NONPROFIT NEWS FROM ELSEWHERE
Juilliard President Damian Woetzel has survived a demand from the school’s longtime chairman and biggest donor to step down. Some see the clash as old guard versus new blood, others as David versus Goliath. Hedge-fund billionaire Bruce Kovner, who has led Juilliard’s board for 22 years, surveyed 49 members of the school’s 700 full- and part-time faculty and staff about Woetzel’s leadership. The mostly anonymous responses came back overwhelmingly negative, and Kovner then asked Woetzel, a former dancer with the New York City Ballet who has a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard, to resign a year before his contract is up. Woetzel refused and rallied support from some of the school’s most prominent figures, including Wynton Marsalis, who leads Juilliard’s jazz program, and pianist Emanuel Ax. He told trustees that the review “was extraordinary and highly inconsistent with best practice in nonprofit governance.” At a meeting last month, trustees declined to ease Woetzel out. Kovner, who also sits on the boards of the Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera, has given at least $200 million to Juilliard, according to Chronicle data, along with his wife, Suzie. He plans to step down from Juilliard’s board this year. (New York Times)
Plus: Read a Chronicle profile of Bruce and Suzie Kovner.
When the pandemic closed schools across the country, it eliminated a large corps of teenage volunteers who must perform community service as part of their graduation requirements. A Catholic School in Louisiana had to suspend its volunteerism program, which aims to teach compassion and empathy by requiring students to perform services in which they interact with those they are helping. Some school districts waived the requirement and in others, students had to think creatively to fulfill it, choosing outdoor activities or collecting personal-care items or canned goods for those in need. Meanwhile, communities lost thousands of volunteer hours they could usually rely on. “Now with the pandemic potentially fading, school administrators are anticipating returning to the pre-Covid-19 days of unhindered volunteerism.” (Associated Press)
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- How a Murdoch Hopes to Save American Democracy (New York Times)
- Sierra Club Cancels Trips to Israel at Urging of Progressive and Anti-Zionist Groups (Jewish News of Northern California)
- Former Rhode Island VFW Commander Accused of Fraud, Stolen Valor (Boston Globe)
- More Than $4 Million Has Been Raised for Independent Ukrainian Media (Nieman Lab)
Arts and Culture
- Opinion: Blood Art Has No Place in Museums (Washington Post)
- How Tech Experts in the West Are Rushing to Save the Digital Archives of Ukraine’s Museums (Artnet News)
- ‘All Art Must Go Underground:’ Ukraine Scrambles to Shield Its Cultural Heritage (Washington Post)
