Last night, we received good news. Once again, it is time to BE IN COURT; BE INVOLVED, AND BE INVESTED! This morning, we issued the following press release.

Louisiana Court of Appeal Ruling Supports Legal Efforts to Reopen Newcomb College

Judges’ Ruling Next Step in Battle to Protect Donor Intent in Louisiana

New Orleans – Two of the three 4th Circuit judges presiding over the appeal in the landmark ‘donor intent’ lawsuit, Susan Henderson Montgomery v. Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund (Montgomery v. Tulane), late Friday reversed an earlier decision by the trial court saying the will of Newcomb College’s founding benefactor did not contain conditions on how to use the money she donated to establish the historic women’s college.

Newcomb College was established by Josephine Louise LeMonnier Newcomb, who donated the funds to open and operate the college in perpetuity in memory of her daughter. Susan Henderson Montgomery, the plaintiff in the case, is Mrs. Newcomb’s great great great niece. She is challenging the Tulane Board’s 2005 decision to close Newcomb College and divert its funds to other purposes.

“This is a tremendous step forward in the legal effort to have Newcomb College reopened,” said Renee Seblatnigg, President of The Future of Newcomb College (TFoNC). “It is also a major victory in the fight to ensure donor intent is upheld in Louisiana.”

In accordance with Article V, Section 8B of the Louisiana Constitution, the appeal must now be heard by a panel of five judges. The section reads: “… in civil matters only, when a judgment of a district court is to be modified or reversed and one judge dissents, the case shall be reargued before a panel of at least five judges prior to rendition of judgment, and a majority must concur to render judgment.”

That hearing is scheduled for September 21, 2010 at 1 p.m.

“We have the utmost confidence that the majority of the five-judge panel also will agree that Mrs. Newcomb’s bequest to the Tulane Board of Administrators was clearly subject to the condition and obligation that her money be used to develop and maintain in perpetuity a coordinate women’s college at Tulane.”

BE IN COURT: Plan to attend the hearing. More information will be forthcoming.

BE INVOLVED: Spread the good news. Call your friends and let them know that Newcomb Lives! Let us hear from you at info@newcomblives.com.

BE INVESTED: Use your credit card and charge your donation by clicking the button to your right, or or send your check to:

TFoNC c/o Paige Gold
3909 Rust Hill Place
Fairfax, VA 22030

Professor Danielson has been an inspiration, a motivator, and a guide for countless Newcomb alumnae. She challenged us; she taught us to be critical and to stand by our principles, but to consider our principles carefully. She was a caring neighbor and a passionate participant in University life. She listened to us, and she taught us how to listen. She had little patience for indulgence, but infinite patience with her students. She blazed a path for women of intellect, and she has fought to ensure its continued availablilty, and she guided us to the forefront. We are grateful to have had her support and guidance through the years since Katrina enabled the Board of Administrators to bury Sophie H. Newcomb Memorial College.

Here you will find a growing list of our memories of Jean. If you would like to contribute a memorial comment, please email us at info@newcomblives.com, and we will post your memorial here.

SPECIAL NOTE: Dr. Danielson left behind two wonderful cats. Her neighbor is caring for them, but needs to find a home where they can remain together. If you can help, please email us at info@newcomblives.com, so that we can put you in touch with her.
Read more »

JEAN DANIELSON: MORE THAN A COUNSELOR–A CHAMPION!

With a sense of deep sadness and loss mixed with profound gratitude and admiration, we dedicate this special edition of The DaisyChain to the memory of Professor Jean Danielson. “Dean Jean,” as she was known, died last week from complications of thyroid cancer at the age of 77.

Jean Danielson said she came to Newcomb College with Hurricane Betsy in 1965; she stayed to teach Political Science as a pioneer among the predominantly male faculty in that department. She remained loyal to Newcomb College and to our organization until the end of her life. While she counseled and encouraged Newcomb and Tulane students alike, she recognized the significance of the unique experience for young women resulting from the combination of separate Newcomb programs and those programs coordinated through Tulane.

Even after her official retirement in 2004, she volunteered as Advisor at Large (the only person to ever have that title.) Her role was to counsel students as “Dean Jean on the Mezzanine,” as she liked to say with her singular brand of humor, referring to the mezzanine of Cudd Hall where she met with students. During her career at Newcomb/Tulane, she served as the Director of Special Programs (primarily programs in Mexico and Guatemala) and of the Tulane Honors Program. The commendable accomplishments and details of her career as a teacher and counselor are legend. We are honored to proclaim what she meant to us at The Future of Newcomb College: She was our Champion!

