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Polite Avoidance: The Story Behind the Closing of Alliance College

by

Michael T. Urbanski

      On June 30, 1987, Alliance College in Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, the only secular Polish American institution of higher learning in the United States, closed its doors, ending its operations. Founded in 1912 by the Polish National Alliance, the largest Polish American fraternal insurance organization, the college remained in operation for seventy-five years as the crown jewel of higher learning for American Polonia.1 During its tenure the college faced continuing problems of low enrollment, mounting financial costs, and issues of maintaining accreditation. Eventually, these issues overwhelmed the small college forcing it to close. However, questions surrounding the college and its closing remain today, twenty years later. 1
      Unfortunately, few know about this small liberal arts college outside of those who attended the school and those who are familiar with the history of the PNA. Even less is written about the school's demise or the controversy that surrounded its final years.2 The purpose of this study is to explore the circumstances behind the closing of Alliance, the heated debates that arose among Polonia as to why the school closed, the role of the PNA, and why other avenues to save the college or its facilities were not considered. Furthermore, this study will discuss how shifting views on education in the Polish American community contributed to the school's eventual decline. 2
      On February 15, 1880, a group of Polish émigrés established the Polish National Alliance of North America. The objective of the ethnic fraternal organization was to unite the Polish immigrant community in order to facilitate their advancement into the mainstream of American society while maintaining unique Polish culture and folkways. To achieve its objectives, the PNA soon established two newspapers, Zgoda (Harmony) and the Dziennik Związkowy (Alliance Daily News), as well as an insurance program for the material benefit of all who wished to join the organization. As the insurance program helped to stabilize and increase membership for the PNA, it also provided the organization with a financial base to better promote its objectives through socially worthwhile causes, one being education. In the 1890s, the PNA established a central library and reading room in Chicago and created the Educational Department (Wydział Oświaty) to encourage interest in learning. This new branch of the PNA successfully made provisions for student loans, scholarships, and citizenship and night school courses for PNA members that still remain today. In 1903, at the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, annual PNA convention, delegates approved a special education and school committee charged with the task of raising money for a future school to be owned and operated by the Alliance. In 1911, the committee won formal approval from the Board of Directors to establish an Alliance school (Kolegium Związkowy) "that would be conducted in a genuinely civic and patriotic spirit … identifying the best in American and Polish culture."3 3
      With formal approval, the next task became finding an appropriate site for the school. Soon after, PNA leaders were informed that the 163 acre Rider Hotel, a once popular and relatively new hotel and health resort overlooking the small town of Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania, was available for the sum of $175,000. The wooded surroundings and central location of the hotel, the midpoint between the major Polonia centers of New York and Chicago, made it the ideal location and quickly won PNA approval. Shortly after the purchase, PNA president Marian Steczyński resigned to assume the responsibility of converting the hotel into a school. One of Steczyński's pet projects following World War One was the transplanting of hundreds of fir tree seedlings from Poland. The trees, which line the campus to this day, symbolized the link between the PNA school and Poland, the fatherland.4 4
      Initially the Education Committee organized the school to be a four year secondary school together with a finishing program for young boys in the primary grades. The school was formally dedicated on October 26, 1912, with President William Howard Taft assuming the role of honored speaker for the occasion. President Taft made the visit only a few days before a bitter, four-way presidential election. In its first year, Alliance attracted 326 students, but its failure to receive accreditation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania created doubts about its future. The following year, enrollment dropped to 135 boys. However, upon winning accreditation in 1914 and the opening of a new successful technical training program, so that young men could receive instruction in the fields of mechanics, electrical, and tool design, enrollments increased. In the 1920s, Alliance established a junior college program to prepare students who planned on attending four-year college programs.5 5
      During World War One, Alliance College played a crucial and patriotic role in the development of a Polish Army in the United States to serve along side the Allies in Europe. In 1914, the PNA established an officer training program in anticipation of America's involvement in the conflict oversees that could potentially bring about Poland's independence. Approximately five hundred Polish American men, along with 220 non-Poles, traveled to Alliance to participate in the program that would eventually prove instrumental in preparing men for battle in the Polish Army in France.6 6
      Due in part to the Great Depression and the Second World War, enrollment in the school steadily declined as did overall interest by the PNA. By the mid1940s, PNA President Charles Rozmarek decided to reexamine the future of the school and pressed for its development as a four-year coeducational liberal arts institution. The transformation took shape during the 1948 academic year along with a new university president, Arthur P. Coleman, who, with his wife Marion, made strengthening the curriculum and attaining accreditation top priorities. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Alliance College maintained an enrollment of three hundred students per year with a peak of 629 students in 1969. During the 1960s, the College managed to secure loans and grants from the federal government and the PNA to expand the school, adding new academic buildings, dormitories, a grotto, president's residence, and monuments meant to preserve the Polish heritage of the school.7 7
      In addition, this period saw the birth of Alliance College's most renowned student activity, the Kujawiaki dance ensemble. The Kujawiaki was a group of thirty-six students, of mostly Polish American background, who performed authentic Polish folklore dances and songs, earning full scholarships for their participation in the group. Their concerts were recognized throughout the nation and demand to see the group became intense. The popularity of the Kujawiaki was such that the group received an invitation to perform at the annual White House Christmas gala where they gave two performances before 1,500 guests.8 8

