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W(h)ither Webb Institute?
Disclosure first: I am not a Webby.

However, I am a Webb fan. I think it is important that there are opportunities for talented high school graduates to obtain top flight tuition free educations and besides Webb, I can only think of Cooper Union as a comparable institution.

Webb is more than a free education for a relatively small number of students, it is also a calling card for our industry. It shows our industry's commitment to education.

However, I have been hearing concerns about Webb's financial viability. Those who are more involved with Webb than me have told me that it is possible that Webb will not be able to provide a free education in the future unless its funding picture improves.

These rumblings remind me of another maritime institution, the Whitehall Club. When I entered the Maritime Industry the Whitehall Club was already suffering from declining membership and declining member spending. When I joined a few years later there was continuous discussion about its viability, but long standing members continued to hope that somehow the tide would turn.

Newer members and outsiders could explain to the older members that the tide had turned against downtown Manhattan lunch clubs and would not turn back, but the older members just would not face reality, and slowly and inexorably the Whitehall Club withered away.

It was a sad process. In order to keep hanging on for just a few more years, the art work was sold piece by piece, personnel was slowly let go and the empty chairs and faded squares on the wall simply ended up signifying impending death.

There would have been an alternative. Instead of slow death, the membership could have decided that the club's glory days had passed and that the club should live on in a different fashion. When the decline started, but when the finances were still robust, the club could have simply closed, sold its art and belongings and continued to live as a scholarship fund or charitable organization. That would have allowed the Whitehall spirit to carry on.

I imagine that similar thoughts of hanging on against the tide are swirling around Webb. However, for Webb there might be brighter alternatives.

Webb is both a place and an institution. Today the endowment has to fund both, but what if Webb decides to forego the place and remain as an institution?

I am sure Webb alumni would shudder at the thought of losing the magnificent location of their Alma Mater. But what is the reason for Webb's existence? An education or the perpetuation of a location? And we should not forget that Webb relocated once before when it moved from the Bronx to Long Island.

What about the following?

1.    Sell the property
2.    Add the property value to the endowment
3.    Re-locate to another waterfront technical institution or university (Stevens, MIT, SUNY Maritime, Harvard)
4.    Institute Webb College within the institution
5.    Maintain a dedicated technical faculty
6.    Allow independent application to Webb College
7.    Continue to offer tuition free education for all Webb students

Undoubtedly many universities would be very eager to add Webb College as a unique feature to their campus. It would add to their prestige, it would reduce many of Webb's costs, it would provide much more effective humanities education for Webb students and it would improve Webb's visibility. Most of all, Webb would become an even more attractive option to the nation's best and brightest students and could continue to fulfill its mission for many more years to come. 

But remember, this can only happen as long as Webb negotiates from a point of strength. When the kitty is empty, it will be unlikely that the most prestigious universities will make space for Webb on their campuses. Delay could change whither Webb into wither Webb.    

  
Created By: Hendrik van Hemmen On: Tue, Nov 09, 2010 12:01 PM

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