April 9, 2003
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.

PCUSA News Service