Dear Friends,

Problems at Principia should be addressed directly and honestly, and we hold ourselves accountable to that standard.  In adjusting the CEO’s salary to a new benchmark, we used a flawed process. We should have given the CEO a raise only after the salaries of all faculty and staff had been re-benchmarked and adjusted.  We should have used an independent consultant to advise us on the appropriate amount and timing of an adjustment to the CEO’s salary.  We should have taken into account the impact it would have on the Principia community.  For these mistakes, we are deeply sorry.  We have, of course, honored the CEO’s request that his salary be restored to its previous level.  In addition, we apologize for allowing ourselves to become less and less accessible to the Principia community.

We want to address concerns and differences, and we wish to reassure you that we strive to base all our actions on principle, deliberation, facts, and prayer.  On February 3, we took the following steps:

1. We decided that the offices of Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer should be held by two people.  We elected Bill Hays to be the Chairman of the Board; Stuart Jenkins will remain CEO and a member of the Board.
   
   
2. The College President will now report to the Chairman of the Board. The CEO retains responsibility for management of The Principia with all other members of his current executive committee reporting to him.
   
   
3. We will elect five new Trustees at our meeting later this month.
   
   
4. We propose that all of the issues and concerns surrounding recent events be submitted to mediation. In mediation, an independent, professional mediator assists the participants in reaching mutually satisfactory solutions. The Trustees and other participants in the mediation would then take the actions agreed to by the parties in the mediation process.

We are discussing this proposal with the appropriate community members who would participate in the mediation and will report to you once those parties have agreed to the process.  Below is a description of the mediation procedure received from a member of the Principia community.

We hope these actions show that we are aware of the seriousness of the issues facing our school and that we are committed to engaging the Principia community in finding solutions that will manifest the fact that healing is taking place.

With best regards,

The Board of Trustees

Katharine Bullock                   Helen Elswit                           Margaret Foerster
Willard Hanzlik                        William Hays                          Durant Hunter
Stuart Jenkins                        Michael Sharples                   Charles Spaulding, III
Christopher Towle                 

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In mediation, a skillful, experienced, and trained neutral mediator (or perhaps a team of neutral mediators) meets with the parties in the dispute. The neutral mediator provides a calm, safe, and secure setting in which all participants are permitted and encouraged to fully express their concerns, frustrations, and desires. In mediation each interest group can nominate one or more mediation participants to attend mediation sessions and represent their interests. All interest groups should be represented.

The first step in mediation is to identify the problems and the nature of the disputes. After identifying problems and the nature of the disputes, the neutral mediator may meet separately with each interest group. The mediator will begin the process of assisting the parties in constructing mutually satisfactory resolutions. What these resolutions will be is up to the participants. Mutually satisfactory resolutions will emerge during the mediation process. Mediation can be creative and cathartic. No one can say prior to the mediation what resolutions the participants and parties will create; after listening to each other with the assistance of a neutral mediator inspired resolutions which are currently not even being contemplated may emerge. Mutually satisfactory resolutions may include certain positions being created for oversight, or the changing of duties and responsibilities, or even one or more people leaving a current position of employment. It is crucial to understand in mediation that the mediator has no power and no authority to force a resolution on anyone; if an agreement is not reached, then an agreement is not reached. Any final agreement reached – if one is reached – will have to be a community agreement. There is little or no risk in attempting mediation and numerous potential benefits.