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James F. Jones (educator)

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James F. Jones
President of Sweet Briar College
Interim
In office
August 1, 2014 – July 2, 2015
Preceded byJo Ellen Parker
Succeeded byPhillip C. Stone
21st President of Trinity College
In office
July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2014
Preceded byBorden W. Painter Jr.
Succeeded byJoanne Berger-Sweeney
16th President of Kalamazoo College
In office
1996–2004
Preceded byLawrence D. Bryan
Succeeded byEileen Wilson-Oyelaran
Personal details
Born1947 (age 76–77)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
SpouseJoan Sheets
Children3
EducationUniversity of Virginia (BA)
Emory University (MA)
Columbia University (MPhil, PhD)

James F. Jones Jr. (born April 9, 1947) is an American academic administrator and educator. He began his career as a professor of Romance languages and other humanities. His administrative posts have included being vice provost of Southern Methodist University and dean of its Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences; president of Kalamazoo College; president of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut; and interim president of Sweet Briar College.

Early life and education

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Jones was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1947.[1] He graduated from the Georgia Military Academy in 1965.[1] He received degrees from the University of Virginia, Emory University, the Sorbonne, and Columbia University.[1][2] While at the University of Virginia, he was assistant director of the Virginia Glee Club.[3]

Career

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Early career

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Jones was professor and department chair of Romance languages and literature at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and he was also director of the university's summer language institute in France.[2] He later served as preceptor for the department of French and Romance Philology at Columbia University.[2]

In the early 1990s, he was vice provost of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and dean of its Dedman School of Humanities and Sciences,[4] and he was also a professor of humanities there.[2]

Kalamazoo College

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Jones was president of Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan from 1996 to 2004,[1] and he taught humanities there as well.[2] He nearly doubled the college's endowment, and supported study-abroad and internship programs.[1]

Trinity College

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Jones assumed the role of president of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut on July 1, 2004.

In 2007 he signed the Annapolis Group Presidents Letter[broken anchor], refusing to participate in or provide information to U.S. News & World Report or other college ranking organizations.[5]

In 2009, Jones faced criticism for allegedly raiding Trinity's Shelby Cullom Davis endowment and using funds in contravention of the wishes of the original donor.[6] The college petitioned the Attorney General's office to broaden the use of funds from the Davis Endowment to include student scholarships in Economics. Professor Gerald Gunderson, the Shelby Cullom Davis Professor of American Business and Economic Enterprise at Trinity College filed a complaint with the Connecticut Attorney General's office and a review revealed that the college had for some years been drawing on the Davis endowment without approval. The college agreed to adhere to the original conditions of the endowment in late 2013, when Prof. Gunderson objected to excess funds being used for student scholarships and commenced litigation. Details of the situation are reviewed in "Another Cautionary Tale: The Shelby Cullom Davis Professorship of American Business and Economic Enterprise at Trinity College" in The Intelligent Donor's Guide to College Giving[7] and in "Games Universities Play: And How Donors Can Avoid Them".[8] Commenting on the case, the donor's daughter, Diana Cullom Davis Spencer, noted: "If colleges like Trinity undermine donors' confidence that they will respect their wishes, they place at risk the generous support they receive from our foundation and so many others—and the benefits that inure to millions of students from this largesse."[7]

In the fall of 2012 he attempted to overhaul Trinity College's 160-year-old Greek system by, among other things, requiring all sororities and fraternities to become 50/50 male/female by 2016 or risk having their properties confiscated by the school and their members expelled.[9] The plan received significant criticism; fraternity and sorority members said that going coed would effectively shut them down, some alumni threatened to withhold donations, and some alumni called for Jones' resignation.[9]

Following the controversy over the sorority and fraternity plans, in 2013 he was asked to retire a year early,[9] and he stepped down on June 30, 2014.[10]

Sweet Briar College

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He served as interim president of Sweet Briar College in Sweet Briar, Virginia beginning in August 2014.

