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Note #7665 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Mary Holmes loses accreditation appeal
03188
April 9, 2003

Mary Holmes loses accreditation appeal

Loss of U.S. funds could be fatal to beleaguered racial-ethnic school

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - The future of troubled Mary Holmes College, a historic
Presbyterian-related institution in West Point, MS, grew murkier this week
when an appeals committee upheld a previous ruling stripping the small school
of its accreditation.

The committee's action, announced on April 7, affirmed a December decision
from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It could be a
fatal blow to the financially strapped racial-ethnic college.
	
Officials of the primarily African-American school appealed the SACS decision
in January.
	
Without accreditation, Mary Holmes would be ineligible for crucial federal
funding, and its 256 students would lose access grants, loans and other
financial aid.
	
However, college officials said it is too soon to tell whether the latest
setback will force the 110-year-old institution to close.
	
"The decision will be up to the (Mary Holmes) board of trustees," said the
Rev. Floyd Rhodes, the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s interim associate director
for higher education. "The board will make the decision about what to do."
	
College officials said no action would be taken before the board's next
meeting, scheduled for May 1. The board's executive committee will discuss
the matter during a conference call this week.
	
"We would like to figure out a way to keep it open, and keep it going as a
viable institution," said Board Chairman Jack Baugh. "Not one of us really
knows what God wants. So we have to come together around the table and
wrestle with it. Hopefully  we'll figure out what it is the Lord wants us to
do, and go from there."
	
Despite recent improvements, the school's financial condition has been eroded
by more than $1 million in debt and deterioration of its physical plant.
	
Last year Mary Holmes nearly lost vital funding from the PC(USA) after a
denominational work team examined its cash-flow problems and liabilities of
$2.3 million.
	
Even with a new business plan, reduced staff and the clearing of $300,000 in
debt since October, Mary Holmes fell short of the accreditation criteria of
SACS, which accredits universities and colleges in the South.
	
"I'm disappointed, naturally," said board member Thomas L. Hood, of St.
Louis, MO. "The group that was there (at the appeal hearing) thought they had
presented a pretty good case. They thought they answered the questions (of
the appeals committee) fully, and it seemed as though there was some degree
of satisfaction around the table with the responses that they gave."
	
The regulations of the SACS Commission on Colleges provide no further appeal.
Mary Holmes could reapply for accreditation after addressing its
deficiencies.
	
The accreditation officially ended on April 1, the date of the appeal hearing
in Atlanta.
	
Mary Holmes President Nathaniel R. Jackson said school leaders are seeking a
temporary injunction in federal court to allow the college to continue
receiving federal money for the time being.
	
"If the action of SACS goes unchallenged," Jackson said, "then as of
yesterday we would have been cut off from all federal funding."
	
He said an injunction would enable Mary Holmes to "maintain our eligibility
for federal funds over the next couple of months," which he said is
"critically important to the institution."

	
Jackson said the loss of accreditation will not affect the rest of the school
year or commencement ceremonies scheduled for May 3. If Mary Holmes is forced
to close, he said, it will help students transfer to other institutions.
	Officials were upbeat about the school's survival.
	
"I'm optimistic," Jackson said, "because I think there are some options.
Especially that of affiliation whereby the college would serve as a branch of
another institution, preferably a Presbyterian institution."
	
Mary Holmes' accreditation has been on probation mainly because of concern
about its financial condition. The January appeal of the revocation preserved
its probationary status while the case was reviewed.
	
The Commission on Colleges said its decision can only be appealed if Mary
Holmes can prove that SACS failed to follow proper procedures or that the
decision was arbitrary or unreasonable. The commission's executive director,
James T. Rogers, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
	
School leaders hope the federal court action will bring a chance to present
information on financial improvements and other progress that was ruled
inadmissible during the appeal hearing. The trustees have said they believe
Mary Holmes was denied due process in defending its accreditation.
	
"There was information that could have been presented that would have clearly
demonstrated that Mary Holmes was making significant progress on its return
to financial viability," Jackson said, adding: "We simply have not gotten a
fair shake, we think, and that's the reason we're going into federal court." 
	
When he became the school's president in July 2000, Jackson said
accreditation officials had identified 37 deficiencies. By December, he said,
"We basically had one issue to deal with, and that was finances, and we had
made progress on that."
	
Jackson said the college has held no formal merger discussions with any
institution.
	
He said the school's debt, which he said fluctuates between $1.2 million and
$1.5 million, could be an obstacle, along with the fact that the PC(USA) owns
the school's property.
	
"There would be some pretty ticklish issues that would have to be addressed,"
he said, "but that, as I see it, right now might be the most viable option
for the institution, and one that I think would please most of the people
involved. It would certainly protect the students, which is a primary
concern."
	
Last June, the General Assembly Council set four conditions for continued
PC(USA) funding of Mary Holmes: a comprehensive fund-raising strategy; a
business plan addressing its financial problems; a vision for changing its
image and mission through new programming; and a 10-percent increase in
enrollment for the fall semester.
	
The NMD committee reported in November that the college had met those
conditions and should be allowed to continue receiving funds from the annual
Christmas Joy Offering, which supports eight Presbyterian racial-ethnic
schools and colleges. GAC agreed.

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