 
Figure 1
    An aerial view of the Alliance College campus shows Alliance Hall to the center left, Washington Hall to the center right, Kosciuszko Hall to the top left, and Athletic Hall to the lower right. Courtesy of Sharon Smith Christian and the Cambridge Springs Heritage Society.
 
 
      By the 1980s, Alliance College appeared very much like the average small American college. According to the 1985-87 Alliance College catalog, the institution offered associate and baccalaureate degrees in the following subjects: Biology, Mathematics, Communication Arts, History, Psychology, and Sociology. Most of the history courses focused on Polish, Slavic, and American ethnicity and immigration studies. As expected, the school offered courses in Polish language and certification to teach Polish, but students could choose from French, German, and Spanish language offerings as well.9 Besides the Kujawiaki, students were able to participate in a variety of activities. The campus housed three fraternities and two sororities while maintaining basketball, soccer, and bowling teams; the school was also a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Despite the changing social and ethnic environment since the school's inauguration, Alliance College strove to maintain the Polish cultural values that provided the foundations for the school. In addition to the course offerings and the predominately Polish American faculty, students celebrated Polish and American holidays while the basketball team, for example, played in the annual "Kielbasa Classic" with rival St. Mary's, a Polish seminary in Orchard Lake, Michigan.10 9
      As quickly as enrollment climbed, however, so had it declined. By 1977, only 182 students remained enrolled creating serious doubt as to the continued performance of the school. By the mid-1980s, enrollment rose marginally to a maximum of about 250 students per year with a majority of the student body participating in the two year technical program rather than the four year liberal arts curriculum. According to Zgoda, the continuing low enrollment forced the PNA to contribute more funds to the school and assume partial responsibility of its debt in order to maintain the yearly operations of the school. By 1987, the PNA provided a quarter of the college's annual operating budget of $2.2 million while at the same time holding $4.4 million in mortgages on two dorms built in 1969 and loaning additional funds to aid the school in repaying $800,000 in other debts.11 10

 
Figure 2
    Alliance Hall opened in 1934 containing classrooms, offices, and laboratories. Courtesy of Sharon Smith Crisman and the Cambridge Springs Heritage Society.
 