On March 30, 2006, Professor Danielson’s was the voice – the clear, deep, sonorous, serious, and sincere voice – that testified in Federal District Court in New Orleans on behalf of Newcomb College and its future. In that first of three cases to save Newcomb, heard before Newcomb was actually dissolved, Jean Danielson recalled Newcomb’s glorious past and present and made a case for its future. In her testimony and in conversations before and after, she described the importance of Newcomb College to Tulane as well as to the women students who would lose so much with its closing. She articulated how inextricably intertwined Newcomb was with Tulane – that it was an integral, essential, critical component without which Tulane would not be whole. She embodied the dual loyalty that so many of us knew and took for granted. Newcomb WAS Tulane, she insisted. If Newcomb did not have graduates, it would be forgotten - its spirit and bond of loyalty would simply cease to exist; it would be a memorial no more.

Most importantly, she emphasized that Newcomb was more than the sum of its programs; it was a shared experience. Newcomb’s rituals and symbols represented the history and tradition of its graduates through the years and offered students camaraderie like no other. She celebrated, as only she could, the deep meaning as a rite of passage and symbol of tradition the “Daisychain” held for Newcomb graduates. She recounted how Juniors linked together the chain of daisies that the Seniors would walk beneath on their way to graduation. She described how that strand of flowers symbolically linked them together in their common Newcomb experience, an experience that was wrapped up in the college and all it had stood for and had become for over 119 years. She said that without the roots of perpetuity provided by a college, the fruit would wither on the vine.

As the Howard and Montgomery cases were filed, Jean Danielson continued to be our champion. She assisted in the preparation of TFoNC’s amicus brief filed on appeal in the Howard case, and she attended the hearings in the Louisiana Court of Appeal and in the Louisiana Supreme Court. She was a member of our Advisory Board and consulted with us regularly to provide guidance and encouragement until her health failed her. She loved Newcomb College and worked for its renewal, and we loved her. We regret that she did not live to see Newcomb restored, and we will miss her greatly.

Professor Danielson touched and influenced many lives over the years, in the classroom, through the programs she directed, and as a counselor. Please share your personal remembrances by sending your Professor Danielson stories to info@newcomblives.com. You can also visit our Save Newcomb College! Facebook page to share your memories of Dean Jean.

On Wednesday of this week, TFoNC will publish a special memorial page for Professor
Danielson, including donors in her honor and memorial comments from those who wish to remember her. If you would like to make a gift in memory of Professor Danielson, please click the “Honoring Dean Jean” button.

On June 3rd, a diverse crowd of Newcomb alums, along with members of the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future in Atlanta, environmentalists, and special friends, gathered to hear Barbara Pyle (N ’69), a well-known filmmaker and environmentalist (www.barbarapyle.com), speak about “The Empowerment of Women.” TFoNC and WNSF were co-sponsors of the event that was generously hosted by Southface, Inc. at its Eco Office, a state-of-the-art building in downtown Atlanta that showcases sustainable building practices and methods. The enthusiastic audience was interested to know more about the connection between women, sustainability, and the future, and what has happened to Newcomb, as well as what TFoNC is doing about it.

Barbara opened her remarks quoting former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, that the single most important factor for the sustainability of the Earth is the empowerment of women. Emphasizing that the empowerment of women around the world is inextricably linked with and crucial to the sustainability of Planet Earth, Barbara presented clips from her life’s work of documentary films produced when she was an Executive Producer at CNN and Corporate Vice President of Environmental Policy at Turner Broadcasting. She took us inside the life experience of women she had filmed and interviewed from Africa, to Jordan, to Jamaica, and demonstrated the many ways that the women, their communities, their children and their environments benefited when the women became educated and economically empowered.

Underscoring that her Newcomb experience had everything to do with her capability to accomplish what she has accomplished, Barbara connected the dots of women, the future, and sustainability to the need to save Newcomb College. She pointed out that Newcomb always stood as a bastion for the empowerment of women like herself. Acknowledging that she was speaking for herself, she noted passionately that the dire circumstances of millions of women around the world as depicted in her films and the demise of Newcomb College share in common one critical factor: The devaluation of women and of their contributions and institutions as a root cause. Acquiescence in this devaluation is bad for women, and it is bad for the Earth and must be challenged, she said.

