CAMPUS

In January, I wrote a Letter from the Editor when I assumed my position as Editor-in-Chief and responded to mixed feelings surrounding the Empire State Tribune. I stated that “Although I am graduating in May, my goal is to leave the EST with a positive legacy — a foundation for the future EIC to follow.” Upon receiving positive feedback on the EST under my leadership, I am confident that I will leave the publication with a positive legacy. However, leaving with a foundation for the future EIC to follow has proven to be much more challenging.

In January, I wrote a Letter from the Editor when I assumed my position as Editor-in-Chief and responded to mixed feelings surrounding the Empire State Tribune. I stated that “Although I am graduating in May, my goal is to leave the EST with a positive legacy — a foundation for the future EIC to follow.” Upon receiving positive feedback on the EST under my leadership, I am confident that I will leave the publication with a positive legacy. However, leaving with a foundation for the future EIC to follow has proven to be much more challenging.

The King’s College announced that it will not hold classes for the Fall 2023 semester and is pausing operations until further notice as of Monday, July 17. As a result of ongoing financial turmoil and having its accreditation revoked, the college decided to temporarily close while in search of a “strategic alliance.” The college began publicly looking for a partner in Jan. 2023, and ended its former partnership with Primacorp in April.

The perilous state of Documents and interviews with insiders offer a more complete picture of key economic, strategic and circumstantial factors leading to the dramatic turn of events that left students, staff, faculty and families in limbo for months. in New York City developed over decades, hit turbulence in the past two years, then turned into a stunning death spiral in the Spring 2023 semester. 

The King’s College’s academic accreditors conducted another meeting notifying the institution of their investigation findings last Friday, April 28. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) clarified that the conclusions presented are not final, nor do they constitute any definitive verdict on King’s accreditation status going forward. The findings presented, according to MSCHE procedures, “represent only the first step in a multi-level decision-making process.”

The King’s College officially ended its partnership with Primacorp Ventures and switched out members of the Board of Trustees, according to an email announcement from Chairman Henry Morriello sent on the evening of Friday, April 21. “The King’s College and Primacorp Ventures, Inc. have mutually and amicably agreed to end our collaboration agreements,” Morriello said, “including with respect to board representation and involvement in operations.”

The King’s Players put on a show “to die for” featuring Agatha Christie’s murder mystery “And Then There Were None” in the City Room of The King’s College on Friday and Saturday, April 14 and 15. Directed by Emily Zielinski, a sophomore in the house of Susan B. Anthony, the cast and crew featured members from every house and class year within the two-hour play.

The student body elected Mattilyn Winburn as Student Body President for The King’s College’s 2022-23 school year on Feb. 24, 2022. Winburn, a senior in the House of Clara Barton, spoke with Colby McCaskill, City Editor at the Empire State Tribune, during Interregnum XVIII about her time as the student body president during a season of financial woes and continued ambiguity about the King’s future.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, The King’s College’s academic accreditors, conducted an informational meeting notifying the student body of King’s recent failure to satisfy MSCHE accreditation standards on Monday, April 3. According to MSCHE representatives, King’s accreditation status is not to be revoked before, if at all, June 2023.

The King’s College hosted its nineteenth – and possibly last – Spring Interregnum from March 29 to 31. The winners of the Interregnum Cup and the annual House Cup were the House of Sojourner Truth and the House of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, respectively. This year’s Interregnum theme was Flourishing, an adjective that might appear difficult to embody under the current circumstances at King’s. Some students at the college chose to skip Spring Interregnum because of the school’s situation. 

Almost half of Gen-Z and Millennial Americans have tattoos, and among these are many young Christians who have embraced the increasingly popular craze of getting images of religious and personal significance permanently engraved on themselves. Several students at The King’s College offered their thoughts in regard to their tattoos and the controversy that exists within the Christian community.

(OPINION) A recent New York Times article depicted The King’s College as a conservative, predominately white and Protestant institution. In doing so, they directly ignored the minority voices that are poignantly shaping King’s. The Times emphasized the white presence at King’s by quoting only white students; only one out of the four was a woman. At least three students of color were interviewed, but the Times didn’t include their side of the story.

On-campus residents at Albee recently received letters from ConEdison requiring The King’s College to pay its outstanding balance, or else face a utility shut-off tomorrow, March 21. A ConEdison employee with knowledge of the situation informed the Empire State Tribune that the letter is simply a first warning and that King’s students are not in danger of losing utilities in the next few months.

An unofficial Knitting and Crocheting Club meets in The King’s College lobby every Tuesday at noon. The club started meeting in the spring 2023 semester and hopes to become an official student organization in the future if the opportunity arises. Sarene Jackson, a junior in the House of Queen Elizabeth I, and Isabel “Iggy” Lueck, a junior in the House of Susan B. Anthony currently lead the club. The club offers a “tight-knit” community.

(OPINION) Many students at The King’s College are aware of the multiple overdue rent notices and the service of an eviction threat from a debt collector to student residents. However, many do not know about the actual debt collector Kucker Marino Winarsky & Bittens. The multi-million dollar firm describes itself as “a highly respected Manhattan law firm” focusing on real estate and corporate law. Still, I can’t help but wonder: How respected can Kucker be when the New York Attorney General investigated them two separate times? 

Dean of Students David Leedy emailed all The King’s College on-campus residents that WNBC would be interviewing students the following evening and disclosed a statement the college would send out to reporters on March 3. NBC 4 New York reporter Checkey Beckford interviewed the students that evening. The report aired at 11:14 p.m. on Friday night and was later posted to the NBC New York website.  The report primarily addressed the overdue rent notices King’s students have received over the past few weeks.

