WLS asks that local items stay local

In January 2026, the college entered three new court  petitions: one to sell the campus, one to sell the off-campus housing, and one to auction all the college’s “personal property” consisting of art works, rare books, and some artifacts.

The Wells Legacy Society immediately wrote to the Assistant Attorney General and many others to urge that items of significant local historical interest (about 5% of what is being sold) be withheld from auction. One week later, the Aurora Ledyard Historical Society wrote in support of our letter, expertly expanding upon our concerns. The Village Historian then wrote a supporting letter which documented additional areas of concern.

We feel strongly that such items should not be auctioned into private hands and lost forever to the public. They were given or acquired to serve educational purposes in NYS, not to be sold to the highest bidder in order to pay off the college’s expenses and debt during the wind down process.

UDDATE: just a few days after we wrote our letter, an Attorney for NYS Dept. of Ed. and Board of Regents filed an objection to the proposed auctions. Read it here! This objection means that the college must negotiate with the Dept. of Ed. about disposition of ALL of the Wells non real estate property, not just the local historic items for which we advocated. The process has not moved quickly. The required report to the judge has been delayed three times, with the court date most recently re-set for August 30. (Hmmm. That’s a Sunday?)