At the conclusion of her remarks, Barbara observed that it is empowered women who are working so hard to save Newcomb, and it is important for them to succeed as a means not only to further the empowerment of women through women’s education but also to uphold the important principle of donor intent. When women make charitable donations, they and their intent–just as the intent of Josephine Louise Newcomb as expressed through her gifts and in her will–must be respected. Otherwise, women’s philanthropy will diminish. Putting her “money where her mouth is,” Barbara offered to match any contributions from the group up to a total of $500 to demonstrate her personal commitment to right the wrong that was Tulane’s closing of Newcomb College. (This challenge was met within 24 hours!)

After the presentation, Barbara stayed late answering questions and exchanging ideas with her enthusiastic audience.

A MODEL FOR GATHERINGS IN OTHER CITIES

The success of Barbara Pyle’s presentation demonstrates that Newcomb alumnae and other women, alike, continue to want to gather and to learn from one another. The organizing committee in Atlanta (Laura Spriggs, N ’95, Marsha Londe, N ’64, Suzanne French, N ’05, and Linda Muir, N ’68) is eager to share with others in other cities their formula for putting this event together. If you are interested in sponsoring, organizing, or speaking at such an event to benefit TFoNC in your city or area, contact us at info@newcomblives.com. This could be the first of many enlightening events.

MAKE A CHALLENGE OF YOUR OWN!

Barbara also set a great example for how one person can issue a challenge for matching funds and double her contribution to TFoNC in a short time. Of course, challenges for $10,000 are nice and are more than welcome, but a challenge of $500 can be very effective, too. With 10 challenges of $500 each, we can raise another $10,000 pretty quickly if they are all met. Make a challenge of your own, and let’s see how fast we can reach another milestone!

NEWS & NOTES

With the beginning of summer, maybe you have that time you have been looking for to send us an email and let us know what you have accomplished recently. We are always happy to celebrate Newcomb alums and what you have done as an empowered woman.

THE DAISYCHAIN
The Newsletter of TFoNC (The Future of Newcomb College)
May 14, 2010

Because of your generous and speedy donations, we can report to The Banbury Fund that we have met their challenge and raised $10,000 to match their challenge offer. In a matter of weeks we received donations ranging from $10 to $4,000—each one helping us to move $20,000 closer to funding our efforts to save Newcomb College.

The Banbury Fund, the charitable foundation of the Robertson family, is keenly aware that donor intent issues are of great importance to philanthropy in the United States. The Robertson family took on Princeton University in the largest “donor intent” lawsuit in U.S. history, and we are grateful for their support of our work to enforce the intent of Mrs. Newcomb’s gifts as stated in her will.

WOMEN AND SUSTAINABILITY

Barbara Pyle to appear at Southface in Atlanta on 6/3/2010

If you are in Atlanta, please join us on Thursday, June 3rd for a lively evening with Barbara Pyle, N ’69, creator of Captain Planet and the Planeteers, who will give a video presentation on “The Empowerment of Women.” Using selected clips from some of the 60 films she has created for CNN, Barbara will focus on how empowering women has led to progress in providing a sustainable future for our planet.

This has been a frequent theme in Barbara’s life and work, and she will show how women’s progress has had a direct impact on creating sustainable development and improving our planet, and even on our working to save Newcomb College. You will be entertained by Barbara’s presentation, and we will all come away a little wiser.

The evening begins at 6:30 P.M. at the Southface Eco Office in Downtown Atlanta. Southface staff will be on hand to provide mini tours of their facility, giving attendees the chance to see in action one of the world’s most sustainable commercial buildings. For more information and directions, visit http://www.southface.org. The evening will also include a wine reception, and an opportunity to visit with Newcomb alums and members of the Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future in Atlanta.

Please RSVP to savenewcomb@gmail.com or (404) 444-6757. Guests are welcome, and a suggested donation of $20 is requested.

NEWCOMB POTTERY AT THE MET

Eight pieces of Newcomb Pottery, part of a collection donated last year by Robert A. Ellison, Jr., are now on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The Newcomb College pieces are part of a collection of some 250 ceramic objects that Mr. Ellison collected from antiques stores, flea markets, and thrift shops beginning in the 1960’s, when he moved to New York from Texas. The collection now fills thirteen cases on the new Charles Engelhard Court in the American Wing of the museum.

