WLS asks that local items stay local

At the very end of January, the college entered three new court  petitions: one to sell the campus, one to sell the off-campus housing, and one to sell all the “personal property” consisting of art works, rare books, and some artifacts

The Wells Legacy Society immediately wrote to the Assistant Attorney General overseeing the dissolution of the college urging that a few items of significant local historical interest (about 5% of what is being sold) be withheld from auction.

These items carry little monetary value. Most have not even been appraised. Yet we feel strongly that they should not be auctioned into private hands and lost forever to the public. History should stay where it happened!

Here is the letter.

February 11, 2026

Dear Mr Mulvey,

The Wells College Board of Trustees has filed three petitions with the Cayuga County Supreme Court, seeking approval of the sale and transfer of all or substantially all of the College’s real and personal assets. The petition in case number E2026-0086 addresses the College’s “Personal Property;” the petition in E2026-0090 relates to off-campus real estate owned by the College; and the petition in E2026-0091 relates to the sale of the campus itself. The Board of Trustees proposes to meet its Obligation through the net proceeds of the sale of the campus; it proposes to apply the proceeds of the sale of off-campus real estate and its “Personal Property” to the costs of those sales, with net proceeds applied to its “wind-down expenses,” and any remaining funds donated to “appropriate charities” as approved by the court.

The Board thus asks the Court to approve its “sell everything” plan - the total monetization of all its remaining assets. The Board does not propose to preserve any assets for donation to local or regional museums, libraries, educational institutions, or other cultural centers. As we understand it, the Attorney General is made a party to this proceeding “to ensure that the interests of the ultimate beneficiaries of the corporation, the public, are adequately represented and protected from improvident transactions.”1

In reviewing Exhibit 6 to the Petition in E2026-0086, we have identified certain assets with obvious historical significance to the College, the Village of Aurora, Cayuga County, the Finger Lakes region, upstate New York, and Indigenous Peoples. Exhibit 6 contains items of significance to those studying the Village of Aurora, Henry Wells, E. B. Morgan, Henry Seward, Erastus Dow Palmer, the Finger Lakes region, the history of commerce and education, and Wells College itself. These items represent a very small percentage of the nearly 1,500 items being proposed for auction, see attachment.

Wells’ purpose was to operate as an educational degree granting college, and its mission was to educate students to think critically, reason wisely, and act humanely as they cultivate meaningful lives.2 The proposed monetization of all assets does not “promote the purposes of Wells College,” as required by §§510 and 511 of the New York Not-for-Profit Corporation Law (the N-PCL).3 Instead, the sale of items with historic significance will likely lead to their removal from their geographic area of significance, and their removal from public accessibility. If members of the public are unable to come to the region to study or observe or enjoy these artifacts, their historical value is lost.

Furthermore, it contravenes the declared policy of the State of New York in §14.01 of the New York Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Law (PAR) - “that the historical, archeological, architectural and cultural heritage of the state is among the most important environmental assets of the state and that it should be preserved.” We propose that items of historical significance be spared from auction, and instead be donated to local and regional museums and cultural centers for the continued education of the public.

Accordingly, we respectfully request that you obtain any expert assistance needed for a review of the Exhibit 6 list of assets, and, if the Board of Trustees will not agree to amend its Petition, oppose the auction of those assets identified as offering residents of the state “a sense of orientation and civic identity.” Those assets are “irreplaceable,” as stated in §14.01. They should be used and conserved for the “education, inspiration, welfare, recreation, prosperity and enrichment of the public,” and for the other public purposes listed in §14.01.

We believe that the Board of Trustees would find willing and able institutions in Cayuga County, the Finger Lakes region, and upstate New York to accept objects of historic significance and preserve and display them for the public purposes set forth in §14.01, consistent with Wells’ educational mission.

We further believe, on the basis of the three Petitions filed with the Court, that the Board of Trustees will be able to pay its wind down costs through the net proceeds of the sale of off-campus properties (estimated to be $2.8M per Exhibit 12 to Petition E2026-0090) and the sale of items of Personal Property that do not possess important local and regional historical significance (with an appraised value nearing $2M per Exhibit 9 to the same Petition).4 There does not appear to be a need to monetize the irreplaceable historical and cultural heritage of New York State.

Finally, we consider the preservation of these assets to promote the purposes of the College itself, as required by §511(d) of the N-PCL. A “college” is not simply a campus or an assemblage of buildings. It exists in the hearts of those who come to know and love it, and who form a sense of identity and community around it. Wells’ motto is habere et dispertire — to have and to share. By preserving its assets of historical significance and making them accessible for future study and enjoyment, Wells College can continue its educational mission even after its dissolution.

Thank you for considering these remarks.

Sincerely,

Rachel Snyder and Karen A. Hindenlang,
Co-Presidents, Wells Legacy Society, Inc.
P.O. Box 13, Aurora NY 13026

1 In re: Adirondack Tri-County Nursing, 94 NYS 3d 537 (2017).

2 E2026-0086 Petition paragraphs 2 and 3.

3 Thee College’s Petition in E2026-0086 does not address this statutory requirement.

4 We assume the Exhibit 9 appraisal report for “Fine Arts” was filed in duplicate. The Exhibit 9 appraisals, which total about $1.5M, do not include all of the Personal Property listed in Exhibit 6 and apparently omits the high-value items consigned to Christie’s in Exhibit 10. We have reviewed the Petition and its Exhibits but have not identified a disclosure of the total wind down costs.

An Attachment to the letter (linked here) highlights the historic items from the college’s auction lists. The items include the Erastus Dow Palmer sculptures, such as Evening and Morning (the prototype for the college seal); Indigenous artifacts (which should be returned to Native peoples, not sold), and art works which depict the historic built environment of the village/college as well as many noteworthy individuals who lived and worked there.