Sweet Briar College - closing!

[Anonymous]

^Interrupted, even. Thanks, thumb-typing.

[Anonymous]

I think an all girls boarding school, with college credit in a college environment, would be a great way to get the total student body size up to where it would need to be to be profitable.

[Anonymous]

Ehhh It would have to be a remedial kind of school or something.... A friend of my SIL's daughter went to the school mentioned in 11:12 and there were only 140 girls. So don't know if demand is there. But a combined high school and junior college is an interesting idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, Hollins and Mary Baldwin updated their images. But I can't believe Sweetbriar couldn't stay open by just marketing to the super-rich of the DC area and doing what ever it took to get them in.

One of my DH former coworkers teaches there--he reached out to her tonight and found out that the faculty, students, and staff were only told 1 hour before this whole deal was announced to the public. Most of their website has been taken down, so he could not even confirm she still worked there before he emailed her. She already replied and she is basically in shock. Had no idea.

Call me jaded, but something is totally fishy about this thing...no one wanted anyone from the press speaking to current faculty and staff.

How horrible for them. I'm so sorry they were blindsided. Hope everyone lands on their feet.

[Anonymous]

http://savingsweetbriar.com/official-updates/

I saw a hashtag. Here's the link to the site.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've never even heard of it, and I'm one of those people who brought a horse to college (albeit to the University of CT). Clearly their marketing wasn't stellar.

Their former riding coach was the coach for the US Olympic Team. Dedicated riders knew Sweet Briar.

+1
I can't believe there would be any equestrians, especially on the east coast, who wouldn't have heard of Sweet Briar.

Yes, I too was surprised by the UCONN poster's ignorance. I'm from New England and have always known about Sweet Briar. Their success at vet school admissions is the only reason my daughter would have considered it. She would have brought her horse but, no, she is not a hunter/jumper princess.

We ride but are a Yale family. Sweetbriar means nothing to us.

Well, you posted about it....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ehhh It would have to be a remedial kind of school or something.... A friend of my SIL's daughter went to the school mentioned in 11:12 and there were only 140 girls. So don't know if demand is there. But a combined high school and junior college is an interesting idea.

Are you kidding? If it were a Madeira-like school, the demand would be huge, both from well-heeled families on the east coast and international families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ehhh It would have to be a remedial kind of school or something.... A friend of my SIL's daughter went to the school mentioned in 11:12 and there were only 140 girls. So don't know if demand is there. But a combined high school and junior college is an interesting idea.

11:12 mentioned Bryn Mawr. It has about 1700-1800 students and seems to be doing well. Students can take classes at Haverford and Swarthmore and maybe even UPenn. I know students there now and it's definitely not remedial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ehhh It would have to be a remedial kind of school or something.... A friend of my SIL's daughter went to the school mentioned in 11:12 and there were only 140 girls. So don't know if demand is there. But a combined high school and junior college is an interesting idea.

Are you kidding? If it were a Madeira-like school, the demand would be huge, both from well-heeled families on the east coast and international families.

Madeira has over 300 students, so the friend of the SILs daughter (aka the PPs niece?) wasn't going to Madeira.

[Anonymous]

Not a remedial school or junior college. Just a high end 9-12 boarding school for girls and a 4 year women's college. In the 11 and 12 the grades the high school girls would have an opportunity to take a few college classes at the same time. It would become a good feeder to the college and provide a good income stream. The enrollment would probably work at 600 college students and 200-300 for the high school. Another option would be a gifted and talented 11-12 and post grad year. The key element is to find a way to build enrollment. I would also add an online equine barn management certificate program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought I read that UVA was extending its transfer deadline to help.

So is Virginia Tech.

[Anonymous]

I'm 11:33. The school I was referring to is called Chatham Hall. While a good school, it can not always fill beds. It s similar to Sweet Briar, Southern, preppy and has a good riding program. Even Madeira, a well-known school, cannot always fill beds. So I really don't think turning the college into a boarding school with a junior college is a viable option. It looks like a beautiful property so I hope someone can re-use it.

[Anonymous]

Why not buy Chatham hall and move it's campus to sweet briar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not buy Chatham hall and move it's campus to sweet briar.

These things aren't terribly easy. Chatham Hall may have received gifts tied to campus buildings and uses that bind them to their current facilities. Chatham Hall might not have enough cash to cover the operating costs of SBC's very costly campus . The articles of either or both of CH and/or SBC might make it difficult, if not impossible, to engage in any transaction of that type. CH might not be anywhere near large enough to occupy -- and pay for -- SBC's campus. CH has not even multiple hundreds of students. SBC had, at peak, over 800. CH and SBC also might not be able to obtain permission from their lenders for any transaction of this nature unless all of their total aggregated debt were to be paid off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not buy Chatham hall and move it's campus to sweet briar.

These things aren't terribly easy. Chatham Hall may have received gifts tied to campus buildings and uses that bind them to their current facilities. Chatham Hall might not have enough cash to cover the operating costs of SBC's very costly campus . The articles of either or both of CH and/or SBC might make it difficult, if not impossible, to engage in any transaction of that type. CH might not be anywhere near large enough to occupy -- and pay for -- SBC's campus. CH has not even multiple hundreds of students. SBC had, at peak, over 800. CH and SBC also might not be able to obtain permission from their lenders for any transaction of this nature unless all of their total aggregated debt were to be paid off.

+1 Also they have a perfectly nice campus they have occupied for over 100 years. They received a large gift several years ago that has allowed them to keep running. Before that gift they were not in such great shape financially. Honestly, VA doesn't need another boarding school. It has several good ones especially four strong all-female ones. While I am sad for SBC students and alums, it is clear the demand for an all-female institution in a rural area was not there. That said the school seems to have been run poorly for the last several years and alums were not told of the precarious situation.