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 Recruited to play field hockey, the 19-year-old from Toms River,
New Jersey, had fallen in love with the school when she visited its
campus nestled in the Blue Ridge foothills of Virginia.
"I had no interest in looking at any other school after that," she
said. "When I heard the news it was closing I was heartbroken
because I didn't know where to look."
Thanks to a deal approved by a Virginia judge last month, Zsamboran
will be among 300 women enrolled to start class at Sweet Briar in
August. That will make her part of a bid to reinvent the
114-year-old college and prove that its all-women educational model
remains relevant.
Last month Sweet Briar, best known for its equestrian program, won a
reprieve when a judge approved a deal in which alumnae pumped
millions of dollars into the school to keep it operating.
Phillip Stone, who was named Sweet Briar's president on July 2, said
in an interview that he was in the midst of setting a long-term
strategy for the school, which has endured slumping enrollment and
bled money in recent years.
Sweet Briar's name suggests white-gloved gentility but, with costs
soaring for U.S. college degrees, the image of exclusivity is no
longer enough for the rural school and its $47,000 price tag for
annual tuition, room and board, Stone said.
RECRUITING ABROAD
"There should not be any continuing caricature of Sweet Briar, if it
is still out there, that it's for rich girls who like to ride horses
and have a pretty place to go to school and maybe just be a good
liberal arts education."
Recruiting students from East Asia and the Middle East, using the
campus for conferences and building on the school's engineering
program are all part of Stone's turnaround plan.
"I don't have any interest in coming to help bury a college that's
dying. That's not on my radar," said Stone, 72, a lawyer and
formerly president of Bridgewater College, a liberal arts school in
Virginia.
Sweet Briar's near-closure and comeback in recent months drew
national attention and marked a rare example of survival for an
all-women's school in the United States.
The number of schools in the Women's College Coalition has shrunk to
43 from 230 in 1960, a decline that mirrored moves by the vast
majority of U.S. colleges and universities to open their doors to
men and women.
The group's president, Michele Ozumba, said Sweet Briar needed a
couple of rebuilding years before cautious families would be
confident enough to send their daughters there.
"It's going to be a monumental task to rebrand itself and reinvent
itself," she said.
Sweet Briar seems an unlikely place for drama, with its manicured
lawns, shade trees, sweeping views, brick buildings and its listing
on the National Registry of Historic places. Its 3,250 acres (1,315
hectares) make it the fourth-biggest U.S. campus and encompass
riding trails, woods and lakes.
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Its graduates include the mother of U.S. first lady Jacqueline
Kennedy, film critic Molly Haskell, entrepreneur Leah Busque,
ambassador Colleen Bell and author Mary Lee Settle.
"HEART-WRENCHINGLY HORRIBLE"
Its long history looked set to end in March, when college officials
said the school would close. They blamed it on enrollment that had
shrunk 14 percent over six years to 561 last year, an inadequate
endowment and the decline in the appeal of same-sex institutions.
Linda Fink, the chair of the faculty executive committee, called the
announcement "heart-wrenchingly horrible" for the roughly 100
faculty members.
"It was a shattering of our world," she said.
Fighting back, alumnae filed suit and pumped in money. A Virginia
judge on June 22 approved a settlement mediated by Virginia Attorney
General Mark Herring to keep the school open.
The supporters' group Saving Sweet Briar turned in $5 million and
has to deliver a total of $12 million in donations by early
September.
The donations allowed supporters to petition the attorney general's
office to release $16 million from the endowment to support
operations. An August 2014 credit report put Sweet Briar's endowment
at $91 million, and Stone had no updated figure.
Stone said nearly 300 women were enrolled for the start of school in
late August, including a couple of dozen first-year students. About
60 faculty members remain.
Targets for putting Sweet Briar on a solid footing are enrollment of
800 students and limiting endowment drawdown to 5 percent a year,
Stone said. The figure was at least 12 percent last year.
"I would say at that point we're going to be successful," he said.
"We're going to be here for the long haul."
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Bill Trott)
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