The Krieger School is considering options for the
future of
Villa Spelman, the school's property in Florence,
Italy.
Given the need for millions of dollars in repairs to
the 10-acre property and its annual operating budget of
more than a half-million dollars, selling the villa is
under consideration, Dean Adam Falk said. No definitive
decision has been made and, contrary to rumors that
circulated last week, no deal has been reached and no
negotiations are under way, he said.
Villa Spelman has been owned by the university since
1971 and used since 1981 for programs for faculty, graduate
students and undergraduates, primarily in the
humanities.
The programs have a "proud history," but operating
them at a large Renaissance-era villa has become "extremely
expensive" at a time when dollars are needed for other
critical priorities in the humanities, Falk said in an
e-mail message to Arts and Sciences faculty.
"The school faces a situation in which graduate
stipends and other graduate support in the humanities has
fallen to an unacceptably uncompetitive level in comparison
to our peer institutions," Falk said.
"It is imperative to find resources to address this
problem," he said. "In such an environment, it is our
responsibility to evaluate whether it is appropriate to
contemplate spending millions of dollars on new and ongoing
commitments to the Villa Spelman. The question therefore
is, Are the school's limited resources best spent
supporting the humanities in this way, or by responding to
other needs?"
If a sale occurs, the budget that now goes toward
operation of the villa would be used instead for stipends
for graduate students in the humanities and for continuing
support of the study of Italian and Renaissance art,
history and culture, Falk said.
"The vitality of these programs does not depend on the
use of the villa as a meeting place but rather on the
excellence and dedication of the faculty who direct and
teach in them," the dean wrote. "Alternatively, and in all
likelihood, more comfortable venues for classes and
programs can easily be found, at significantly less cost to
the school."
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