On Dec. 5, 2024, the administration of William Jewell College sent a letter to Jewell students informing the Cardinal community that the College would be declaring financial exigency. 

Accompanying this declaration, Jewell’s administration launched a new webpage, “Reimagine Jewell.” The webpage informed students, alumni and donors of the challenges the College has faced and the College’s plan to address these difficulties.

The full letter to students can be read here. It noted, in relevant part, that:

“The College has implemented a variety of strategic cost-cutting measures to achieve efficiencies. These included asset sales, savings on what we purchase, operational cost cuts, deferral of non-essential maintenance expense, and most recently, a reduction in administrative staff. Additional immediate cost-saving measures must be implemented to balance our budget and ensure Jewell’s future success.

Following extensive analysis and thoughtful deliberation, the William Jewell College Board of Trustees has voted to declare financial exigency, an intentional step toward creating financial stability and securing the path forward for the College. In doing so, the Board is deploying an important tool that enables reallocation of resources, restructuring of academic programs, scholarships and significant reductions in force. [Jewell] will transition out of the financial exigency period in less than one year after efficiencies are being achieved according to plan.” [emphasis added]

In a press release, Bill Gautreaux, chair of Jewell’s Board of Trustees, said that as is, “the cost of program delivery is not sustainable. It is essential that we confront that inefficiency and build a solid foundation for future growth.” Interim President Susan Chambers described current conditions as a “challenging time,” but added that she was “collectively dedicated to the preservation of Jewell for the long term.”

What is financial exigency?

William Jewell College defines financial exigency in accordance with guidelines published by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). According to the College’s Faculty Handbook, a state of financial exigency may be declared by the Board of Trustees when “an imminent financial crisis threatens the survival of the institution as a whole and that [financial crisis] cannot be alleviated by less drastic means” (§4.8, p. 48).

Jewell also has the ability to declare financial hardship, which differs from financial exigency in that “financial stability,” not the institution’s survival, is under threat. Jewell may declare financial hardship when it may not meet accreditation or federal standards, experiences a multi-year budget shortfall, or restructures a program due to “declining enrollments or excessive financial drain” (§4.9, pp. 48-9).

By declaring financial exigency, then, the Board clarified the urgency of the crisis Jewell is facing. This crisis threatens Jewell’s survival, not merely its financial stability.

How is the College administration addressing this?

Declaring financial exigency enables Jewell to take substantial steps to cut expenses.

Academically, the College may choose to restructure or remove certain academic programs. “Reimagine Jewell” noted that “many changes [to Jewell’s academic programs] will be welcomed, but some will impact programs, services and traditions that, while valuable, do not have sufficient aggregate demand to continue in their current state.” 

Financial exigency also enables the College to eliminate the positions of faculty members with tenure; exigency is one of the few conditions under which Jewell may do so (Faculty Handbook, §5.10.1). Moreover, Jewell is not obligated to continue academic programs that it has been offering, and a reduction in faculty caused by budget cuts may render certain programs inoperable.

Athletically, programs will continue through at least the end of spring. Jewell stated that athletic programs will “continue as planned for spring as well while we complete the work developing a more viable athletic aid strategy, and a sustainable and strategic fundraising plan.” Jewell plans to provide more details about the future of athletic programs in early 2025.

Administratively, Jewell seeks to increase revenue via summer programs or other uses of its facilities, while decreasing expenses in energy consumption and technology infrastructure.

Other impacts on College functions

Despite this declaration of financial exigency, the College claims to prioritize “as little disruption to the student experience as possible” and that the College is “committed to supporting [students] during this time.” 

Finally, Jewell’s search for a new president has been paused during this time, and Interim President Susan Chambers will continue to serve until a new president and other long-term leadership are found.

Photo by Sarah Elizabeth via Uplash.

With December fast approaching, the autumn sports season is drawing to a close. First and foremost, congratulations to all our athletes for a great season. You should  be proud that  you made it through. Being a student athlete is very challenging, whatever the results, it’s important to recognize your dedication and efforts. This article is a recap of the fall team sports season for our William Jewell Cardinals.

Football: What a season it was for the football team, which got off to a strong start with 3 straight conference wins. It’s worth mentioning that the Cardinals had their best season in 10 years, with an overall record of 5-6. Indeed, these very encouraging results bode well for the coming years, which will hopefully enable the Cardinals to have a winning record and reach the postseason phase. In addition, the Cardinals have also made a name for themselves this season with 4 GLVC player of the week awards won, as well as a career high of 1000 rushing yards in one season for our running back, Keaundre McCullough.