 
       Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the PNA and Alliance College geared up in search of new ways to maintain the college financially. The school board invited various consultants to offer ideas on how the school could try to reverse its fortunes. These experts and specialists submitted proposals that included suggestions from conserving energy costs to the possibility of drilling for oil on the campus. Yet, despite the few interesting, though improbable propositions, most submissions focused on how much more the PNA could or would contribute financially, an already deepening situation that the organization was working to avoid.12 Appeals to PNA members and lodges to donate money to the school remained in full force, however. In addition to appeals in Zgoda and Dziennik Związkowy, personalized letters were sent to individual PNA members expressing the importance of giving to the college. One such letter to a PNA member from the college president, details the progress made in expanding the college grounds and ended by stating: "This means we must appeal to all of our friends for help. As one who knows Alliance [College] and watched it grow in national prominence, I trust you will help us in this most worthy cause. How much you give only you can decide but, the important thing is to give something."13 On the other hand, PNA leaders made somewhat bolder requests to their benefactors by transferring ownership of the college to its members and asking them to recruit high school students planning on attending college:

"We respectfully request that you, as the Alliance College shareholders, make your interest and influence strongly evident through personal financial donations and by providing the college with names and addresses of young people in your area who are planning a college education after graduating high school. Your assistance will help reduce a long term deficit and free funds for further development of the college.… Keep in mind that IT'S YOUR COLLEGE."14

11
      Additionally, the PNA printed and distributed guides to members explaining the proper methods of making "Bequests to Education" and on "Minimizing the Estate Tax." These guides stressed the advantages of making bequests to educational institutions and highlighted the proper methods to circumvent the inevitable tax "pitfalls" that are associated with such actions. Both booklets end by stating "substantial assistance to education … is completely satisfying and personally rewarding" [author's italics].15 12
      The college further developed its crusade to revive the institution by intensifying its recruitment campaign, visiting more high schools outside of the Polish American community, and shifting funds toward developing a more attractive curriculum—such as the reintroduction of the technical program and new programs in publication and journalism.16 The college placed ads in Zgoda highlighting the attributes of the school for potential students such as the low tuition, emphasis on instruction, low student-to-teacher ratio, ready career opportunities and career placement, and including nostalgic descriptions written by alumni. The PNA held various national and local fundraisers specifically for the College, including a popular annual Polish golf tournament and numerous raffles.17 13
      Moreover, the college's newly arrived, and last president, James Garbart introduced a new five-year plan in 1985 to turn around the school and make it more profitable within two years. He wasted no time in dismissing ten percent of the "bloated" staff, revamping the Polish department, and introducing a more aggressive recruiting campaign.18 14

 
Figure 3
    Washington Hall contained an auditorium, dining facilities, a music room a faculty lounge, and the Polish Room. Courtesy of Sharon Smith Crisman and the Cambridge Springs Heritage Society.
 
