Recommendations Regarding the

Relocation of the Vassar Bookstore and

the Decision-Making Policies of the College Administration

The Ad-Hoc Committee on the Bookstore Relocation

May 1, 2008
 INTRODUCTION

In 2007, Vassar College announced its decision to relocate the campus bookstore to the
Juliet space on Raymond Avenue, stating that it "consulted extensively with students,
faculty and staff through focus groups, committees and survey efforts; worked with
business and community development consultants; and sought the advice of area
businesses, planners, and civic leaders." Through our own investigation, we, the Ad-Hoc
Committee on the Bookstore Relocation, comprised of concerned students and
community members, dispute this claim. We believe that the planning process that
occurred regarding this move has not been inclusive and was ultimately flawed; the
information we have gathered since the college's official announcement of the move has
only affirmed this contention.

This document represents the ideas, questions, and concerns of a group of individuals
who share a common purpose in exposing this issue and its impact on the surrounding
community. We intend to begin a critical reexamination of the college's decision making
process and its plans for the new bookstore space.

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 OUR PROCESS

The first time that community stakeholders were made aware of the bookstore move was
through a college-wide email sent Tuesday, December 18, 2007, a decision the email
suggested had already been finalized. These stakeholders included Arlington and
Poughkeepsie residents, business owners (including the current owner of the Juliet
space), workers at the current bookstore, students, and faculty.

Our group thus sought to find out more information about the project. We discovered that
an immense amount of campus and community confusion was circulating regarding the
move; indeed, it soon emerged that none of the constituencies who had a real stake in
this issue were fully represented in the planning process. The single survey
commissioned by the college in Spring 2007 to gauge campus opinion regarding the
possibility of a bookstore move, as well as the limited focus groups that followed,
signified inadequate and insufficient consultation with Arlington, Poughkeepsie and
Vassar residents. We expressed these concerns to President of Vassar College
Catherine Hill, as well as members of the Master Planning Committee, who supported
our desire for greater public transparency. In light of these findings, we decided to hold a
community forum.

This event, held on April 2, 2008, allowed the administration to correct inaccurate
information concerning the move. Its central success, however, was the opportunity it
provided for students, faculty, staff, and community members to vocalize their concerns
both to each other and to the college administration. If not for our actions, there would
not have been any occasion for these stakeholders to discuss these plans in concert and
hold the college publicly accountable. Our forum represented the first time that Betsy
Eismeier, Vice President for Finance and Administration, and Ruth Spencer, Director of
Human Resources, articulated and addressed the proposed plans and its related labor
issues in a public venue. The panel also included Professor Leonard Nevarez, who
provided a theoretical context regarding the role of the university in the local community,
as well as Professor Pinar Batur, who urged the members of the panel and the audience
to express their civic capacity and commitment to public engagement.

After evaluating the forum, we resolved to take action. We decided it necessary to create
a document to present to the college containing ideas for the new space, as well as
policy recommendations for the administration’s planning process regarding its future
development of the Arlington Central Business District. To that end, we used a
participatory community organizing tool in our second meeting to solicit ideas and
concerns from a more concerted group of interested participants. Those concerns are
represented in this document.

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 TRANSFORMING VASSAR’S DECISION MAKING PROCESS

In regards to all major development plans made in the future, the Ad-Hoc Committee on
the Bookstore Relocation insists that the college take further steps in the early stages of
its decision making process to ensure inclusiveness and transparency.

In its mission statement, Vassar College endeavors to “extend [its] curricular values into
the life of a residential community in which students may develop their skills by means of
organized and informal activities, athletics, student government, contact with the
surrounding community, and engagement with a concerned faculty.” In the context of the
bookstore relocation, however, we have taken it upon ourselves to press for the
implementation of the values of transparency and accountability without administrative
facilitation. Vassar’s relationship with the Arlington/Poughkeepsie communities cannot
grow if the college does not honor these principles when making development decisions.
Therefore, we firmly and wholeheartedly advise that the college administration accept
the following recommendations:

1. Facilitate dialogue with the community in the early planning stages

The administration must provide spaces at the beginning of the planning process
for both the distribution of information as well as the expression of questions and
concerns by the community. To that end, we envision:
• Open and advertised planning meetings when major projects arise
• Public forums that allow the college to explain future development plans and
community members to raise concerns and objections
• Other mediums of communication with the public, including more effective
surveys and focus groups. These surveys should not only seek to obtain
general opinions but should also address project-specific details
• Frequent e-mail updates concerning project specifics
• All documents made public and accessible by the college

2. Willingness to delay projects in response to community concerns

If points of contention arise within the aforementioned public venues concerning

plans for development, the college must wait to finalize its decisions and work in
consultation with community members, students, faculty, and staff to resolve
these issues.

