what we do well. We produce women who are first. We have the first African-American surgeon, a licensed surgeon in the nation came from Bennett. We have the first person to direct a woman leader to direct the peace course. Course, course, and we can just go on and on about how many women that we have produced as first in their field and produce strong women in their field. And so that's what makes us uniquely different. And basically what we need to do is just, we just have to stabilize leadership and also stabilize our finances. And actually our niche to the community, because this is a time in this Me Too movement and the number of women who are becoming elected officials. And also, Bennett has an emphasis on giving back to the community. Of course, you know about our work in the sit-in movement, but also the students still, Bennett bells are voting bells. Bennett, this is what's unique about Bennett. And let me share with you, there's a young lady who graduated only five years ago, a class of 2013, who was a teacher in the Berkeley Public Schools. She was elected to the school board, the first teacher to be elected to a school board. So if that kind of fire that happens at Bennett that encourages mixed women, women who come to Bennett want to do to serve their community. There was a study done in 1998, and I'd say it's still true, where Bennett was part of a case study and they were compared to Bryn Mawr. And we found that we had high academic expectations. A lot of personal support and advice and the support of peer culture, a strong mission, a critical mass of African-American women, inclusion in the curriculum, the presence of role models. And as I said, an emphasis on giving back to the community, extracurricular involvement opportunities, and awareness of the societal realities that face African-American women. And I think that's unique in itself. We don't have many opportunities to do that. And I believe there have been many studies that say a single-sex institution has some positives that can make a difference. I know when I was at Bennett, which was a few years ago, we felt free, I think, to talk. We didn't have the competition of dealing with men. So it was a different environment. There are many studies on that. I don't wanna go into that, but Bennett has a niche to fill. I think it does that well, and we can continue to do that better. And that's what we're planning to do, as I said, the trustees are working toward re-engineering Bennett so that people understand who we are, because you don't hear a lot about Bennett anymore. As you do some other schools, and I don't know what is the reason for that. But I think over time, that is one thing that we want to change is the knowledge of Bennett in the community. Well, just to round out again, we appreciate your time. And just as a reminder to finish this out, where can people send checks? How can we give online? Where can we buy one of those t-shirts to stand with Bennett shirts? Give us every single outlet where we can send the money. Because that's important. Yes, you can send the money several different ways. Number one, if you don't remember anything, just go to our website. Our website address is www.bennett.edu slash a donate, or you can text to give by texting the word BELLS, V-E-L-L-E-S-2-444-999. Or you can just simply write us a check and send it to the Office of Institutional Advancement or the President's Office at 900 East Washington Street, Greensboro, North Carolina, 27401. And then finally, we're just looking for celebrities and athletes and others to make major gifts towards our campaign. We get on a lot of people, as I said earlier, we've had over 2,000 donors since December 11th since the announcement and they come in every day, but we also appreciate some big gifts as well. So please consider giving in many other ways other than through the social media campaign.