The King’s College will be able to finish the spring 2023 semester thanks to a $2 million loan from Peter Chung, although the future of the college remains uncertain. In an email on Friday, March 3, King’s confirmed that “we received bridge financing that will provide us with funds to ensure that we can fulfill our financial obligations to faculty and staff through the end of the semester.” The $2 million loan does not cover the overdue rent for the Albee on-campus housing.

King’s discussed transfer options, current fundraising updates and the TKC Letters Project at the Community Update meeting on Monday, Feb. 27. “We've had a number of people… working on different transfer agreements with a bunch of schools,” said Dr. Kimberly Reeve, Dean of Academic Affairs. “This is to give you options.” Reeve then named seven schools actively building transfer agreements with King’s, noting that King’s has legal permission from each institution to disclose their identity to the public.

TKC Students for Life hosted a new kind of off-campus event, the Spring into Life Gala and Gameshow, on Feb. 25. The gala gave students a chance to wear formal attire, feast on amazing food and watch or participate in a live game show. At the beginning of the event, the SFL exec team members spoke about their intention to make the event a time of celebration and joy amidst the difficult news about the financial situation at King’s. Approximately 35 students showed up to partake in the festivities. 

(OPINION) I won’t lie – it’s hard being at King’s these days.  As a senior, The King’s College has become home. I’ve been here through the COVID lockdowns, the tension of the 2020 election cycle and the general insecurity of a post-pandemic city. The Community Update on Feb. 13 felt like the breaking point. But I’ve kept coming back to this question that my dad would always ask: Who are we, and who are we becoming? Regardless of our circumstances, we are always being molded and shaped toward something. So who will we choose to be in the midst of uncertainty? 

Students living in the Albee on-campus housing have continued to receive statements concerning The King’s College’s overdue rent, with many citing a 14-day deadline. On-campus residents received letters in the mail from Kucker Marino Winiarsky & Bittens, a debt collector on behalf of the Albee residences concerning the overdue rent on Thursday, Feb. 23. Students then received notices from Spencer Albee Equities, the building management, on Friday, Feb. 24. These stated that the leaseholder (King’s) has 14 days from Feb. 21 to pay their rent. 

Dr. Kelly Lehtonen, assistant professor of English and Writing, hosted a discussion for her recent book about the heroism of embracing the sublime on Friday, Feb. 24. “Heroic Awe: The Sublime and the Remaking of Renaissance Epic” is Lehtonen’s first official book and displays her continued affection for Renaissance-Era epic poetry after five years at The King’s College.

(OPINION) So far, most of the coverage by mainstream news outlets of The King’s College’s financial woes has oddly focused on King’s donors such as Bill Hwang, the DeVos family and interim president Stockwell Day.  It would be smart for reporters to dig more into Canadian businessman Peter Chung and his involvement with King’s in the past two years as well as his other business ventures through Primacorp Ventures Inc. and the Emanata Group. Could it be true that Chung was a philanthropist and a savior for King’s during a time of crisis of the Covid-19 Pandemic? Or could it be true that Chung's failed vision and turbulent strategy for King’s has contributed to King’s weak financial position and potential for closure? 

The King’s College may not be a particularly large school, but its populace knows a thing or two about cutting costs. No, not that kind of cutting costs– we’re talking barbers.  A general haircut in the city will run you anywhere from $40 to $80, and if you want all the fixings you could potentially be looking at a price tag well into the hundreds. Enter Zoe Zimmerman, a freshman in the House of Susan B. Anthony, the royal cosmetologist. Even as a freshman, she has already established herself as the preeminent barber on campus with her mobile salon.

President of Students For Life Julia Jensen, Vice President Rachel Guerra and Lead Associate Trey Shell took a club with little previous activity, almost no funding and an incredibly controversial subject and made it one of the most well-regarded student organizations this year. They have hosted more large events than the previous two years and have received much more positive attention. How did this happen?

The King’s College hosted the“Africa in Context: Aid, Entrepreneurship and US-Ethiopia Relations” conference on Feb. 18 to launch the non-profit organization SOPHOS AFRICA. The conference featured notable keynote speakers such as Ethiopia’s Minister of Justice, best-selling author and New York University economics professor Dr. William Easterly and Poverty, Inc. director Michael Miller.

The notion of storytelling as an impetus for connection is at the core of the TKC Letters Project. Fundamentally, the TKC Letters Project exists to share the stories of the individuals who make up the King’s community. We are doing this to rejoice in how God has worked, and people have grown while also creating a resource that King’s can share with potential donors to display how their giving can affect the lives of actual humans.

After four weeks of fried famine, free Chick-Fil-A sandwiches will once again be provided to attendees of The King’s College’s weekly Public Reading of Scripture (PRS) starting Monday, Feb. 20. “The money is coming from a Bonhoeffer alumnus who is generously funding the food for PRS,” said Director of Spiritual Life Rafael Oliveira in a press release. “He is committed to funding Chick-Fil-A for every PRS until the end of the semester.” 

Dr. Andrew Delbanco presented Kings’ Black History Month lecture based on his most recent book, which delves into how slavery, specifically the desire to escape slavery, shaped American history more than we tend to give it credit. The talk took place in the City Room on Thursday, Feb. 9. The lecture began by examining the question of where to start the stories of those attempting to escape slavery.

(ANALYSIS) Love is in the air. The birds are singing, the flowers are blooming and students at The King’s College are busy studying. Valentine’s Day is when couples, families and friends commemorate their love for one another. Especially during college years, young lovers are out and about in their honeymoon phases– walking along the pier or going out for a fancy dinner. However, here at King’s, the environment seems to feel much different for the freshman class.

The Community Update on Monday, Feb. 13 addressed the college’s current debt, efforts in fundraising, continued partnership discussions and transfer arrangements in the event that the school should close. The event began with Interim President Stockwell Day assuring the student body that the meeting would provide as much information as possible.