The eight Newcomb pieces were made between 1897 and 1927. This select group of Newcomb vases represents some notable designers, including Anna Frances Simpson, Ada Wilt Lonnegan, Mary Frances Baker, Marie Dettoa LeBlanc, and Harriet Coulter Joor. One exceptional vase, likely executed by Marie Medora Ross, features a repeating incised design of large lotus flowers with entwined stems and alternating lily pads.

To read more about the Ellison donation, click here.

THE DAISYCHAIN
The Newsletter of TFoNC (The Future of Newcomb College)
May 1, 2010

We are more than half way to reaching our goal of matching the $10,000 challenge from the Banbury Fund. Remember, that every dollar you donate to TFoNC by June 1st will be matched dollar for dollar up to $10,000.

The Banbury Fund is the private family foundation of the Robertson family, who took on Princeton University in the largest “donor intent” lawsuit in U.S. history. Let’s show the Robertsons that we agree that donor intent is essential to philanthropy in America by raising the full $10,000 and more. This is a limited-time offer, so please donate quickly so that we can realize this generous gift by the June 1st deadline.

USE YOUR CREDIT CARD AND CHARGE YOUR DONATION by clicking the button on your right, or SEND YOUR CHECK TO:

TFoNC c/o Paige Gold,
3909 Rust Hill Place
Fairfax, VA 22030.

SAVE THE DATE: ATLANTA, JUNE 3RD – AN EVENING WITH BARBARA PYLE

Join us on the evening of June 3rd for a special event to benefit TFoNC hosted by Southface Energy Institute in Atlanta. The Women’s Network for a Sustainable Future in Atlanta will join TFoNC as the co-presenter of An Evening with BARBARA PYLE, N ’69. All Newcomb alums and supporters are invited to network with old and new friends and to hear and meet Barbara, whose list of achievements is impressive: She is an internationally recognized environmentalist, former Corporate Vice President and Executive Director at CNN, and an award-winning documentary filmmaker.

Honored in 1991 as Newcomb’s Outstanding Alumna, Barbara has added “Saving Newcomb College” to her impressive list of personal goals and accomplishments. With Ted Turner 25 years ago, Barbara created “Captain Planet and the Planeteers,” which is now seen by kids online on the Mother Nature Network, where Barbara serves on the Advisory Board. She was the founder and Chairman of the Board of the Captain Planet Foundation, and she is a recipient of the prestigious United Nations Sasakawa Prize for her body of environmental work and lifetime of achievement. The empowerment of women continues to be a key focus of her personal activism.

Please save June 3rd on your calendar if you are going to be in or near Atlanta, and look for more details in future DaisyChains.

NEWS & NOTES

The latest news from JANE DOGGETT, N ’52, Newcomb’s Outstanding Alumna in 2007, is that a computer rendering in Adobe Vector scanned from her original drawing, “Lake Okeechobee with Full Moon,” is being exhibited at the Palm Beach International Airport until August 24th. On January 27, 2010, Jane lectured at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, CT, where an exhibition of works (Jan. 26-Mar. 7) from her book Talking Graphics was so well received that it has been extended until July 3. Congratulations Jane!

When news appears on our computer screen, we often presume it appears “automatically,” not questioning the human hand on the switch. When you visit our website, www.newcomblives.com, you see a growing list of names and dedications on the Donors page, and you probably don’t know that it is presided over by DANETTE I. SULLIVAN, N ‘96.

Danette began doing this job for us while she was living in rural Japan working as an ESL teacher and continues even now as she juggles her new career with the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer preparing for a posting to Vietnam.

April 14, 2010

If you’ve been thinking of donating to TFoNC, the time to do so is NOW!

TFoNC has received a $10,000 challenge grant from The Banbury Fund so every donation you make to TFoNC by June 1st will be matched dollar for dollar up to $10,000.

The Banbury Fund is the private family foundation of the Robertson family, who took on Princeton University in the largest “donor intent” lawsuit in U.S. history.

Ever since the Robertsons learned of our efforts to force Tulane University to honor Mrs. Newcomb’s intent, the family has offered their support for our cause. And now they have taken that support a step further by offering this generous financial incentive to help us continue our legal challenge.

Let’s show the Robertsons how many people out there agree that donor intent is essential to philanthropy in America by raising the full $10,000.

