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Friends World College Records

Notifications

Held at: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College [Contact Us]500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 19081

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Friends World College was conceived as an accredited, co-educational, degree-granting liberal arts college combining a residence program with the opportunity for foreign travel and study. Planned as a "college without walls," it was sponsored by the New York Yearly Meeting and opened in September 1965. It was merged into Long Island University in 1991.

It began with a proposal made by George L. Nicklin, M.D., in 1958 to the New York Yearly Meeting for a new college to be formed on Quaker principles and incorporating the social ideals of the era. George Nicklin, a psychiatrist by vocation, was a convinced Friend, Haverford College Class of 1947, and a member of Shelter Island Monthly Meeting. A committee on a Friends College was established. In the summer of 1963, a six-week experimental summer program was directed by Harold Taylor, and in 1964, Morris Mitchell was hired by the NYYM as the first president.

In 1965, the NYYM approved the opening of a Friends World Institute program and the State of New York issued a provisional charter for a non-degree granting program. The first classes opened in September 1965 with forty-one students at a temporary home campus located at Mitchel Garden, Westbury, in Nassau County, New York.

In 1968 the Institute was granted a provisional charter as Friends World College, permitting it to grant the Bachelor of Arts degree. Within the next few years, programs were established in Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and rural Canada, and the home campus was moved to Lloyd Harbor, Huntington, NY. However, the College was unable to establish a secure financial base, and student enrollment remained undependable because the drop-out rate was high. The maximum enrollment was reached in 1972, with two hundred-fifty students. In keeping with its experimental nature, from 1970-80, the College was guided by an administrative structure known as a "Troika," composed of three representatives, a student, faculty and administrative member.

In 1975, FWC became legally independent of the New York Yearly Meeting, and the Friends World College Association was established. The members of the Association were Quakers, and it served in a support and advisory role for the College and Board of Trustees, responsible for monitoring the Quaker character of the College. New York Yearly Meeting established a Liaison Committee composed of members of the Yearly Meeting who served on the Association. In 1984, the College instituted a controversial Judaic Studies program with Hasidic students. This became an important source of revenue for the College until it was challenged by the State of New York in 1987, creating new financial problems.

Burdened by continuing financial pressures and mismanagement, by 1990 Trustees of the College were considering the merger of FWC into Long Island University. In May 1991, the New York Yearly Meeting Trustees declared that the College was laid down and the assets revert to New York Yearly Meeting. The FWC Board approved the transfer of assets from FWC to LIU as an endowment in 1991; this transfer was opposed by the Friends World College Association and a group of concerned Friends who named themselves the Friends World Defense Fund and subsequently Pax Amicus. A lengthy and bitter legal battle followed.

No longer associated with the Society of Friends, Friends World Program continues as a program of international independent study as part of Long Island University.

Contains the records of Friends World College including the early history of the College and minutes of the Committee on a Friends College and the Trustees of the College, 1958-1982, as well as records relating to the transfer and sale of assets and the resulting lawsuits. The bound volumes, compiled by George L. Nicklin, contain minutes, correspondence, and related papers. George Nicklin's topical files and records of Pax Amicus, the group which opposed the merger and loss of College assets, also are in the collection. Also included the records of Friends World College Association, a Quaker advisory board, which was reactivated in 1996

Organized in six series:

  1. History
  2. Minutes
  3. Correspondence and legal papers
  4. Topical files compiled by George Nicklin
  5. Pax Amicus/World College Defense Fund
  6. Friends World College Association

Donor: New York Yearly Meeting, 1997

Donor: George Nicklin, 2004 (Acc.2004-018)

Donor: Rosa Covington Packard, 2005 (Acc.2005-017)_

The records were included in the transfer of records from New York Yearly Meeting to Friends Historical Library in 1997. Placed in Record Group 4 and stored in boxes and as bound volumes. In 2004, additional records concerning Friends World College and the group Pax Amicus were deposited by George Nicklin. These records were added to the collection and a new finding aid created in 2005. A cassette tape labeled "4/23/93 G. Nicklin and Vincent Razzino, CPA on F.W.C." removed to audio-visual. In 2007, records of Friends World College Association were processed and added to the collection.

