Petition to the Attorney General of Vermont

Goddard College is the iconic progressive school in Plainfield, Vermont, inspired by the great American educator John Dewey, and established by Vermonter Tim Pitkin in reaction to the rise of fascism, in 1938.

The current Trustees of the school, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, have allowed their membership to fall well below the fourteen required by the school’s by-laws—which also provide for graduates and employees to fill half of those seats. The Board is now comprised of only five Trustees, with a single graduate.

The other four, who claimed no experience of Goddard prior to their appointment, have announced their intention to close the storied 86-year-old institution—one of the first to model progressive and low-residency higher education in the United States.

In turn, Goddard inspired many other schools—Antioch, Hampshire, Franconia, and Marlboro among them—but most of them have closed. Goddard survives, and with fiercely loyal alumni who’ve become noted teachers and therapists; poets, playwrights, and actors; entrepreneurs and
artists. As we once again witness the rise of authoritarianism, Goddard’s brand of “Education for Democracy”—Dewey’s phrase—is more needed than ever.

We, the undersigned, petition The Honorable Charity R. Clark, Attorney General of Vermont, who oversees non-profit corporations, to prevent Goddard’s closure, to receive nominations, and to place twenty graduates, employees, and members of the Vermont community on the college’s Board. This will stabilize the campus (also one of the area’s largest employers) and allow Goddard College to pursue its necessary mission.