This is a limited-time offer, so please donate quickly so that we can realize this generous gift by the June 1st deadline.

USE YOUR CREDIT CARD AND CHARGE YOUR DONATION by clicking the DONATE button to your right, or SEND YOUR CHECK TO:

TFoNC c/o Paige Gold
3909 Rust Hill Place
Fairfax, VA 22030

WHO WAS JOSEPHINE LOUISE NEWCOMB? (continued)

(For the complete timeline of Mrs. Newcomb’s life, click here.)

In recent weeks, we have been pleased to bring you the story of Mrs. Newcomb’s life in a series of installments. This is the final installment of this amazing and inspiring story.

By 1899, Josephine Louise was worried about the use of the Newcomb fund by the Board of Administrators, fearing that some of the money might be applied to other departments of the university. She considered demanding the return of her gifts and creating a trust, which would allow her to remove Newcomb College from New Orleans. She even considered abandoning the New Orleans real estate and building an entirely new Newcomb Memorial College in Thomasville, Georgia, where she was assured that gifts of land and other support awaited the project. Josephine Louise finally discarded this plan when she was persuaded that the goodwill developed in New Orleans to the college and to Sophie’s name would be lost if the college relocated.

In the fall of 1900, Josephine Louise began her annual trip south to New Orleans, but was too unwell to continue past New York. Instead, she went to the home of friends on West 145th Street where she stayed in their care through the winter. Josephine Louise Newcomb died there on Easter Sunday, April 7, 1901. She is buried with her husband, daughter, infant son and other relatives in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Her cautious lifestyle and careful management of her investments enabled Josephine Louise to fulfill her dream of endowing the college she founded. By the time her will was settled in 1911 and the funds applied to Newcomb College, Josephine Louise Newcomb’s estate was worth more than $2 million.

As we wait for the Court’s ruling on the appeal in Montgomery v. Tulane, it is important to keep in mind what the plaintiff is seeking and what we are supporting through this litigation. Ms. Montgomery asks the Court to do the following:

(1) reverse the trial court’s judgment;
(2) rule that Mrs. Newcomb’s lifetime donations and bequests under her will were subject to a charge (i.e., a performance obligation) that Tulane maintain and operate Newcomb College in perpetuity;
(3) enforce the charge by ORDERING Tulane to reopen and operate Newcomb College as it was in July 2005 (i.e., before Katrina); and restore the Newcomb College Endowments, which were valued in 2006 at more than 40 million dollars.

What benefit will winning the appeal bring? Tulane itself provides answers in the Tulane University Bulletin, 2003-2005, which guided those entering Newcomb in 2005 to choose Newcomb in the first place. Here are excerpts from pages 115 through 118:

“The H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College for Women was founded in 1886 by Josephine Louise Le Monnier Newcomb, an entrepreneur and visionary, as the first degree-granting college for women within a university in the United States….Her several gifts and final bequest to the college were made in memory of her daughter, Harriott Sophie….All of these funds for the college she entrusted to the Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund.

“The College is committed to the academic and personal development of all Newcomb students. Vital to the identity of Newcomb as a coordinate college for women within a research university is the participation of students and faculty in the production of new research on women and the integration of this research into the undergraduate curriculum. With its own academic advising, Honor Board, student organizations and programs, Newcomb maintains a strong sense of identity and community but also takes full advantage of the resources of the university ….

“Newcomb students have the opportunity to hone their leadership skills in college organizations and through a variety of programs offered within the College …. At Newcomb, students have the best of two worlds: a small liberal arts college dedicated to personal attention and development, and a dynamic, comprehensive research university consisting of scholars at the forefront of their academic fields….

“Sound academic and pre-professional advising complements the Newcomb curriculum. …The six administrative departments within the College are the offices of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Newcomb College Student Programs, Newcomb Center for Research on Women, Newcomb College Children’s Center, Newcomb Alumnae Affairs, and the Newcomb Art Gallery….

“Newcomb College recognizes that there are many facets to a complete education. With this spirit in mind, the Office of Newcomb Student Programs works with students to develop programs and organizations which complement their classroom experiences….Several programs are offered annually.

“The Newcomb College campus has been dedicated in perpetuity….The Newcomb Dean’s Residence is a historic home dedicated in perpetuity for the use by the Newcomb Dean.” (Emphasis added.)