 
      Despite the continued appeals, fund raising, and ambitious strategies, the PNA School Commission decided to close the college. On February 20, 1987, in Philadelphia, the Commission, after voting 36 to 6, approved a resolution to suspend operations of Alliance College effective June 30 of that year. The Commission cited soaring operational costs (due to low enrollments), long-term liabilities, massive debt to the PNA, and lack of interest and support from the college's primary constituencies as the reasons behind their decision. An additional worry of the School Commission came from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, the organization which accredited Alliance. According to Hilary Czaplicki, then PNA censor and a member of the school Board of Trustees, the Middle States never gave formal confirmation concerning the college's accreditation for the following 1987-88 academic year. As a result, the decision to close the school was partially made so that the class of 1987 would graduate from an accredited institution in addition to having the school remembered as never having lost accreditation while in operation. In a later report submitted by the Middle States, the accrediting agency explained that due to low enrollment and the unstable financial situation of the College, it could no longer accredit the College for more than one year at a time. In order to satisfy the accreditation committee and earn accreditation in the future, the PNA would have to have committed at least one million dollars annually for a minimum of ten years, in addition to other moneys needed to operate the college. Considering that the school was already indebted to the PNA for approximately three million dollars, contributing another minimum of ten million over the next ten years was considered too large a burden for the PNA.19 15
      As soon as Polish American and national newspapers published reports of the school's closing, outrage over the PNA's decision swelled. Not surprisingly the first groups to demonstrate their indignation were the alumni and students of the school who had developed strong emotional ties to their alma mater. According to alumni, the PNA gave neither the faculty, students, or the alumni board any advanced notice of the closure. As a result, the alumni board called a special meeting, to be held on campus, to discuss the decision and invited the PNA to answer questions about the planned closing. The PNA's response was immediate. The school's general counsel sent certified letters to each alumni officer threatening to arrest them as "defiant trespassers" if they held their meeting on campus. Undeterred, the alumni board notified the PNA counsel that the meeting was to occur as scheduled, that those involved would accept any consequences that their actions assumed. They continued by saying that the general counsel's threat, though possible in a Communist country, was unacceptable in the United States. Word quickly spread through the Polish American press of the PNA threat to arrest individuals who attended the planned meeting. One alumnus in particular, who was unaware of the school's closing, eagerly attended the meeting once he received the PNA letter threatening his arrest.20 16
      Held on April 10, 1987, the hastily organized meeting used the distress code symbol SOS—or Save Our School. Nearly 100 alumni, benefactors, PNA members, and students of Alliance College from around the nation assembled in the Madame Skłodowska Curie Auditorium to discuss means to prevent the school from closing. In the end, the PNA abandoned its threats and allowed the meeting to take place on campus. PNA leaders realized the public relations nightmare and scandal that would result if they took legal action against their benefactors, even though many had already turned in their PNA insurance policies and/or joined other fraternal organizations.21 17
      At the meeting, the assembled group submitted a number of petitions from various districts and PNA lodges. The petitions called on the PNA School Commission to rescind its action to close the school, or, if not, have the decision overruled at the September PNA convention, thereby allowing a larger number of members to vote on the issue. Input from students at the meeting ranged from hopelessness, to confusion, to anger. Many cited PNA leadership as being the cause of the school's problems and not the community. Ultimately, the meeting failed to accomplish its objective of reversing the PNA decision. Those in attendance raised many questions, but little or no answers were provided. With no PNA representation at the meeting, little could be accomplished and those in attendance remained uninformed.22 The alumni asked the PNA for another meeting to address their concerns, and once more the PNA declined. 18
      On May 17, 1987, Alliance College celebrated its seventy third and final commencement. As always, the alumni board scheduled its regular commencement weekend meeting. Though members of the PNA were expected at the Sunday morning commencement, no one from the PNA was present for the alumni meeting. Minutes before the ceremony, PNA president Aloysius Mazewski, and censor Hilary Czaplicki arrived on the campus grounds. According to an alumnus present at the commencement, "emotions ran high." President Mazewski gave his scheduled "welcome" speech, but before he could finish, the audience booed the long standing PNA president off stage. The last that anyone saw of the two PNA leaders that day was on the local news as they refused to answer a reporter's questions, hurriedly ducking into a chauffeured car and rushing to the airport. Despite the efforts of alumni, PNA members, benefactors, and students, the spring 1987 semester was Alliance College's last. According to an alumni officer, the PNA never fully explained its actions to anyone directly or indirectly related to the school.23 19
