A 32-acre tract and a 180-acre tract are currently up for consideration for either sale or lease. On campus, the tracts are referred to as the Fortune property, home to the college’s fiber arts program, and the Berea property, known for its Dam Pasture land. The campus has an extensive trail network that’s open to the public.
The move is startling to some college alumni and Swannanoa Valley residential neighbors familiar with the college’s beginnings 130 years ago as Asheville Farm School, established by an arm of the Presbyterian Church with a mission to educate people in rural, impoverished areas. The school became a four-year college in 1967. It is currently one of just a handful of four-year, degree-granting liberal arts institutions where students are required to work on campus in exchange for money toward tuition. Students are also required to engage in community service. The campus remains home to an active, 300-acre farm.
But financial pressures at Warren Wilson have been mounting. Last month, college officials announced an overhaul of its academic offerings, cutting a handful of majors while combining others and adding new majors, including a new graduate level Master of Science program in applied climate science, Mountain Xpress reporte. Those changes, as well as layoffs, a hiring freeze for some positions and increased fundraising efforts, will address flat tuition revenue and increased expenses, Provost Jay Roberts told Xpress. (Faculty and staff cuts will save the college $1.5 million in the 2024 fiscal year and $2.5 million in the ‘25 fiscal year, according to the report.)
Warren Wilson College isn’t the only local higher educational institution facing financial woes. UNC Asheville, facing a $6 million budget deficit, is considering staff and program cuts to make up the shortfall by the end of this fiscal year, according to a report earlier this month by Asheville Watchdog. (Warren Wilson College had a total undergraduate enrollment of 723 students in the fall of 2022, compared to UNC Asheville’s enrollment of 2,914.)
Warren Wilson College declined to make an official available to me for an interview regarding the discussions around its land holdings. A college spokeswoman said that since the college was still in the initial phase of exploration, it was premature to have anyone speak about it, and emailed a statement.
In recent weeks, college officials have held discussions with its Board of Trustees and students, who were invited to a meeting to hear about plans. The college has also reached out to alumni for feedback through an online survey. An accompanying video presentation led by alumna Amy Frey Ager included a map and details about the property under consideration for sale or lease. Possible partners include an eco-minded residential developer and a greenhouse operator.
The college hired Ager last year to lead new business ventures as its executive director of strategic ventures, partnerships and programs. Ager, her husband Jaime (also a Warren Wilson alum) and their extended family own Hickory Nut Gap Farm in Fairview. They’ve worked together over the past 24 years to firmly establish the farm as a successful enterprise that encompasses a sustainable livestock, retail sales and agri-tourism business that includes a wholesale company, Hickory Nut Gap Meats.
The statement emailed to me said President Damián Fernández “is implementing a strategic action plan that focuses on strengthening academic programs and generating opportunities for growth” by “examining a range of options to increase revenue and investments in the future.” Fernández,who started his job last June, is the college’s 10th leader, and its first Latino and openly gay president.
The statement continued: “In this context, the Board of Trustees has asked the administration to consider land use options that would secure our future, advance our leadership in environmental stewardship, and ensure our foundational commitment to excellence, access and affordability.”
It ended with this:
“The land has been an essential part of the educational mission of the College since its founding in 1894, and it will continue to be so into the future. While our land holdings have changed and will continue to change over time, what is unchanging is our steadfast moral imperative to preserve and extend our impact as a distinctive liberal arts college that integrates academics, work, and community service.”