Paul G. Rice Timeline/Sweet Briar 2.0

Your input is welcome. In the interest of accuracy, please offer corrections and expansions. Comment in the thread where you find this—please be sure to include your source of information.

2004		Rice’s daughter starts at SBC
$2 billion Blue Ridge Resort and Conference Center begins around Poplar Ridge Golf Course (across 29 from SBC main campus. SBC land abuts golf course)(1a)(1b)(1c)

2005		Rice’s daughter transfers to UVa at end of freshman year
		SBC’s engineering program launches (2)
Rice Family Foundation donates $10 million to UVa to build engineering building (Rice Hall)(3a)

2006		--

2007		Lindsay Rice transfers back to SBC for senior year
		Rice joins SBC board (4)
		Rice Family Foundation donates $1 million to UVa, $0 to SBC (3)

2008		Rice Family Foundation donates $950,000 to UVa, $50,000 to SBC (3)
		SBC has record enrollment of 640 students (5)

2009		Rice Family Foundation donates $970,000 to UVa, $50,000 to SBC (3)
		Jones is in trouble with Connecticut Attorney General for misappropriations of Trinity’s endowment (28)
		Sept: Blue Ridge Resort and Conference Center falls through (6)
		Rice is on Search Committee that hires Jo Ellen Parker (7)
		Rice is chair of Finance Committee (7)

2010		Rice Family Foundation donates $520,000 to UVa, $75,000 to SBC (3)
		Early in ’10: Karen Davies and several others in Development Office are summarily dismissed, told to clear out offices same day and escorted off campus. No scandal, no one knows why they were treated this way. (8)
Poplar Grove purchased at auction by Green Leaf Golf Club of Amherst, a group of businessmen from northern Virginia (two owners are listed, other two are very well hidden). Property is worth millions, sold at auction for $100,000. (9a)(9b)
		March: Kevin Phelps retires against his wishes (10)
		Cheryl Elkins interim Director of Food Services (10)
		July: VP of Finance Paul Davies (husband of Karen Davies) quits (11)
		Interim Finance person Gail Payne (was comptroller, still works at SBC)(12)
		Interim VP of Finance Mitch Wesolowski (14)
		Interim VP of Finance Larry Broomall (13)
		Oct: Director of Auxiliary (food) Services Steve Edwards leaves, clears out and is escorted out same day, email is disabled same day. (15)

2011		Rice Family Foundation donates $450,000 to UVa, $50,000 to SBC (3)
		Food Services farmed out to Aramark (10), quality plummets (19) Jeannie Campbell (Aramark employee) is Director of Food Services (10)
		Jan: VP of Finance Scott Shank starts (16)(there is a good chance Rice knew Shank prior to Shank’s hiring) (17)
		Rice becomes chairman of SBC board (7)
		School pays off $11 million bond early, pays $730,119 early termination penalty (18)

2012		Rice Family Foundation donates $350,000 to UVa, $53,912 to SBC
$13 million bond paid off early. (18) (Total for early bonds is just about equal to what was needed for deferred maintenance on campus facilities.)(20)
		Chaplain reduced to part-time, no benefits, moved to Co-Curricular Life (35)
		Jan: Dean of Admissions Ken Huus quits (21)
		Gretchen Gravely interim Director of Admissions (22)
		July: Steven Nape hired for Admissions (23), though he never quits the firm he comes from. Does not engage in SBC community, rarely leaves office, drives tuition discounting up to 60% (24)
Gretchen Gravely quits (24)

2013		(Rice donations not available)
		Tusculum house materials sold at a loss to someone on board with Rice at UVa. (25)
Steven Nape leaves after less than a year (26)
Louise Zingaro stands in as director of admissions, though this is her second or third full time position at SBC. (27)

2014		(Rice donations not available)
Jones is under fire at Trinity for enacting change to fraternities and sororities and making them be co-ed, significant fall in rankings attributed to Jones (28a)
		April 29: Jo Ellen Parker abruptly announces she is leaving for Carnegie Museum (29)
		May: Jan Jones attends reunion, later in her story about Jones’ hiring refers to Parker as “this new president” when Parker had been there five years and had already announced her departure. We also know that Jones and Parker knew each other for a long time prior. (30)
		June: Rice appoints Jones interim president without a board vote (31)
		Summer: Director of Financial Aid Bobbi Carpenter takes early retirement
		Summer: Autumn Fish quits Mary Baldwin job to come to SBC as dual financial aid/admissions; while a good recruiter, she was not qualified to lead either department and had no leadership title. (24)
		Summer: Admissions Office Manager June Driskel quits (24)

2015	(Rice donations unknown)
		Jan: SBC accepts $50,000 endowed scholarship from an alumna who raised this money in honor of her son, who died at age three of brain cancer (32)
		Feb: SBC hires Sports Information Director two weeks before announcing closure (33)
Feb: SBC accepts $1 million donation from alumna who will be speaking at graduation, two week before announcing closure (34)

Sweet Briar has encountered chaos and has been essentially without leadership in Admissions, Finances, Development, Marketing, and Food Services since Rice was first Chair of the Finance Committee and later when he became chairman of the board. He is a savvy businessman and could easily have fixed this situation a dozen different ways, but he did not. Those on the board who actively sought solutions were isolated, minimized, and asked to resign by Rice.


