Posted on 06/29/2009 8:26:30 AM PDT by HIDEK6
A small, private college in North Carolina is asking creditors to be patient as it tries to raise money to pay nearly $1 million in past-due bills.
Greensboro College, with 1,300 students,already has cut salaries 20 percent and a week ago was told to pay an $8,000 electric bill or lose power, The News & Record of Greensboro reported Sunday.
Next, a sheriff's deputy brought a summons to small claims court to the college telling officials to appear because of an overdue office supply bill of $1,245.
The 161-year-old liberal arts college also owed $136,889 for cafeteria service, $13,388 for trash collection, $50,276 to a bus company that transported athletes and a past-due city water bill of $6,500, the newspaper said.
A country club membership also is 90 days in arrears, the newspaper said.
The school's restructuring officer, Edward Sanz, said the college raised enough money for its June payroll and now needs enough to operate through the summer until students return in the fall. He said the power bill episode was a misunderstanding.
Sanz's firm, Naviscent Group of Charlotte, was hired by the college board of trustees two months ago to reorganize its debt. Sanz says the college is renegotiating its bank line of credit.
Sanz says large gifts from individuals and foundations have dried up because of the recession.
"It's a tough patch, period, but we're going to get through it," said Sanz. "All the colleges are getting slammed right now."
College President Craven Williams said anonymous faculty criticism of him in a Chronicle of Higher Education article and a letter circulated around campus was upsetting. Williams took a 20 percent cut to his $403,000 salary
Williams has been president since 1993 and is the school's chief fundraiser and ambassador. Sanz said the president's salary, a school-owned home with maid service and a BMW are necessary perks for entertaining would-be donors. A Greensboro Country Club membership is 90 days in arrears, the newspaper said.
Greensboro College is borrowing against its endowment, which fell from $19 million value to $12 million.
"The college lives on contributions and endowments, but retiring a debt is a bit of a challenge," Sanz said. "It's not like raising money for a building that you can put someone's name on. You can't name a debt after someone."

Sure. Sure.

I needs my Beemer at my little Methodist college.
He also gets a Greensboro Country Club membership, but his name is posted there for being 90 days in arrears.
That impresses donors.
Greensboro takes in a lot of students with money issues. The UMC used to support them but money has dried up.
I do know they've had a rough time of it the past couple of years.
The football program was supposed to help, but they just don't have the talent yet.
During the Bush years, they could count on money from the UMC to support “diversity”. The UMC is in trouble financially and GC is still married to the expensive concept of “diversity”.
Just like Mark Twain's dad kept getting smarter the longer Twain lived, colleges and universities seem to be getting stupider the longer I live.
“A country club membership also is 90 days in arrears’
I think I see part of their problem.
But they run the conservatives out and lose that source of funding.
Liberals certainly aren't going to pay their own bills.
And Soros has a limited amount of money.
He can't fund all the schools, can he?
“Liberals certainly aren’t going to pay their own bills.”
Liberals, with the rare exception of companies like Pixar or Apple, are not good business administrators.
Of course, neither are our elected Republicans. lol
That’s because you can’t run something unless you know the truth, and liberals have been lying to themselves for so long, they no longer realize they’re lying to themselves.
I think I'm starting to see the problem. That is a h*ll of a lot for the presidency of a small liberal arts college of no particular repute.
I can see that being the salary of a Major Research University President.
You’d think he would be able to pay the country club out of his pocket, wouldn’t you?
Indeed. Which Greensboro College ain't.
Yep. Maybe even a round of drinks for his foursome.
Greensboro College bought a nice chunk of land near campus to build a sports facility a couple or few years back. I don’t know if they’ve broken ground or not but the land had to set them back a penny or two.
All those Nativity scene figures getting stolen over the years must have set them back also.
Williams just resigned per the GNR
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