Bennett College financially OK, receives gift from Cosbys, Cole says

May 19, 2005

GREENSBORO, N.C. (UMNS)—Flanked by faculty and student representatives, Bennett College President Johnnetta B. Cole proclaimed the United Methodist-related school to be on "solid" financial ground and announced a new $600,000 gift from Bill and Camille Cosby.

Standing on the steps of the Annie Merner Pfeiffer Chapel in the center of the campus, Cole made the announcement during a May 18 press conference.

"Bennett is fine, and I am fine with Bennett," she said.

Her announcement about the state of the historically black women’s college followed several weeks of uncertainty on the campus, in which Cole resigned and then had a change of heart following a huge outpouring of support. During the May 18 press conference, the 68-year-old president, who came out of retirement to lead Bennett in 2002, also backed away from a pledge made when she started that she would only serve for five years.

"I am now more committed than ever to doing all in my power to advance the process of revitalizing Bennett College," she said. "I’ve always felt that each person in a leadership role needs to have some sense of when he or she needs to leave. But it’s highly irresponsible for a leader to move before the task is completed."

Cole said two things must happen before she considers her work done: Bennett must reach a position where "we never again experience financial difficulty," and the school must do some planning on who her replacement would be.

"The Bennett College faculty is very supportive of her administration and her presidency," said Dr. Audrey Campbell, who teaches psychology at the school and is president of the faculty senate. "We want her to stay until her job is done."

On April 27, Cole offered her resignation in response to conflict with a small group of faculty regarding her leadership. That led to a large student protest and messages of support from faculty members, alumnae and friends of the college, all imploring Cole to reconsider. Cole withdrew her resignation.

The Rev. Jerome King Del Pino, top executive of the United Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry, said in April that the United Methodist Church greatly values Cole’s leadership.

"The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry is delighted to learn that President Johnnetta Cole has rescinded her earlier decision and remains as president of Bennett College for women," Del Pino said. "She is in the midst of bringing institutional stability and viability to Bennett College, and the college is desperately in need of her dynamic leadership. She has been, and is, a vital asset to the United Methodist Church’s higher education community, and to the United Methodist Church."

The gift from the Cosbys is in addition to a $200,000 gift made in April for scholarships. The $600,000 gift will be unrestricted, meaning the college trustees can place the money in the general education fund and use it where it is needed most.

"We are profoundly grateful to Dr. Bill and Dr. Camille Cosby for this particular expression of their extraordinary, generous and unwavering support of historically black colleges and universities," Cole said.

Rumors of financial problems at Bennett were "absolutely false," she said.

"This description of Bennett’s current financial state was blown out of proportion in several news articles, which were written to support Bennett College and reported the grossly inaccurate statement that Bennett is in a financial crisis. What is true is that Bennett, like many small colleges, experiences a ‘dry spell’ during the summer months, when revenue from the second semester’s tuition has been expended and the college will not receive tuition revenue until the fall."

The reported money problems spurred students at Bennett as well as students from historically black colleges across the state and country to participate in acts of solidarity and raise money for the school.

"My young sisters and brothers from all of these schools, how you teach us, your elders, that while money cannot buy love, it is a beautiful thing to give money to sustain an institution that you love," Cole remarked in an April 29 letter to Bennett and to the college’s extended family.

In her May 18 speech, Cole outlined a number of achievements since she became president in July 2002. She told the gathering that:

1. Bennett’s enrollment is no longer in decline. The current enrollment is 504 students.
2. The school’s $3.8 million deficit has been eliminated.
3. Bennett has been removed from probation by the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges. The association’s Commission on Colleges had threatened to revoke Bennett’s accreditation because of budget problems.
4. The college had a balanced budget in 2004 and expects one in 2005.
5. Buildings and grounds have been improved, with major renovations completed on the library and another building.
6. With former Sen. Bob Dole as the honorary chairman, the "Revitalize Bennett" fund-raising campaign, launched in 2003, has raised more than $24 million.

"Bennett is well on her way to reclaiming her rightful place as a small, fiscally stable liberal arts college, where women with academic prowess and women with academic promise receive a quality education," Cole said.

Long-range goals include growing the enrollment and faculty, continuing improvements on the physical plant, offering "cutting edge" programs, and building up the school’s endowment, now at $9 million.

New programs have been initiated. This summer, the Johnnetta B. Cole Global Diversity and Inclusion Institute at Bennett will hold the first ever Global Summer Leadership Institute for girls ages 14-17. The July 2-16 program will target African-American, Asian, Hispanic and Native American young women.

The college is targeting these women of color in its recruiting efforts, Cole said.

"We are trying to build enrollment," she said, "and one obvious way to do that is to reach out to our Latina sisters, our First Nation sisters and our Asian sisters. We believe it’s the right thing to do. And it will also make us a better college."

Cole said she is so committed to this idea that she recently delivered a 20-minute speech in Spanish to a Latino forum held in Greensboro.

She also wants to reinstate an exchange program with predominantly white women’s colleges, she said.

Several Bennett students will participate in summer programs in Korea and South Africa, and faculty will be involved in institutes in Ghana and Austria.

Bennett College is one of 11 historically black colleges and universities related to the United Methodist Church. It receives financial support from the denomination’s Black College Fund, an apportioned church fund created in 1972 to support departmental research, libraries, operations, and physical plant maintenance and endowments at the schools.

*Caldwell is a UMNS correspondent based in High Point, N.C.

News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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