Funds from Wells’s sales can help Village

Photo taken 2/28/26 and © WLS

Several members of the Wells Legacy Society's Board worked with Aurora’s Deputy Mayor Janet Murphy ‘90 to draft a letter to the Associate Attorney General overseeing the dissolution of Wells College’s assets. (The Village lacks funds to pay their municipal attorney for “extra” work like this.)

The letter details the financial crisis caused by the Village’s sudden obligation to take over the operation and maintenance of the water plant. It asks that any funds remaining after the the college’s sale of the campus, the remaining “personal property,” and the off-campus housing be donated to the Village.

The Mayor and Village Attorney (both on vacation) approved the letter in principal, and it was endorsed unanimously by the Village Board of Trustees.

You may read this powerful letter here. Significant collaborative work like this is central to the WLS mission.

Should the Village of Aurora be forced into bankruptcy, the campus would lose local Zoning, Planning, and Preservation oversight. The Town of Ledyard would regulate land use on campus. This likely would open it to transformative commercial development, changing it beyond the recognition of our alumni/ae. And neither the township nor the county are anxious to assume responsibility for the water plant.

Any funds remaining after the college’s sales must remain local! They could be spread among the village’s charitable institutions: our little independent schools, library, churches, fire department, and, should their bid be successful, the Hiawatha Institute for Indigenous Knowledge. But all of these organizations need a safe and secure water supply, and only the Village of Aurora can provide that.

We hope to continue our efforts to assist the Village during this difficult time.