Many in the New Garden Friends Meeting community have strong ties to Guilford College. Among our members and attenders are many alumni, plus current and former faculty members and staff.
The origins of the college can be traced to New Garden Boarding School, established by members of the meeting in 1837.
Throughout the college’s history, its deep Quaker roots helped Guilford College maintain an identity that helped set it apart from the many other small liberal arts colleges throughout the United States. The integration of Quaker practices and traditions into the daily life of the college helped create an atmosphere of respect for the individual, with an emphasis on equality and social justice.
Guilford College alumni have carried that experience forward throughout their careers. Many cite the values instilled at Guilford as making a critical difference in their lives.
Guilford College now is in dire financial straits. The current interim president has proposed making dramatic cuts to the degree programs offered, concurrent with slashing related faculty and staff positions. This process so far has not followed Guilford’s Quaker tradition of involving faculty and staff in such major decision-making.
And should the cuts be approved early next year by the Board of Trustees, Guilford will sever itself from the very distinctions that give it much of its unique character and appeal. More background on this issue can be found in these News & Record articles.
A FaceBook group, “Save Guilford College,” is helping rally support to find another way forward. Save Guilford College is a private group, but Facebook members may request to join. Additional information on this crisis can be found at the Guilford College homepage: www.guilford.edu
Friends, alumni and supporters of the college – especially those who value its Quaker traditions and its role in preparing young people to carry those values forward – are rallying to support Guilford. Supporters believe that a great number of voices, united in a chorus of support, may help convince the interim president and the Board of Trustees to find a different way forward, a way that is less severe and that preserves those distinct characteristics that make Guilford what it is and should be in the future.
If you would like to lend your voice and support, you may send email to members of the college Board of Trustees;
- Ara Serjoie, vice president for advancement [email protected].
- Edward C. Winslow III, Chair; Partner, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP, Greensboro, N.C. [email protected]
- Ione L. Taylor ’76, Vice Chair; Executive Director, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario [email protected]
- Gilbert D. Bailey ’91, Vice President, Head of Analytics and Customer Engagement Products, Heartland Commerce, Inc., Charlotte, N.C. [email protected]
- Carla Brenner ‘73, Retired Contract Writer, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
- D. Victor Cochran, III ’71, President, Sharp-Carter Corporation, Greensboro, N.C. [email protected]
- Gus Davis ’72, Senior Vice President Supply Chain Operations, The Pause Group, Inc., New York, NY [email protected]
- Teresa L. Graedon, Treasurer, Graedon Enterprises, Inc., Durham, N.C. [email protected]
- Harrison Hickman ‘75, CEO and Founder, Hickman Analytics, Inc., Washington, D.C. [email protected]
- David J. Hopkins ‘91, President and CEO, Urban League of Greater Hartford, Hartford, Conn. [email protected]
- Daniel D. Mosca, Investor, Browns Summit, N.C. [email protected]
- Brooks Terrell Raiford, Chief Executive Officer and President, The N.C. Technology Association, Inc., Cary, N.C. [email protected]
- Charlotte M. Roberts, President, Blue Fire Partners, Inc, Sherrils Ford, N.C. [email protected]
- Frederick H. Taylor Jr. ‘77, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager, MJX Asset Management, LLC, New York, N.Y. [email protected]
- Elizabeth Weddington Voltz ‘91, Owner and Partner, Weatherspoon & Voltz, LLP, Raleigh, N.C. [email protected]
- Judith Welch Wegner, Burton Craige Professor of Law Emerita and Dean Emerita University of North Carolina School of Law [email protected]
- Suzanne Whitmeyer, Broker, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices York Simpson Underwood Realty, Raleigh, N.C. [email protected]
- Johnny Wood ’74; principal at the accounting firm LBA Hayes Strand, PLLC, Greensboro [email protected]