Way back in the day (April, 2010), we celebrated here the announcement that Hobby Lobby philanthropist David Green had purchased a beautiful campus in central Massachusetts’ Connecticut River Valley for a C. S. Lewis (CSL) College that would be devoted to the Arts and Humanities. It turns out, however, that the gift came with prudent strings; if the CSL Foundation could not raise sufficient funds for college operations by January 2012, the deal was off and the donors would look for another recipient.
Which outcome, it appears, has come to pass. Read the story here. It seems the CSL Foundation is still looking for supporters though the philanthropists have opened the doors to other proposals for the remarkable property. Unless I misread the article, it is a matter of several million dollars. Forgive me for thinking that the CSL Estate, flush with its movie millions (?), might have been expected to step in here?
Oh, well. Your thoughts?
Truthfully, while I had hoped it would work out, I’m not necessarily surprised… to start a new college from scratch is never going to be an easy task, and in this economy? When other Christian colleges are having to cut programs and cut faculty? Just isn’t that surprising to me.