Alumnae of Mills College in Oakland filed a lawsuit against the school, alleging they were blindsided by the college’s recent announcement to shutdown or merge with Northeastern University.
The complaint, which was filed June 7 in Alameda County, claims that the college withheld information and documents from alumni trustees on the board of trustees, "thereby stifling [the] Plaintiffs' ability to fulfill their fiduciary duties to Mills."
The group is seeking at least 60 days to review the college's books in order to better comprehend the options on the table.
In March, the historic women's college announced it would stop admitting first-year students and grant its last degrees in 2023 due to financial problems. Two months later, Mills said it was pursuing a merger with Northeastern University, a private, nonprofit, Boston-based research university. Under the proposal, the college would welcome all genders at the undergraduate level.
According to a FAQ section on Mills' website, the preliminary proposal from Northeastern "was so compelling," the Board of Trustees authorized Mills to begin formal negotiations.
Under the proposed agreement, current Mills students could complete their degrees at Mills or Mills College at Northeastern University. They would also have the option of transferring to Northeastern at no additional cost prior to the finalization of the alliance.
“The College is pursuing negotiations with Northeastern because its leaders understand and support the vital contributions Mills offers, and because we share a vision of what education can and must be in the coming decades," President Elizabeth L. Hillman said in a message sent to the Mills community on Tuesday. "The missions of Mills and Northeastern are aligned through our shared commitment to access, social justice, and urban engagement.”
Cherlene Wright, an appointed member of the Alumnae Association of Mills College Board of Governors and a 1992 graduate of the college, said she and the board sat in multiple meetings with Hillman and the possibility of closing the college was never raised until the public March announcement.
"We absolutely have known that the college is struggling financially ... We absolutely have been offering help with fundraising, with recruitment," Wright said. "Never in any of these board meetings was shutting the college down even raised as a possibility."
"The Northeastern thing is secondary because we didn't even know that we needed a partner," Wright continued. "We've not been shown any of the information that would tell us that Mills was in a position to need a partner. I feel like this is a forced marriage when I haven't been told why it is I need to be married. I haven't even really considered the merger because my focus is getting to the truth of what's going on with Mills."
In a statement sent to SFGATE Thursday, President Hillman called the lawsuit "a factually incorrect and legally mistaken effort to undermine confidence in the leadership of the College." Hillman noted that two of the plaintiffs are withdrawing from the lawsuit, and one plaintiff's term expired on June 30.
"All other Mills College alumnae on the Mills College Board of Trustees agree that they reviewed more than sufficient information to make all decisions made on the future of the College," Hillman said.
She went on to urge the Alumnae Association to "rededicate its resources to supporting our students and Mills College rather than funding a costly legal fight."
Mills College alumnae sue school over pending shutdown, merger - SFGate
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