If you've been following my blog posts or my Twitter feed, my last 4+ months have been devoted to my alma mater, Sweet Briar College.
On March 3rd, 2015, the President and Board of Directors of the college abruptly & shockingly announced the closure of our beloved 114 year old school. Well, within 24 hours of that completely unacceptable news, a grassroots campaign -- Saving Sweet Briar -- was formed by alumnae, current students and supporters of the school, to overturn the decision.
I am happy to tell you that the fight for Sweet Briar has been a daily battle for me..... I say that because I've always known the profound impact that the school has made upon my life, but I almost surprised myself at how I just instinctively jumped up and ran to help where I was needed. My blogging world is so heavily based on Social Media, and I knew that it was a platform that I could immediately get behind and INSTANTLY spread our message worldwide! So I took to Twitter nearly everyday..... Sharing the latest news of our court cases, the latest published articles, tweeting to people that might be in a position to help our cause. It's the Social Media component that I think the President and Board completely underestimated in unifying our grassroots turned full-fledged successful campaign.
Now that we have been given the keys back to the college -- we're in essence "buying back" the school from the Board through a $12 million settlement -- the REAL WORK begins. I am thrilled that we are presented a sort of clean slate -- a reset button has been pushed and we are in a position to completely rethink Sweet Briar going forward into the 21st century. Watch us as we Vixens emerge victorious!
Sweet Briar will be open in the Fall and currently actively recruiting students for the Freshmen Class. (If you can believe it, up to 2 weeks before the vote was cast to close in March, the college had already accepted incoming students and was accepting their deposit checks..... This head scratching detail was one of MANY disturbing components to our situation). If you are interested in pursuing Sweet Briar for college or know someone that you think should apply, more information is available here.
"If I was a young woman and I was aspiring to live a life of significance … what better place to go?”
Sweet Briar College