Cassette tape labeled "4/23/93 G. Nicklin and Vincent Razzino CPA on F.W.C." included in George Nicklin deposit, removed to FHL Cassette Tapes.

Publisher
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Finding Aid Author
FHL staff
Finding Aid Date
2007
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce items in this collection beyond the bounds of Fair Use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder or their heirs/assigns. See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-RUU/1.0/.

Collection Inventory

History and Correspondence, 1960-1965.
Scope and Contents

1 bound volume compiled by George Nicklin, Chairman, Committee on a Friends College. Includes a brief history (11 pp.) attributed to Morris R. Mitchell circa 1973 and Nicklin's corrrespondence and other material related to the founding of the College.

Physical Description

1 volume

Scope and Contents

Includes Committee and Trustee minutes. One set, 1958-1982, was bound into by George Nicklin along with correspondence and related papers. A second set of Trustee minutes, 1978-1982, are boxed.

Committee on a Friends College, 9/1958- 8/1964.
Volume 1-4
Scope and Contents

Includes correspondence and related material.

Physical Description

1 bound volume

Committee on a Friends College, 9/1964-6/1966.
Volume 5-7
Physical Description

1 bound volume

Friends World College Committee, 7/1966- 11/1973.
Scope and Contents

Index at end.

Physical Description

1 bound volume

Trustees Minutes, 1/1966-12/1967.
Volume 1-4
Physical Description

1 bound volume

Trustees Minutes, 1/1968-8/1969.
Volume 5-7
Physical Description

1 bound volume

Trustees Minutes, 9/1969-4/1971.
Volume 8-10
Physical Description

1 bound volume

Trustees Minutes, 4/1971-1/1974.
Volume 11-13
Physical Description

1 bound volume

Trustees Minutes, 1/1974-6/1975.
Volume 14-16
Physical Description

1 bound volume

Trustees Minutes, 6/1975-3/1976.
Volume 18-19
Physical Description

1 bound volume

Trustees Minutes, 1/1976-12/1976.
Volume 20-21
Physical Description

1 bound volume

Trustees Minutes, 1/1977- 3/1978.
Volume 23
Physical Description

1 bound volume

Trustees Minutes, 9/1981-12/1982.
Volume 35
Physical Description

1 bound volume

Trustees Minutes, Vol. 24, 4-10/1978.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Trustees Minutes, Vol. 25, 11-12 /1978.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Trustees Minutes, Vol. 26, 1/1979.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Trustees Minutes, Vol. 27, 2-7/1979.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Trustees Minutes, Vol. 28, 8-9/1979.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Trustees Minutes, Vol. 29, 10-12 /1979.
Box 1
Physical Description

1 folder

Trustees Minutes, Vol. 30, 1/1980.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Trustees Minutes, Vol. 31, 3-5/1980.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Trustees Minutes, Vol. 32, 6-10/1980.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Trustees Minutes, Vol. 33, 11/1980-5/1981.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Trustees Minutes, Vol. 34, 5-7/1981.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Trustees Minutes, Vol. 35, 9/1981- 12/1982.
Box 2
Physical Description

1 folder

Scope and Contents

Mostly concerning lawsuits.

Correspondence and legal material: 1991, 1991.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence and legal material: 1992, 1992.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence and legal material: 1993, 1993.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Correspondence and legal material: 1994, 1994.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Legal Actions," deposited by Virginia Reppert, 5/1/93.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Undated miscellaneous papers.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Selection of a New President, 1972-1975.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Proposed Friends World College Medical College,, 1974-1975.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Notes for Nicklin Testimony, 1975.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Jamaica, West Indies Trip, 1974-1975.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

London, February, 1981.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Photographs, 1988.
Box 3
Scope and Contents

Staff and trustees.

Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Quarter Century Fund,, 1989-1990.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Visit to Friends World College, England, 1988.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

England Trip, 1989.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

Visit to Friends World College, England, 1990.
Box 3
Physical Description

1 folder

India: Letter from Louis Simon, 1990\, 1990.
Box 3
Scope and Contents

Concerning his work with Friends World College, India.

