Fate of St Augustine's accreditation expected today

[Bballfan]

Yea good luck putting the genie back in the bottle. 200 students and $12 million in debt.

[Eagle74]

They are reporting that they are expecting around 200 students to be enrolled for this Fall. They're still at least $12 million in debt.

[LegalRam]

https://www.wral.com/story/saint-aug...tion/21535692/

St. Aug's regains their accreditation in a unanimous ruling by their accrediting body to reverse their initial decision. Still a long way to go for them of course, but things are at least slightly less bleak for them now

It's a start as they try to battle back. I wonder what fall enrollment will look like for them. I'd guess that a lot of students would have already transferred to new schools this late into the summer.

[Finchwidget]

https://www.wral.com/story/saint-aug...tion/21535692/

St. Aug's regains their accreditation in a unanimous ruling by their accrediting body to reverse their initial decision. Still a long way to go for them of course, but things are at least slightly less bleak for them now

[Eagle74]

The IRS just added an additional million dollar+ lien on the St Aug's property. The fines appear to be outpacing fund raising by quite a bit.

[Eagle74]

Unfortunately, St Augustine has multi million dollar liens against the property that has to be paid off by a potential buyer before anything can be done. Their football stadium has still not been paid for. I have little doubt that we will start seeing the campus fall into disarray very soon, so if Shaw wants to make a deal, it needs to be done ASAP.

[Bballfan]

St. Aug's needs a merger to survive. Shaw is doing fine on their own. If they want to help their crosstown rival out in their time of need, more power to them, but it should be something THEY choose to do for their best interests, not something a third party throws at them to further their own ulterior motives

I guess from Shaw's standpoint, take over St. Aug, sell their existing property, and get money from that. Then you boost your enrollment, get economies of scale, and a lot more.

Sure they can't be forced to do anything, but economics should be a factor. Shaw just needs to leverage their position. Politicians will make a lot of things happen to get what they want!

[Eagle74]

I have some friends in the Raleigh area, and I don't believe it's much of a secret that the city would like to make Shaw's main campus property available for high-end retail and housing development, and they may be eyeing their Rock Quarry land (35 acres) as a place to relocate Central Prison, way away from their cherished Dix Park. The $$$ could really help a unified Shaw / St Augs institution.

On a side note, the St Aug's University Athletic website is now gone.

[LegalRam]

Force was a poor choice of words on my part; you're right in that neither Raleigh nor NC can force the two to merge. Maybe "strong-arm" is a little more appropriate, if Boulware is to be believed

O, I wasn't even taking your words. The article also refers to St Augs as being forced to merge.

Rereading the article, and the first page of the letter drafted by Boulware, it even seems like Shaw has toyed with the idea of merger. https://wwwcache.wral.com/asset/news...-63c88a2jc.pdf

At the end of the day St Augs is in a pure mess and Brain Boulware was around for part of this mess. If Shaw is actually interested in a merger then St Augs might want to hear them out. It's better to merge now than shutdown and have the campus sold off.

[Finchwidget]

Can't force them, but they need a merger for survival. Universities are doing this all over the country. It just makes sense for the long-term. Sometimes you just have to swallow your pride and do the right thing for students and employees.

St. Aug's needs a merger to survive. Shaw is doing fine on their own. If they want to help their crosstown rival out in their time of need, more power to them, but it should be something THEY choose to do for their best interests, not something a third party throws at them to further their own ulterior motives

[Finchwidget]

I know Eagle and I for years have been saying a merger between the two schools would potentially be in the best interest of both schools.

However, I take this article and the allegations by Brain Boulware with a grain of salt. The BOT and School are going to say anything they can to save face right now and turn any other party (the city in this case) into the enemy. He and the rest of the BOT were just recently named as defendants in a lawsuit by a group of alums, students, parents, etc..

Also, the state nor city can force two private universities to merge. So, even if conversations were held, it's not like a local group of business leaders could actually force St Augs and Shaw to merge. I mean we've been discussing this for years, so it's not surprising if this topic came up again.

St Augs is grasping at straws and Shaw has prime real estate. It's not shocking that Raleigh business leaders would see this as a chance to promote the merger; however, I feel it's an over exaggeration saying that a merger is being forced.

Force was a poor choice of words on my part; you're right in that neither Raleigh nor NC can force the two to merge. Maybe "strong-arm" is a little more appropriate, if Boulware is to be believed

[Bballfan]

Can't force them, but they need a merger for survival. Universities are doing this all over the country. It just makes sense for the long-term. Sometimes you just have to swallow your pride and do the right thing for students and employees.

[LegalRam]

I know Eagle and I for years have been saying a merger between the two schools would potentially be in the best interest of both schools.

However, I take this article and the allegations by Brain Boulware with a grain of salt. The BOT and School are going to say anything they can to save face right now and turn any other party (the city in this case) into the enemy. He and the rest of the BOT were just recently named as defendants in a lawsuit by a group of alums, students, parents, etc..

Also, the state nor city can force two private universities to merge. So, even if conversations were held, it's not like a local group of business leaders could actually force St Augs and Shaw to merge. I mean we've been discussing this for years, so it's not surprising if this topic came up again.

St Augs is grasping at straws and Shaw has prime real estate. It's not shocking that Raleigh business leaders would see this as a chance to promote the merger; however, I feel it's an over exaggeration saying that a merger is being forced.

[Eagle74]

A merger would potentially save both institutions in the long run.

I have to agree that city developers would love to get their hands on the land that Shaw is sitting on.

[Bballfan]

Makes a lot of sense to combine universities and resources. Whatever the motive, contraction has to happen.