On March 3, 2015, Jones surprised students, faculty and alumnae by announcing that the 114-year-old institution would close permanently in August 2015.[11] He stated that the Board of Directors had come to two conclusions after deliberation: "The declining number of students choosing to attend small, rural, private liberal arts colleges and even fewer young women willing to consider a single-sex education," and "the increase in the tuition discount rate that we have to extend to enroll each new class is financially unsustainable."[12][13]

Critics of the announcement questioned Jones' claim that "to save Sweet Briar we would need $250 million into the permanent endowment tomorrow morning",[14][15] pointing out that while the college had been running a deficit, it still had an endowment of $84 million and assets of $163.9 million, and that $250 million was the size of the endowment of the much larger University of Maryland.[14] On March 30, 2015, the Amherst County attorney filed a lawsuit against Jones,[16] alleging that the administration had continued to collect charitable donations towards its educational mission as it prepared to close, in violation of the intentions of the donors, and that it had violated Virginia's Uniform Trust Code by acting against the will of its founding documents.[17]

A vote of no confidence in Jones and the board of directors was issued at a faculty meeting and on April 24, 2015, the faculty of Sweet Briar College filed a lawsuit seeking more than $40 million in damages. The faculty case asserted that the college was not in dire financial distress; and noted that net assets rose from $126 million to $135 million, the endowment grew from $85 million to $95 million, and debt dropped from $42 million to $25 million in the past five years.[18][19]

Following a legal battle over the attempted closure of Sweet Briar, a mediation agreement to keep the college open required Jones to resign as Sweet Briar College president seven business days after that agreement gained court approval,[20] and he stepped down on July 2, 2015.[21][22][23][24]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Michigan Educator Will Lead Trinity". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 8, 2004.
  2. ^ a b c d e "James F. Jones, Jr". www.trincoll.edu. Archived from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  3. ^ Baumgartner, Scott (August 3, 2004). "An Interview with James Jones, Jr". Trinity Tripod. Retrieved June 10, 2009.
  4. ^ "Professors take on new chair responsibilities in Arts and Sciences". Washington University Record. Vol. 16, no. 13. Washington University. November 21, 1991. p. 3.
  5. ^ "Presidents Letter".
  6. ^ Hechinger, John (April 23, 2009). "New Unrest on Campus as Donors Rebel". The Wall Street Journal.
  7. ^ a b Neal, Anne D., and Michael B. Poliakoff, "The Intelligent Donor's Guide to College Giving (Second Edition)", American Council of Trustees and Alumni, March 2011.
  8. ^ Wooster, Martin Morse, "Games Universities Play: And How Donors Can Avoid Them", John Williams Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, September, 2011.
  9. ^ a b c Megan, Kathleen (May 6, 2013). "Trinity College President James Jones Will Retire Early". Hartford Courant.
  10. ^ "Trinity College Announces Leadership Changes". trincoll.edu. Archived from the original on November 11, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  11. ^ Garsd, Jasmine (March 26, 2015). "Are Women's Colleges Doomed?". NPR. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  12. ^ "The Collegian :: Sweet Briar College faculty object to closing".
  13. ^ Svrluga, Susan (March 3, 2015). "Sweet Briar College to close because of financial challenges". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  14. ^ a b "Our view: Sweet Briar board should resign". The Roanoke Times. March 14, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  15. ^ Shapiro, T. Rees (March 4, 2015). "Shock over Sweet Briar's closing turns to somber questions". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  16. ^ "Sweet Briar Institute v. Paul G. Rice and James F. Jones, Jr.", Circuit Court of Amherst County, Virginia, March 30, 2015.
  17. ^ Thomason, Andy (March 30, 2015). "County Attorney Sues to Stop the Closure of Sweet Briar College". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  18. ^ Pounds, Jessie; Petska, Alicia (March 30, 2015). "Faculty of Sweet Briar College votes no confidence in board, president". The News & Advance. Lynchburg, Virginia. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  19. ^ Svrluga, Susan (April 24, 2015). "Now faculty are suing Sweet Briar, too". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  20. ^ Robertson, Gary (June 21, 2015). "Agreement would keep open women's college in Virginia". Reuters. Archived from the original on January 9, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  21. ^ "Memorandum of Understanding" (PDF). Attorney General Mark R. Herring. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 26, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  22. ^ Moody, Josh (May 7, 2017). "The president that saved Sweet Briar". The News & Advance. Lynchburg, Virginia – via The Roanoke Times.
  23. ^ Saunders, Tim. "Sweet Briar College sees highest number of new applicants in 50 years". WDBJ. Archived from the original on January 24, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  24. ^ Svrlugs, Susan (June 20, 2015). "Agreement reached to keep Sweet Briar College open". The Washington Post.
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