Physical Description

1 folder

India: Glimpses from South Asiaemph>, newsletter, 1989, and letter form E. P. Menon, 1992, 1989, 1992.
Box 3
Scope and Contents

Concerning laying down India center

Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College By-Laws and Committee Minutes, 1985-86, 1990, 1996.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Dunn and Bradstreet Report, 1986.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Financial Statements, 1988.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College, [Journal of meeting, Nov. 19], 1989.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Association Members and Trustees, 1990.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World Defense Fund Legal File, 1990-1998.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Balance Sheet, including Judge Hughes' decision, 1990.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Revised Friends World College Mortgage,, 1990.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Financial Statements,, 1990.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Merging with Long Island University, 1990-1991.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Clippings, 1990-1996.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends Word College Stay Injunction, January 31, 1991, 1991.
Box 4
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Defense Fund, 1991.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Defense Fund, 1991-1992.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Agreement with Long Island University, 1992.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Report of Friends World Defense Fund on FWC, March 1992.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College, 1992.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Defense Fund, 1992.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Quakers in Court, July 24, 1992, 1992.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Defense Fund Meeting, June 4, 1992, 1992.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Pax Amicus Certificate of Incorporation, By-laws, 1993.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Pax Amicus Task Group, 1993-1995.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Pax Amicus Donations, 1993-1996.
Box 5
Physical Description

1 folder

Pax Amicus Mailings, 1993-1995.
Box 6
Physical Description

1 folder

Pax Amicus Tax Exempt Information, 1995-1998.
Box 6
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA/Pax Amicus Minutes, 1996.
Box 6
Physical Description

1 folder

Meeting with Counselor Levin, February 23, 1996, 1996.
Box 6
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA North Fork Bank, 1996-1998.
Box 6
Physical Description

1 folder

Friends World College Association/Pax Amicus, 1996-1998.
Box 6
Physical Description

1 folder

Pax Amicus Inc.,, 1999-2001.
Box 6
Physical Description

1 folder

FWC Mission, Constitution and Charter, 1965-91.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

FWC Bylaws and consensus, 1990.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

FWC Association Trustee and Center List, 1990.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

FWC Association policies and procedures, 1986-90.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

FWC Trustee Responsibilities, 1980.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA Minutes and related papers, 1977-1982.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA Minutes and related papers, 1983-1991.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA Addresses and Committee Lists, 1985-90.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Joint Meeting of FWC and FWC Association, 1986.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA Annual Reports, 1988-90.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA Annual Report, 1991.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA correspondence, 1991.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA discussion about annual report, 1991.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Jane Ann Smith Designs for Higher Education, 1987.
Box 7
Scope and Contents

Prepared for an organizational meeting of Quaker Studies for Human Betterment

Physical Description

1 folder

FWC Development Plan, 1988-89.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

FWC Visitation Reports, 1987-90.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

Visit to FWC Latin America Center, Costa Rica, 1990.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

FWC Deliberations Over Merger, 1990-91.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

FWC Affiliation Agreement, 1991.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

FWC Law Suit, 1990-93.
Box 7
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA Gilbert/Garven Report to NYYM, 1991.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA Brian Cashdollar, 1991.
Box 8
Scope and Contents

Chronology of Events.

Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA NYYM Trustee Litigation, 1991.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA New York Yearly Meeting, 1993.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA Administration Reports to Trustees, 1991.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

Re-activating FWC Association, 1996.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

NYYM Council of Overseers for Friends World College/Program, 1997.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA Membership Correspondence, 1979-88.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA Membership Information, 1987.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA Rosa Packard Correspondence, 1989-91.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA Defense Fund, 1991.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

FWCA Vitae, 1990.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

FWC Student Journal, 1988.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

FWC Student Handbook, 1987-89.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

FWC A World of Learning: A Self-Study, 1987.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

FWC Catalogues, 1989-91.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

FWC Awards, Scholarships, Graduation, 1991.
Box 8
Physical Description

1 folder

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