Volleyball: The women’s volleyball team had a difficult season with disappointing results. With an overall record of 7-22 and 1-12 in conference, the season failed to live up to expectations, despite a conference victory over Missouri S&T on Oct. 11. Although this season was marked by lack of success and doubt, Samantha Thompson and Bella Laporta showed exceptional leadership by leading the team with very strong performances. Thompson reached the impressive milestone of 2000 career assists, a huge achievement. As for  Laporta, she was very effective offensively, with 409 kills this season. Well done to them both!

Women’s soccer: Head coach Emily Key and her staff can be proud of the women’s soccer team that has had its best season since 2018. This season could mark the start of a new era for this talented team, which won 4 games this season. Although they did not win, these 4 victories are a clear improvement on previous seasons. In fact, this team is full of potential, driven by attacking talents such as Lux Sands, with 6 goals and two assists, and Riley Frasure-Smith, with 3 goals and 4 assists. Although they didn’t make it to the conference tournament, they can be proud of their season.

Men’s soccer: The men’s soccer team is one of the great success stories of the fall season. In a season marked by very promising results, the team came close to qualifying for the GLVC conference tournament.  It was head Coach Eddie Horn’s best season since he arrived at Jewell 5 years ago, as well as the program’s best season since 2012, with an overall record of 5-8-4. What’s more, this success is partly due to Zach Nichols, a very talented forward whose 6 goals and 1 assist led the team. Let’s hope this momentum carries the team to an even better season next year.

In summation, this fall season has been full of surprises with ups and downs for every team. But it’s important to recognize the efforts, despite the final results. Congratulations to all the student athletes who work hard every day to be as good as they can be – and good luck to all the sports preparing to compete in the spring. Go Cardinals!

2021 is here, and with a new year comes new goals. This infographic shows the different goals of Jewell community members throughout the ages.

For many students on William Jewell College’s campus, activities outside of their academic studies are a time to decompress and share an experience with friends. These activities range from theatre to intramurals and football to choir. All of these activities have been affected and changed by the rise of COVID-19 in the United States since late January. For 48 students on the Hill, the chance to sing with their friends and de-stress at the end of the day has been flipped on its head.

The William Jewell choir program, typically consisting of Choral Ensemble, Concert Choir and Choral Scholars, has been rearranged to mitigate the spread of the virus on campus. The 48 members of Jewell’s choir program have been separated into six small ensembles – with two ensembles meeting with Dr. Maglione in the afternoon outside, weather-permitting, near the concession stand in Greene Stadium. 

Each singer is assigned to a spot, marked with a white X, that is distanced from the singers around them. The students have all been given a special singer’s mask. The mask, while still protecting the wearer and those around them, sticks out farther from the face of the wearer, allowing for better sound and air circulation. 

The soprano-alto choir was separated into two groups with one singing “The March of the Women” by Ethel Smyth and the other group singing “Ave Maria” by B.E. Boykin. The tenor-bass choir will be singing “Requiescat” by Andrea Ramsey. 

During the rehearsal process, each of the three groups will be split into the aforementioned six small ensembles and will use the Acapella app to showcase the progress that they have made on the pieces. Dr. Maglione hopes to use a new app, with a scheduled release date in October, for the final performance as it should allow for up to 50 participants in collaboration with a similar end product to the Acapella app. The creation of this new app would allow the choir to have performances with the entirety of the choir. Performing with the whole of the choir restores some semblance of normalcy, but the choir experience that these singers have come to know and love will not be what it was until the threat of COVID-19 is gone. 

Georgia Hatfield, first-year music education major, spoke about her experiences in the choir program so far. 

“I assumed that I would be in one huge choir … and every single day we would work on learning the music together,” Hatfield said. 

Instead of the large choir that she had been expecting, Hatfield has been placed into one of the small ensembles as well as the Choral Scholars ensemble. However, these changes to the typical structure of the choir have not gotten her down.

“I knew that a smaller school and a smaller music program would mean more attention to detail, but this makes me feel like they really care about us and are trying their best to think things through for the safety of not only the professors but the students [as well],” said Hatfield.

In regards to the precautions taken by the music department, Hatfield said she never feels unsafe. Overall, her time in the choir so far has been positive, with some expected setbacks.

“It is much harder to make connections and get to know the other singers in the group,” said Hatfield.

Social distancing and the masks make it difficult for those new on campus, not just those in the choir program, to create the deep connections that are so widely touted by students of Jewell, but that does not mean we must disregard either of those things. We must temporarily forego these “normal” connections on campus to fight and stop the pandemic in this country. Once we have done that we will be able to finally remove our masks, hug our friends and forge those deep connections that we all heard about on our tours of the college.