The New College Institute in Martinsville appears to be starting a mediation process with its estranged philanthropic arm, but the details remain unclear.
In a meeting Wednesday, the state-run higher education center’s executive committee voted to name board vice chair Richard Hall as sole spokesperson for the board in mediation with its foundation.
Adam Kane from the state attorney general’s office attended the meeting, including the closed session that preceded the vote. The office serves as legal counsel for NCI.
NCI spokesperson Olivia Garrett did not respond to an email Wednesday afternoon asking for further comment or a timeline for mediation.
The boards of the institute and the foundation have been at odds since the New College Foundation, which was established to raise money for NCI, rebranded itself in February 2023 in an attempt to broaden its reach in the region.
The rebranded Martinsville-Henry County Academic Foundation is holding $7.5 million from the 2020 sale of the New College Institute building to the state, along with money raised on behalf of the institute, for a total of about $13 million, according to the foundation’s most recent tax filing.
The NCI board has argued that the money should go back to NCI.
The institute first signaled its plans to sue the foundation for the money in late April 2023, after the attorney general’s office told the foundation it couldn’t withhold money raised for NCI programs from the institute. The institute’s board then earmarked $250,000 toward “litigation to recover taxpayer funds” in June.
The foundation has continued to issue payments for some ongoing initiatives, such as scholarships for students participating in higher education courses hosted at NCI.
But communication between the two boards has been brusque and limited, according to correspondence obtained through Virginia Freedom of Information Act requests.
In one email exchange from September 2023, Christina Reed, NCI’s deputy director, asked foundation director Kevin DeKoninck for financial documents for the foundation, which she refers to as “NCF” — the New College Foundation.
DeKoninck responded: “We have no financial statements for NCF. If you are asking for financial information related to MHC Academic Foundation I have yet to receive my first draft.”
Meanwhile, NCI has appeared resistant to providing requested programming reports to the foundation. Emails from DeKoninck to Reed show that he asked for a fiscal year 2023 “program stats report” on at least three occasions, in July and September 2023 and again in January 2024.
Emails between Hall and foundation board chair Simone Redd show that members of the two boards met in late January to “engage in one final effort towards meaningful dialogue” at the recommendation of the attorney general’s office, according to one message from Hall.
After that meeting, Redd wrote back to say the foundation’s attorney had reached out to the attorney general’s office with their response.
NCI board members and staff members have signaled that they’re ready to move on from the conflict. In September, New College Institute board president Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, said the board was considering forming a new foundation to raise funds on the institute’s behalf.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin visited NCI for the first time in January 2024, after his initial budget proposal for the biennium left NCI — which faced a period of leadership turnover and low program enrollment during the pandemic — with no state funding unless it presented a satisfactory business plan.
NCI presented a draft of that plan during Youngkin’s visit, and afterward funding for NCI was restored to the state budget.
Stanley told board members in a February meeting that the governor supported the institute’s efforts to recover “taxpayer money” from the foundation.
DeKoninck did not return a call requesting comment on Wednesday afternoon.