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Thanks for the open opportunity to share with the online Wells community. It is refreshing to be asked for our input.

I am running for Alumnae Trustee again in large part to help Wells and the Alumnae Association reach the 49.25% of Wells Alumnae who voted for me last year. I continue to run to serve the more than 1,100 (one sixth) of Wells Alumnae who have signed a simple petition objecting to five aspects of the proposed Master Plan for campus. (Alumnae association staff, speaking as a representative of the administration, has said to me that the Plan is moot. This does not make sense because the Plan has not been rescinded or otherwise tabled.) The petition has been circulating for three years now, and still the five issues have not been addressed in any way.

So far this year, there have been no reports at all from the Alumnae Association Board about the purported "transformation" that has been taking place behind closed doors all year. Just what ARE the Trustees doing in all these extra meetings, paid for out of college funds that would be so much better spent for faculty and staff raises and rational campus improvements? And why has there been no information forthcoming from the Alumnae we elected to serve us?

There are several vital issues on the table for the Trustees right now, and I for one would like to know what our elected Alumnae Trustees have to say about them.

The most recent issue has been the spectre of co-education rearing up out of nowhere. It was not brought up in Faculty committee as the administration tries to make it appear. Has anyone gotten a straight answer as to where this came from, if it is seriously under consideration for the undergraduate program as it stands, or a report on any studies that show how much enrollment has increased for similar women's colleges that have gone co-ed in recent years?

Another example is the Alumnae Association ballot counting procedures. The AA contends that no outside observers are permitted at the ballot counting the Friday of Reunion. The reason given is that it is not covered by the bylaws. The bylaws are very vague on this issue, stating only that the nominating committee chair and "at least one representative of the association" are present. Why isn't a representative of the nominees by petition, or the faculty, or the student body, or collegiate, or even the administration or the Cayuga County Elections Office, permitted to observe? This is like saying only Democrats are permitted to count or observe the counting procedure in a bi-partisan election. In discussing this with Cayuga County Elections officials, they stated that even in non-partisan races such as the school board, outside observers are welcomed and expected. It is truly "un-American" to expect to operate under a cloak of secrecy, especially when it goes against all public and even college procedures at the faculty and student levels. Why is open communication so impossible to achieve in general with Wells these days?

I have contributed to the Kerr Duncan Macmillan scholarship regularly in the past. The last three years I have felt uncomfortable sending any contributions. My primary reasons are that numerous letters from concerned alumnae to the Express Editor and Alumnae Association Board have been either ignored or condemned; major concerns continue to rise without being addressed; and many Alumnae voices have been hushed or belittled every time they have been raised.

It really does seem past time for some answers, and I have the time and talent to report Alumnae concerns to the Trustees and vice versa. I fully intend to be present for all meetings and make reports back to the association membership at large. I offer my grantwriting skills, educational background, and contacts in the education community at large to help bridge the gap between the College Administration, the Trustees, the Faculty, the Students, the Staff, and the Alumnae. The current Alumnae Association officials seem unable or unwilling to do so. Let's get some new blood in there and stop all this secrecy!

Thank you for your time, for your concern for making Wells the best she can be, and for your vote. All the best, Ann T. Macmillan, M.S., Class of `84