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 TRANSFORMING VASSAR’S DECISION MAKING PROCESS (continued)

3. Diversify and expand student committees

Committees should be formed to address specific planning projects at the start of

the decision making process. The opportunity to serve on these committees must
be advertised and extended to all interested students. These committees should
also seek input from the greater community, encouraging the participatory ideals
that the College outlines in its mission statement.

4. Evaluate and articulate the role of the institution in its surrounding community

At this crucial moment of major redevelopment in the Arlington Business District,

the College must reevaluate its role as a non-profit organization in purchasing
land and prescribing its uses in the area. Additionally, its goals for improvement
must be clearly articulated to the public. The college must recognize that
students are not the foremost concern of the surrounding community, and should
therefore take great strides to ensure that the larger community benefits from its
development.

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 THE NEW BOOKSTORE SPACE

We first must state our own strong desire to see Vassar support independent business in
all capacities, particularly in this case of the new bookstore. This is not the first time that
students have expressed their opposition to a corporate bookstore entity on campus; in
2001, an ad-hoc committee formed in opposition to the college bookstore's transition
from a student-run co-operative to a Barnes & Noble. In emphasizing our own support
for an independent bookstore, we call upon the appeals made by this committee, whose
statements were rejected. They declared that corporate bookstores' "presence on
campus runs contradictory to the liberal academic tradition which Vassar has struggled
to maintain," and also "destroy competition by temporarily lowering prices and running
smaller, independent booksellers out of business." Additionally, corporate bookstores
"control what is read" by pressuring publishing companies to only produce certain
products, threatening "the academic freedom that is [at] the heart of Vassar's mission."
Finally, the 2001 ad-hoc group expressed concerns that corporate bookstores have a
history of poor labor relations, wherein union organizing is often met with hostility and
intimidation.

Vassar College is an educational institution first and foremost, and so has a

responsibility to create a space in the new bookstore that honors this principle and
transcends a mere business venture. Therefore, we envision a distinct, flexible,
community-run space within the bookstore that will prioritize the needs and interests of
the community, including both the products being sold and the services made available.
Many feasible, alternative visions were generated at our second meeting regarding the
new bookstore:

1. We call for a nonprofit, multi-purpose, reserveable community space within the

larger bookstore. Some of the specific uses for the space that were imagined
include reading/studying, children’s story hour, cooperative bike shop, art
exhibits, movie screenings, poetry readings and other performances. Such a
space must also be available for community meetings and workshops.

2. Due to the relative proximity of several businesses that serve coffee, we have
strong concerns regarding the possibility of a café moving into the bookstore,
particularly a Starbucks. These concerns arise out of a fear grounded in a history
of development trends wherein corporate businesses threaten small, local
endeavors. We appeal to the College to provide assurance that no café will enter
the bookstore.

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 CONCLUSION

We would like to have seen the suggestions outlined in the section "Transforming
Vassar's Decision Making Process" implemented in the early stages of the bookstore
relocation. The college’s planning process should have engaged more voices from the
Vassar and Arlington/Poughkeepsie communities from the beginning, facilitated through
public forums, access to public documents, e-mail updates throughout the process, and
increased accessibility of administrative decision makers. It is imperative, then, that the
college adopt these suggestions for the remainder of this project.

We request that all stakeholders receive e-mail updates concerning the bookstore
relocation process from now on, including decisions made over the summer vacation
period. Furthermore, at the beginning of the Fall 2008 school year, the college should
hold a public meeting to update the campus and Arlington/Poughkeepsie communities
on the bookstore plans, and facilitate an open dialogue among these stakeholders to
generate further concerns and questions.

Ultimately, it is never too late to change the process. From this point on, we want to see
more inclusive and transparent decision making on this campus.

If you would like to offer a response to this document or have further questions or
comments please send them to:
urbsmajors@gmail.com
- or -
Vassar College Box 1518
124 Raymond Ave
Poughkeepsie NY 12604

Respectfully Submitted,

Justine Ambrose (juambrose@vassar.edu),

Maya Borgenicht (maborgenicht@vassar.edu),
Naomi Fair (nafair@vassar.edu),
Chloe Gutelle (chgutelle@vassar.edu),
Angela Lam (anlam@vassar.edu),
Daniel McPhee (damcphee@vassar.edu),
Nick Middlebrook (nmiddlephoto@gmail.com),
Jennie Msall (jemsall@vassar.edu).