The Bulletin’s description concludes with a list of 39 honors available solely to Newcomb College students, in addition to the University awards available to students in various colleges. They run from the Alpha Epsilon Phi Award in Romance Languages to the Elizabeth S. Watts Award in Physical Anthropology.

Judging only from Tulane’s own statements about Newcomb College before closing it on July 1, 2006, Tulane offered its women students a uniquely valuable experience that is no longer possible now that Newcomb College is gone. Having an entire Dean’s office dedicated to women and their growth provided a warm and encouraging atmosphere at Newcomb. The academic advisors in the Newcomb Dean’s office had excellent preparation and provided excellent advice that was tailored to Newcomb College students. Many of them had served for many years and knew generations of students. Studies of the professional paths of Newcomb graduates were undertaken and published by members of the Newcomb Dean’s office. Students had the opportunity to develop leadership skills in the Newcomb Senate. Students who wanted even greater depth could participate in the program called “Intensive Newcomb” that sponsored additional presentations and activities.

When we win, we will have won the reinstitution of the Newcomb College of the recent past and the resurrection of the long tradition of the Newcomb Identity, all supported by reinstated endowments. This is a Newcomb College worth fighting for and saving!

BE INVESTED!

Your support is needed now more than ever. To return Newcomb College to its rightful place for the benefit of women students for generations to come, USE YOUR CREDIT CARD AND CHARGE YOUR DONATION by clicking the “Donate” button to the right on this page, or SEND YOUR CHECK TO:

TFoNC c/o Paige Gold
3909 Rust Hill Place
Fairfax, VA 22030

WHO WAS JOSPHINE LOUISE NEWCOMB?

– (Continued from previous issues)

Josephine Louise was always circumspect about her financial affairs. No one at the college knew the extent of her wealth, only of her total dedication to “Sophie’s college.” In 1896, she wrote to the Tulane Administrators, “When my beloved daughter was taken from me, I determined to devote that portion of her father’s estate which would have been hers, to a memorial that would enshrine her memory in a manner best fitted to render useful and enduring benefit to humanity. … I believe the act whereby I donated my first gift in subsequent sums for the establishment of H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College was wise, and I rejoice that it has been crowned with abundant success.”

In 1897, to establish New Orleans as her domicile, Josephine Louise bought a house at 1224 Fourth Street, one block from the college campus. The following year she consulted a New Orleans attorney, who was a member of the Tulane Board of Administrators, to prepare a will that could not be challenged under Louisiana law. She wrote a will leaving her entire property, after a few minor bequests, to the Tulane Board of Administrators “to use and apply … for the present and future development of this department of the university known as the ‘H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College’ which engrosses my thoughts and purposes, and is endeared to me by such hallowed Associations.”

March 4, 2010

Newcomb Lives flags waved today as spectators (aka “Sophie’s Posse”) paraded through the French Quarter to the hearing in Montgomery v. Tulane at the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal.

Dan Caruso of Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn argued that Tulane’s elimination of Newcomb College did violence to Mrs. Newcomb’s intent expressed in her will and throughout her life, and that restitution of Newcomb College and nothing less is the remedy. He argued on behalf of plaintiff-appellant Susan Montgomery that this case is without precedent. The cases cited by Tulane all involve testators wishing to leave money to various causes which they did not found, fund and build during their lifetimes. Mrs. Newcomb left her estate to a college which she founded years before her death and to which she had already given hundreds of thousands of dollars to build and maintain. Moreover, Tulane accepted the gifts and the bequest understanding the purpose and conditions of the donations.

Tulane attempted to rivet the court’s attention on a small, excerpted portion of the will while ignoring Mrs. Newcomb’s history with Tulane. Tulane argued that some of the language in Mrs. Newcomb’s will (specifically, that she had “every confidence that the ‘Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund’ will continue to use and apply the benefactions and property I have bestowed and may give for the present and future development of this department of the University known as the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College”) was only “precatory,” i.e. that it expressed her non-binding wish but did not place an enforceable condition or charge on her bequest.

The three-judge panel was informed, engaged, and attentive. We can expect a decision and opinion “as soon as possible,” perhaps within the next four to six weeks. Come join in building the momentum! Things are looking good.

