WLS • Second Annual Report
For a PDF of the full Annual Report, please click here.
May 15, 2026
Dear Friends of the Wells Legacy Society,
Our heartfelt thanks for continuing on this journey with us into our third year. As we look toward the future, we are pleased to share significant progress with you as we anticipate important milestones ahead.
A dual path now lies before us. We celebrate our new academic home at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS), where the intellectual spirit, academic archives, instructional artifacts, and endowed assets of Wells will inspire and support new generations of scholars. Simultaneously, we anticipate a renewed relationship with our physical home in Aurora. With the pending ownership of the campus by the Hiawatha Institute of Indigenous Knowledge (HIIK), we are working to ensure that the incomparable beauty of the place we love is maintained and shared for years to come.
In our first year, WLS was instrumental in displacing Manhattanville University as the college’s chosen legacy partner. We established connections with the HWS administration and became a trusted resource for several bidders, including HIIK. We also created relationships with a host of preservation organizations and state agencies that can assist in protecting and re-purposing our historic campus.
During our second year, after Wells accepted the purchase offer from HIIK we began working closely with them as the likely future owner of the campus. Our board members spent hours meeting with HIIK leaders, getting to know them and becoming familiar with their vision for the campus and for their future role in the Village. This 501(c)(3) aims to see the land returned to a place of learning and community life. Once the sale is finalized, we plan to announce specific and exciting collaborative efforts with HIIK related to campus preservation.
Throughout this time, we expanded our support of Aurora’s efforts to facilitate long-term stewardship of the campus buildings and grounds. We continue to assist the Village government in navigating complex challenges to ensure that appropriate redevelopment and adaptive reuse can be secured.
We also welcomed intervention by the NYS Department of Education (DOE) to object to the proposed auction of Wells’ remaining art work and rare books into private hands. The WLS had delivered a detailed protest against these auction plans to the Assistant Attorney General (AAG). With the subsequent DOE intervention, we believe that many items will find new homes with public access in nearby cultural and educational organizations.
While advancing these diverse efforts, the WLS strengthened our internal foundation by reviewing and re-committing to our mission statement, refining our governance, updating our bylaws, reviewing our documents of incorporation, and providing legal protection for our leadership.
The WLS has played a quietly effective role in successfully communicating, coordinating, and connecting stakeholders in pursuit of our mission to preserve the Wells legacy. Together, we have demonstrated that while a college may close its doors, its legacy can endure through the efforts of those who refuse to let its story end. We are ready to move together into the coming year with a clear purpose: to join our past in Aurora with our future in the wider academic world, so that the Wells spirit will always have a place (or two) to call home.
None of this is possible without your continuing support, encouragement, and insight. The WLS Board is committed to the wise expenditure of the funds you have entrusted to us — thank you! —and we hope you’ll continue with us every step of the way.
Habere et dispertire,
Rachel Snyder and Karen A. Hindenlang
Co-Presidents, Wells Legacy Society
SUMMARY OF COURT CASES updated on May 18: The Cayuga County Supreme Court settled two major questions by confirming HWS as Wells’ legacy institution and approving HIIK as the purchaser of the campus. (NB: the Cayuga Nation appealed the court’s decision to deny their motion to intervene in the sale. At this date, we do not know the outcome of this action. Their appeal was denied by the Appellate Division on May 18.) The Minerva Institute recently filed a request for an injunction to stay the pending sale. Update: the appeal will be heard by the county court on June 30. The fate of the college’s historic artifacts will be reviewed in court on May 27, following the Department of Education’s objection to the planned auctions. For a detailed outline of all the cases, click here.
