Hannibal-LaGrange University (HLGU) will remain open for the fall 2022 semester, Transitional President Rodney Harrison told faculty, staff, and students in early May.
Gifts have surpassed $1 million, including a record $227,815 from HLGU’s 2022 Day of Giving, but the total is still short of the $2.2 million HLGU leadership said was needed.
“On March 3 of this year, the financial forecast was dire,” Harrison said during a meeting with faculty and staff. “In just 27 days, the university was on pace to exhaust a $1 million line of credit, while having outstanding bills of $900,000.”
Harrison cited a recommendation he received from acting CFO Jeff Eubank on his first day on the job: “You do know that I say this with great heartache. But I encourage you to seriously consider closing HLGU this semester. The university is in desperate times,” Harrison quoted.
“How desperate?” Harrison said. “To open in the fall, we would need at least a movement of $3.2 million. That was a no-fluff number. It was a down-to-the-bones minimum that factored in zero margin, massive cuts, and using every penny of our $1 million line of credit to be able to keep the university open for the fall.
“To achieve this data-line number, the university had to cut expenses,” he added. “We achieved it by reducing our expenditure in the last month of the academic year by $1 million.”
HLGU leadership also labored to increase the school’s cashflow, Harrison said. In addition to the donations and pledges totaling $1.15 million, HLGU has sold some property, negotiated with vendors to write off some debt, and cut expenses. The school is seeking to raise another $1 million by the end of July.
“Robust giving, combined with reduced payroll achieved, the suspension of retirement benefits, significant administrative cuts, and a renewed commitment to God-honoring stewardship means we will be open this fall and the mission of Hannibal-LaGrange University will endure,” Harrison said. “To God be the glory!”
Ray Carty, HLGU’s vice president for institutional advancement, said, “In the last two months, God has used people to bless Hannibal-LaGrange University. People are responding to the work God has yet to do at HLGU. We’re still looking for support through August, but we are encouraged that people see God’s work being done at Hannibal-LaGrange.”
– adapted from The Missouri Pathway