Sources:
1a	NYT article about Blue Ridge Resort and Conference Center development at Poplar Grove
	http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/greathomesanddestinations/30havens.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1428994197-h9QCaAtY7Yq1F5NuBx0Zrg
1b	Commonwealth of Virginia State Corporation Commission, variety of Poplar Grove entities delineate the commercial history of this property
	https://sccefile.scc.virginia.gov/Find/Business?SearchTerm=poplar+grove&SearchPattern=K&as_fid=4gaeuaETzxsZsQ%2BNlvSr
1c	Amherst Town Council minutes from 11/12/08 indicate resort development plans were underway, 57 lots sold, 17 homes built, 3 homes under construction since they started.
	http://www.amherstva.gov/Archive/TC%20Minutes/TC%20Minutes%20081112.pdf
2	http://becauseofyou.blog.sbc.edu/2012/03/22/the-wyllie-engineering-program/
3a	http://www.seas.virginia.edu/pubs/opportunity/pdf/spring07.pdf
3	Rice Family Foundation filings 2001-2012: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8i2orxkt7ei8pmp/AAC1iCdjz62LA813icsgukGua?dl=0
4	See p 33: http://issuu.com/sweetbriarcollege/docs/sbcmagsummer2011
5	(enrollment numbers from SBC system)
6	http://www.wsls.com/story/20839790/poplar-grove-homeowners-concerned-about-future
7	See p. 32-33: http://issuu.com/sweetbriarcollege/docs/sbcmagsummer2011
8	(per inside sources)
9a	http://www.wsls.com/story/20820138/poplar-grove-golf-club-sold-for-100000-at-foreclosure-auction
9b	Value of Poplar Grove
 http://www.newsadvance.com/new_era_progress/news/judge-finds-middle-ground-in-county-golf-club-dispute/article_43646ee6-7dff-11e3-aa1c-001a4bcf6878.html
9c	Green Leaf Golf Club of Amherst LLC
	https://cisiweb.scc.virginia.gov/z_container.aspx
(This link may not work—the site is really difficult to use. Choose Limited Liability Company Search, Enter Green Leaf Golf Club of Amherst LLC, double click the white space to get it to search. Choose the Green Leaf you want by double clicking and it will bring up the info. 4 members, 1 listed as agent.)
10	(per Phelps family)
11	https://www.linkedin.com/pub/paul-davies/37/4b0/8a1
12	Gail Payne, as comptroller, stepped in temporarily until an interim VP was hired
13	Retired from W&L Aug 2010, took interim SBC position following fall http://www.zoominfo.com/s/#!search/profile/person?personId=14928172&targetid=profile
14	http://strategicplan.blog.sbc.edu/2010/08/07/dssar-membership-update/
15	http://sbvoice.blog.sbc.edu/2010/11/05/steve-edwards-no-longer-employed-at-sbc/
16	http://shoff11.blog.sbc.edu/2011/04/06/test-2/
17	accounting manager and director of budgets at Stetson University (He worked at Arthur Andersen in Orlando, then AA downsized after Enron scandal and closed Orlando office in 2002. Stetson is in Orlando)
	http://shoff11.blog.sbc.edu/2011/04/06/test-2/
	Weiss on boards at Stetson University
	http://www2.stetson.edu/iro/AdminFacStaffTrustees.pdf
	Weiss and Rice both with Marilyn Monroe Spas
	http://marilynmonroespas.com/about/
18	http://www.nextnewdeal.net/millennial-pulse/sweet-briar-dilemma-will-predatory-lending-take-down-more-colleges
19	(Has a single person said they like the food at SBC these days?)
20	http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/23/education/sweet-briars-imminent-closing-stirs-small-uprising-in-a-college-idyll.html?_r=0
21	https://www.linkedin.com/pub/ken-huus/13/3b2/5a4
22	(Spoke to insider employed at the time)
23	http://sbc.edu/news/uncategorized/1193/
24	(Spoke directly to insiders in Development/Admissions during this time)
25	http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/new-life-for-this-old-sweet-briar-house/article_9cd711ec-e86f-11e3-b4db-0017a43b2370.html
26	(Spoke to Admissions employee from the time)
27 	Vice President, Chief of Staff, Interim Dean of Enrollment Management http://sbc.edu/catalog/administration
28	If not technically sued, reprimanded by Connecticut Attorney General and had to return raided endowment funds
	http://fornspollfira.blogspot.com/2015/03/on-sinking-ship-and-its-captain.html
28a	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_F._Jones
29	http://www.wdbj7.com/news/local/sweet-briar-college-president-announces-resignation/25727460
30	Read “Perspective from Jan Sheets Jones ‘69”: http://www.sbc1969.com/
31	(See Amherst County Attorney’s exhibit filings.)
32	(You all know Sarah Betz Bucchiero’s story.)
33	(She is on the Save Sweet Briar Facebook page and explained this.)
34	http://www.wrbl.com/story/28696906/mayor-tomlinson-a-key-witness-in-sweet-briar-college-lawsuit
35	(Spoke to faculty member)