      Once the closing of the college became an unyielding reality, the next concern for Polonia was the preservation of the 188 acres and 13 buildings that made up the college grounds. According to the PNA School Commission, the college property would remain to serve future developments in scientific research, charitable and educational purposes, and fraternal activities. Soon after the campus grounds were vacated, however, it became apparent that the PNA planned on selling as much of the school as possible in order to recoup lost monies and devoid itself of the overhead. Resolutions passed in December 1987, and again in January 1989, formally authorized the sale of the school and property. Later in 1989, the PNA contracted a Chicago firm to handle the marketing of the property. The effort included a mass distribution of 2,000 color brochures which included maps, diagrams, and photos. Some 120 colleges and universities, federal, state, and local agencies as well as 50 specific big businesses (for example, those controlled by Lee Iacocca and Donald Trump) received the comprehensive sales material. National and international business publications, such as the Wall Street Journal and International Daily Journal, were utilized to spread the word about the campus facilities to North American and overseas markets. Numerous offers were made, particularly by other academic institutions; however, none of the prospective buyers were willing to purchase the property in full, requesting instead that the PNA finance their purchase. Such arrangements were quickly turned down as they did not fit the PNA's plan to completely absolve itself of the property in a cash deal that would help repay the school's debt to the organization.24 20
      On December 31, 1990, the PNA School Commission approved the three million dollar sale of the school to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in a vote of 5-0 by the school Board of Trustees and mail-in vote of 44-2. Yet, due to the outstanding debt of the college to the PNA, the organization actually walked away with a loss of approximately $425,000. Members of the community once again expressed disdain for not including Polonia in the decision. Adding insult to injury, the Polish American community was appalled to learn that the intent of the state of Pennsylvania was to convert its purchase into a minimum security facility for women. Monuments located on the grounds were soon stripped, boxed, and shipped, plaques removed, and barbed wire fencing erected to surround the campus. As for the library, the PNA sold the English section and transferred the Polish collection to the University of Pittsburgh's Hillman Library. Along with the library the PNA included a sizable donation to aid in cataloging the collection. Today, the barbed wire fencing remains. More recently though, the state of Pennsylvania has drained the pond so loved by former students and is now in the process of cutting the imported Polish fir trees that line the campus.25 21
      It would be too easy to blame the schools problems on low enrollment and mounting debt. The emotional outpouring of Polish Americans familiar with the college not only demonstrated their affection for the school, but also led to a backlash against the PNA wherein members of the community criticized the organization's management of the institution and its poor treatment of the closing. First, the PNA decision to close the school was abrupt. There were no indicators that pointed to the organization's eventual decision. Since the early 1970s, as enrollment declined and debt mounted, rumors of the school's closing began to surface. But the PNA and school board quickly dismissed these decades old rumors. With the coming of the 1980s, increasing enrollment and growing individual donations, along with Garbart's five-year plan created an air of optimism for students and faculty alike. Furthermore, Garbart's recruitment plan began showing signs of progress, as enrollment for the 1988 academic year was to be the highest in recent years. The PNA, however, decided to not fund the president's proposed five-year plan and instead closed the school.26 22
      The PNA has repeatedly claimed that Alliance College was the responsibility of the so-called "constituency," or the Polish American community in general and the active members of the PNA in particular. If this is the case then why was the "constituency" not involved in the decision to close the College? Considering that the PNA was, and still is, one of the largest Polish American fraternal organizations, leaving the school's fate in the hands of about forty individuals in the School Commission does not seem fair to the "constituency," who, according to the PNA, owned the school. If they were responsible for the school and expected as members to contribute to its financial well being, then should they not have been involved, if only partially, in the decision? Granted, it is understandable that attempting to involve a group spread across a nation as vast as the United States seems unlikely; however, if the PNA was willing to personally ask members for money for the college, then it should have at least mentioned that a major decision was to take place regarding the future of the school. 23
