The Emerson-Marlboro merger was complicated and rife with critique from all sides.
In November 2019, Marlboro President Kevin Quigley stood in Marlboro’s dining hall—a renovated cattle barn—and was tasked with telling his students the school as they knew it would cease to exist. 100 miles away, Emerson President M. Lee Pelton stood in the Cutler Majestic Theatre—a grandiose space that could sit every person in the town of Marlboro—and announced they would be merging with the small Vermont college.
Under the merger conditions, Marlboro's students came to Boston—a city of nearly 700,000 and a far cry from their quaint, hill-top town in the Green Mountain State. Marlboro College lives on as the Marlboro Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies at Emerson College, where Marlboro students continue their degree plans. Emerson offered the 24 tenured or tenure-track faculty at Marlboro contracts to teach. Eighteen of those faculty came to Emerson and were tasked with transferring their specialized teaching style to a school of nearly 4,000 students. Emerson received Marlboro's remaining financial assets in exchange for taking on the remaining 57 Marlboro students—equalling roughly $20 million.
November 12, 2020 — In the fall, Potash Hill is silent. The smell of dying trees, turning leaves, and rotten apples on the forest floor wafts through the air. At the former site of Marlboro College, a serene and remote school often caked in snow at the top of a Southern Vermont mountain, there was usually a sense of peace. Of waiting. But this place is not what it once was. The place is not Marlboro, at least not anymore.
July 24, 2020 — The Marlboro community raised more questions about the allegations of racism against Democracy Builders, the organization that purchased the Marlboro College campus, in a town meeting held Monday—the same day the Vermont Attorney General approved the campus sale.
July 24, 2020 — The Marlboro campus on Potash Hill—once valued at $10 million by Emerson—sold to Democracy Builders in May for $225,000, according to new documents obtained by The Beacon. It is unclear why the final purchase price varies so significantly from the original valuation.
July 23, 2020 — The college confirmed Thursday that the Emerson-Marlboro deal is now finalized after the Vermont Attorney General approved the agreement Monday.
July 17, 2020 — Despite mounting allegations of racism against the Democracy Builders founder, the sale of the Marlboro campus to the non-profit cannot be stopped by the Vermont Attorney General, according to the state office itself.
July 4, 2020 — Marlboro and Emerson signed an Asset Transfer Agreement last week, which lays out final terms for student accommodations, faculty transfers, and finances, including details about the anticipated $20.25 million sum Emerson expects to receive from the merger.
June 14, 2020 — Marlboro College students attending Emerson as a part of the proposed Emerson-Marlboro merger will lose the Marlboro tuition rate guarantee and housing scholarship if they defer entry to the college in the fall, according to a college official.
March 19, 2020 — Marlboro College President Kevin Quigley said the Vermont institution is still very unlikely to remain open on its own, despite over $200,000 in pledges from the community and a letter from the state’s Lieutenant Governor urging Marlboro to “work with the community to explore creative options before finalizing” the merger with Emerson.
March 16, 2020 — Over the past three years, Marlboro College student Charlie Hickman hasn’t left Potash Hill for more than a few months at a time. If the proposed Emerson-Marlboro merger goes through, Hickman and their peers may never live on the hill again, as all Marlboro classes are moving online for the remainder of the semester.
Feb. 28, 2020 — Marlboro College is set to adopt meticulous changes to its Title IX policy, with less than 12 weeks left in what is set to be the institution’s final semester of operation, according to a Marlboro College official.
Feb. 25, 2020 — MARLBORO, VT—Marlboro College’s Selectboard will no longer release detailed minutes of the college’s weekly Selectboard and Town Meetings, according to a statement from Selectboard.
Feb. 13, 2020 — Attendees at Marlboro College’s Town Meeting—a weekly forum of the Marlboro campus and the surrounding townspeople—discussed the transition for students coming to Emerson, faculty proposals, and a revision to the Vermont college’s Title IX policies, according to minutes of the meeting provided to The Beacon.
Jan. 8, 2020 — Emerson College will not cover the $5,555 difference in housing costs for Marlboro College students who live on the Boston campus next fall, according to officials from both colleges.
Dec. 21, 2019 — The Marlboro College Board of Trustees released years of financial documents Friday in response to widespread community criticism about transparency surrounding the proposed merger with Emerson College.
Nov. 23, 2019 — Marlboro College needs a large influx of cash if the institution is to stay open past its slated closure date in spring 2020—almost $200 million to be exact.
Nov. 14, 2019 — MARLBORO, Vt.—Hunter Corbett, a junior at Marlboro College, described her campus as one where students go to tell stories over an open fire, gather around a stone circle crafted by alumni, and walk through a maze of human-shaped mirrors in the forest.