Wells Signs Contract with HIIK

On January 8, the Wells College Board of Trustees signed a contract agreement with the Hiawatha Institute for Indigenous Knowledge (HIIK) to purchase the campus. There are many steps yet to complete (the buyer’s due diligence followed by the necessary approvals of the Cayuga County Supreme Court, the NYS Office of the Attorney General, and eventually the NYS Dept. of Education). But this is a mighty big and encouraging first step.

The WLS has confirmed that the contract is based on the offer made by HIIK in June 2025, which we shared here (with permission) on August 8, 2025. Why the college did not respond for months to the HIIK proposal is a mystery. Their delay allowed the onset of a second winter without heat in the buildings, risking considerable further damage. Urgent warnings had been issued by the NYS Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and the Preservation League of NYS about the college's intentional negligence more than a year ago.

Immediately prior to the college’s announcement, four preservation groups issued another letter, warning of the grave risks of leaving the buildings unheated and offering pro bon expert assistance in developing strategies to lessen the impact.