      The PNA also made the claim that despite a situation defined as grave, there existed "apathy and disinterest" among the PNA constituency and as a result contributions were minimal. After examining Zgoda between the years of 1977-87, aside from the occasional appeal for monetary contributions for the College, one would be hard pressed to see Alliance College as being anything but successful and on track. Few articles discussed the financial problems of the school. Much of the published material detailed such activities as the success of the Kujawiaki, exhibits at the library, Christmas events and celebrations, the yearly Kraków festival and various campus sports events that gave the appearance of status quo. Who, after reading such articles, would believe that the school was in a "grave" situation? Moreover, with the PNA constantly printing reports of numerous corporate and private donations in its newspaper, one would also think that the school had a steady flow of support by various groups, individuals, and organizations. The problem is the approach taken by the PNA to its reporting of the College's situation during its final years, giving the average reader no indication that something was seriously awry. 24
      The PNA's recruitment efforts, though aggressive, proved ineffective. Recruitment campaigns to entice potential students seemed concentrated within the PNA organization. Advertisements for the school generally appeared exclusively in Zgoda, while letters and pamphlets seem to be sent only to members. School administrators and the PNA placed little effort in campaigning for students within the larger Polish American community or the general body of graduating high school students outside of Pennsylvania. Likewise, the same occurred with fund raising. Requests for money to support the College were publicized only to PNA members rather than the general community and the bulk of the fundraising was done through PNA lodges.27 Scholarships to attend the college followed a similar approach. The majority of scholarships and stipends awarded to students were not bestowed based solely on merit, but on membership in the PNA. According to the 1985-87 Alliance College Handbook, four scholarship programs were offered exclusively to students who were members of the PNA for at least two years (not including a lengthy list of private scholarship funds most likely donated by members of the PNA for members), they were: the Polish National Alliance Student Loan, Second Student in the Family, Polish Alliance Grants, and the Polish National Alliance Merit Scholar Program. The last scholarship gave full tuition to 16 qualified members.28 25
      Corruption among PNA leaders and the school administration has been cited as a possible, yet remote, factor contributing to the demise of Alliance College. In a biography of her husband and Alliance College president, Journey into Another World, Marion Moore Coleman writes that the worst aspect of Alliance College life was the low regard in which the students held the Board of Trustees. Overall, the student body regarded the Trustees as "self-serving politicians who were using the college to their own ends." The lack of respect for the Trustees made President Coleman's job that much more difficult as students regarded him as a tool of the Board.29 Mrs. Coleman recounts the attitude of one student in particular; Irene Matuszak: "The atmosphere she saw at and felt at Alliance simply turned her stomach. The way the people in command cheated the college, and the way the little people around them followed the example of their so-called 'betters' … which she characterized as świństwo (rotten, swine-like). The system was too deeply rooted."30 26
       Coleman later agrees with her young assistant Irene by concluding, "Irene had been right: 'świństwo' was endemic in the place."31 Beside the recollections of Marion Moore Coleman, one of the student newspapers from the mid-1970s, the Droll Dram, also projects a belief of corruption. One article titled "Financial Situation at Alliance" begins by stating, "As usual, there is a great deal of speculation going around the campus on the monetary situation at Alliance. Plenty of people are convinced that there is a great deal of corruption at this school and people wonder where all the money is going." The intent of the article is to dispel these rumors by outlining the income of the college and how the money is spent. Printed in 1973, the article presents an optimistic outlook for the continued future of the institution which, by that time, was supposedly pulling itself out of the red and into the black.32 A later article by College President Herman Szymański explains the disposition of the vaguely titled "general fee" that was charged to each student as part of his or her tuition. The long and detailed explanation of how the fee was properly dispensed, in addition to other articles dispelling corruption, did not seem to appease concerned students seeing that at the end of the Szymański article appears a hand drawn caricature of PNA President Mazewski pushing a wheelbarrow full of money.33 Interviews with Alliance College alumni and former faculty, however, reveal that few considered corruption as being part of the college's problem. Rather, they cite inept management among school administrators and PNA leaders; or, as one alum put it "[College administrators and PNA directors were] very out of touch with the student and the day-to-day [operation] of the school."34 Still, the references to corruption mentioned previously demonstrate that such feelings did exist, and for them to exist there must have been issues that triggered such responses.