BE INVOLVED: Join our conference call on Tuesday night, March 9th, at 9:00 p.m. EST to hear a more detailed update about the case, to ask questions and to share news and ideas with other supporters on the call. Call-in Number: 1-218-936-4700; access Code: 8747287#

BE INVESTED: USE YOUR CREDIT CARD AND CHARGE YOUR DONATION AT OUR WEBSITE, www.newcomblives.com, or SEND YOUR CHECK TO:

TFoNC c/o Paige Gold
3909 Rust Hill Place
Fairfax, VA 22030

WHO WAS JOSPHINE LOUISE NEWCOMB? – (Continued)

(For the complete timeline of Mrs. Newcomb’s life, click here.)

In following years Josephine Louise provided generous funding for the college’s needs, giving approximately $1.5 million in her lifetime. She continued to maintain an unpretentious lifestyle, dressing simply, traveling with her few belongings in trunks, living in hotels and boarding houses in New York in winter and spending summers in northern resorts such as Niagara Falls, Richfield Springs and Saratoga, usually traveling with a secretary.

In 1892, when she was 75 years old, Josephine Louise returned to New Orleans after an absence of more than 20 years and made her first visit to Newcomb College. She and her secretary arrived unannounced during Mardi Gras and had difficulty finding lodging. During her stay, Josephine Louise visited the college daily and took an active interest in its development, agreeing to fund construction of an academic building adjacent to the main house that was needed for the school’s expansion.

For the next eight years, Josephine Louise traveled regularly to New Orleans for the winter. When the first student residence, the original Josephine Louise House, was built on Washington Avenue, she lived in an apartment in the dormitory, becoming even more interested in the operation of the college and in the students themselves. She spoke of Newcomb College as her “life’s work” and declared that, “in this college my daughter lives again to me. She does not seem to be dead, but lives again in this college and in these girls.”

Josephine Louise continued to fund projects for the college, always studying proposals carefully down to the smallest details. Her gifts included an academic building, an art building, property for expansion, and equipment. In 1894 she gave the college a proper freestanding chapel, choosing the architect and approving all details and appointments. She commissioned stained-glass windows by Tiffany & Co., including a set of windows depicting the Resurrection of Christ, in which Sophie’s image appears as an angel in the scene. (To be continued.)

March 1, 2010

Judges’ Decision Will Determine Whether Donor Intent Will be Protected and Enforced in Louisiana

Louisiana’s Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal will hear oral arguments on March 4 in the landmark “donor intent” lawsuit, Susan Henderson Montgomery v. Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund (Montgomery v. Tulane), setting the stage for an important ruling that will decide whether Tulane must use the gifts of Newcomb College’s founding benefactor for the purpose for which they were given.

The Court’s decision could affect the tens of thousands of charities operating in Louisiana. If the Court fails to uphold the legal and moral principle that designated charitable gifts must be used for the purpose for which they were given, many civic-minded philanthropists probably will take their donations elsewhere.

The March 4 appeals court hearing before a three-judge panel is the next step in a lawsuit filed by a successor to the original benefactor of Newcomb College, Tulane University’s historic women’s coordinate college. The college was established through the generosity of Josephine Louise LeMonnier Newcomb, who donated the funds to establish and operate the college in perpetuity in memory of her daughter. The plaintiff, Mrs. Newcomb’s great great great niece, is challenging the Tulane Board’s 2005 decision to close Newcomb College and divert its funds to other purposes.

On August 28, 2009, in the most recent ruling in the case, the trial court denied the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment, finding – erroneously, the plaintiff claims – that Mrs. Newcomb’s will did not contain an enforceable, conditional obligation on how to use the money she donated.

As the plaintiff’s brief to the appeals court explains: “Every time Mrs. Newcomb gave money to Tulane, she reiterated that it should be used for Newcomb College and the Tulane Board in its acceptance of the donations acknowledged the condition.”

“When you view all of the documents that accompanied the gifts Mrs. Newcomb made during her lifetime, Mrs. Newcomb’s will, and the many Tulane Board resolutions since 1886 accepting the conditions and limitations imposed by Mrs. Newcomb – as you are supposed to by law – it becomes clear that the Tulane Board reinterpreted Mrs. Newcomb’s will to suit its own purposes, walked away from its moral and legal obligations to Mrs. Newcomb, and violated the clear intent of one of its most generous donors. Surely the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal will see this,” said Renee Seblatnigg, president of The Future of Newcomb College (TFoNC) www.newcomblives.com, a nonprofit organization of donors and supporters dedicated to preserving the popular women’s college.

The plaintiff is asking the Court of Appeal to order the Tulane Board to reopen Newcomb College and operate it as Tulane’s separate coordinate college for women in the same manner, and with the same structure, programs and endowments, as it did in 2005.

“Contrary to the Tulane Board’s expected dire warnings, the reinstitution of Newcomb College would not be difficult or expensive,” said Seblatnigg. “After all, Tulane operated and maintained Newcomb College for nearly 119 years, including during the Great Depression, two World Wars, various natural disasters and epidemics of yellow fever and the bubonic plague. There is no compelling reason the college shouldn’t continue to exist today.”

Note: The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal is located at 410 Royal Street in New Orleans.

BE IN COURT, GATHER AFTERWARDS: Let us know at info@newcomblives.com if you will be at the hearing, and please join TFoNC afterwards for refreshments at the Place d’Armes, www.placedarmes.com, in the French Quarter at 625 St. Ann Street at Chartres.

BE INVOLVED: Join conference calls Tuesday nights, March 2nd and March 9th, at 9:00 p.m. EST to hear updates about the case, to ask questions and to share news and ideas with other supporters on the call.

Call-in Number: 1-218-936-4700; access Code: 8747287#

BE INVESTED: USE YOUR CREDIT CARD AND CHARGE YOUR DONATION AT OUR WEBSITE, www.newcomblives.com, or SEND YOUR CHECK TO:

TFoNC c/o Paige Gold

3909 Rust Hill Place

Fairfax, VA 22030

WHO WAS JOSPHINE LOUISE NEWCOMB? – (Continued)

(For the complete timeline of Mrs. Newcomb’s life, click here.)

The college opened in the fall of 1887 in a house on Howard Avenue near Lee Circle. Although she did not visit New Orleans at that time—in fact, she had not been to the city for more than 15 years–Josephine Louise was actively involved in every aspect of the college’s development, writing frequently to Brandt V.B. Dixon, president of the college, and Col. Johnston, president of the university. She supplied the necessary money to provide furnishings that met her specifications and to decorate the chapel, and she asked that the college observe her daughter’s birth and death dates with a chapel service.

The young college soon outgrew its original quarters, and in 1889 Josephine Louise donated $25,000 to buy the Burnside house and three acres of land at 1220 Washington Avenue. The next year the college moved to its new Garden District campus where it remained until 1920. (To be continued.)

February 21, 2010

Momentum is building for the hearing in the Newcomb College case, Montgomery v. Tulane, on March 4th at 10:00 a.m. at the Louisiana Court of Appeal in New Orleans. Now is the time to:

BE INVOLVED – On February 23, March 2, or March 9, call in at 9:00 p.m. EST to ask questions, learn more from the TFoNC Board about the case, and share news and ideas with other supporters on the call. Raise your voices. We can hear you!

Call-in number: 1-218-936-4700; Access code: 8747287#

BE IN COURT – On Thursday, March 4th at the Court of Appeal, 410 Royal Street, New Orleans. Arrive by 9:30 a.m. to go through security and take a seat.

You will hear plaintiff’s lawyer argue that the trial court erred in deciding that Mrs. Newcomb’s will did not contain an enforceable obligation for Tulane to use Mrs. Newcomb’s money only for Newcomb College. Tulane has repeatedly argued that it could have used the money for whatever it chose – even to build a football stadium.

BE INVESTED – Nothing is more important than supporting this effort financially. USE YOUR CREDIT CARD AND CHARGE YOUR DONATION AT OUR WEBSITE, www.newcomblives.com, or SEND YOUR CHECK TO:

TFoNC c/o Paige Gold

3909 Rust Hill Place

Fairfax, VA 22030

GATHERING AFTER THE HEARING

After the hearing, please join TFoNC for refreshments and an opportunity to visit and to debrief. For details, please contact us at info@newcomblives.com.

COMING TO NEW ORLEANS FOR THE HEARING?

TFoNC has reserved rooms at Place d’Armes hotel in the French Quarter within walking distance of the courthouse. Reservations may be made either online at www.placedarmes.com or by calling the Reservation Center at 800-366-2743 during normal business hours. (Please identify yourself as a member of NEWCOMB COLLEGE.) Reservations for these rooms must be made on or before Wednesday, February 24, 2010. If you need transportation to the hotel or to the hearing, please contact us at info@newcomblives.com.