27
       In partial defense of the PNA, the organization was right. The Polish American community, for the most part, no longer cared or demonstrated an interest in the school. In fact, by the 1970s and 1980s the majority of Polonia, including members of the PNA, had no idea that such a school existed.35 Part of the problem lies with the PNA, while a good portion has to do with the shifting views of education among American Polonia. Despite the many issues attributed to the closing of Alliance College, the fact of the matter is that the concept of higher education among Polonia had changed over time. Initially, the PNA established the school as an institution that would cater to the desires of first and, to an extent, second generation Polish immigrants. These generations sought to preserve the few remaining fragments of stability and familiarity in an uprooted life in a strange and often hostile environment. American schools threatened the development of a Polish identity for immigrant children. Alliance, therefore, satisfied the needs of these early immigrants as it maintained cultural values in immigrant youth while providing an education that would better serve them in a future occupation.36

28

 
Figure 4
    This cartoon appeared in the Droll Dram, March 7, 1974. Courtesy of the Connecticut Polish American Archives at Central Connecticut State University.
 
 
       With succeeding generations and the flow of new immigrants following the Second World War, a shift began to occur. Eventually, American schools, at all levels, appeared to be the only method to improve the social standing of Polish Americans. Polonia began competing with other ethnic groups for status. The community came to embrace American education as a means of social mobility and encouraged its youth to participate fully in the educational system.37 Furthermore, this period was marked with an upsurge in the amount of and opportunities in American institutions of higher learning. These factors allowed the children of Polish Americans to improve or attain the social status their parents desired. As a result, Polish American parents and their children embraced the American culture as they realized the importance of learning in order to better function in American society. This is where the PNA faltered with Alliance College. Instead of joining this revolution and exploiting the potential of the College and its facilities, the PNA stubbornly maintained the original mission of a Polish American College that would preserve the Polish culture for future generations. The school could have easily diversified its curriculum to include courses and offer degrees that would attract a wider base of prospective students while maintaining a smaller Polish cultural program. And it did so to an extent by offering degrees in business, publication and the reestablished technical institute. Yet the school failed to shed its exclusive Polish American identity and continued to measure its success narrowly based on how many Polish majors it produced. According to one alumni, "There was a narrow-minded view by incoming/ prospective students that the school was for Polish language majors only," and another student was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying, "You can't avoid things Polish at this college…. Students are exposed to it no matter what they do."38 Though such an atmosphere could have helped attract students, it most likely deterred many more from applying.

29
      Furthermore, this new trend in higher education among Polonia was encouraged by an increased number of scholarship programs created by various Polish American organizations. Organizations such as the Kosciuszko Foundation, the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences of America, the Józef Piłsudski Institute, and the Polish American Historical Association offered scholarships and grants to encourage and aid Polish American students planning on attending college, as well as scholars already in the field of Polish and Polish American studies. By fostering scholarly contacts between Poland and America, many of these organizations also provided scholarships for students studying abroad in Poland. Though not initially forthcoming, the Polish American community began donating money and endowments to these organizations in order to help advance their cause. In addition to scholarships, this additional funding allowed the organizations to sponsor numerous meetings, symposiums, and lectures while encouraging the publication of dictionaries, language texts and works on Polish and Polish American topics. Currently, these organizations still continue their generous work in the community and benefit from substantial memberships. Though these organizations have done much to improve the educational opportunities of Polish Americans, their successes did little to help the situation at Alliance. Thanks to these organizations, Polish Americans were able to attend universities of their choice and, depending on the scholarship, study what they wished. True, Alliance had an oversees program with the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, but anyone wishing to study in Poland could apply for any number of scholarships and grants offered by the many scholarly Polish American organizations.39 Even the PNA increasingly offered scholarships to its younger members for institutions other than Alliance. In 1991, following the sale of the college, the PNA boasted a scholarship fund of approximately one million dollars. These scholarships allow the PNA to maintain a presence in the sphere of Polish American education. 30
      The increased focus on higher education within the community, together with money provided to students and scholars by various organizations, helped to create a new generation of sophisticated Polish American historians who became increasingly popular and influential. These historians educated in the 1960s and 1970s, for example M. B. Biskupski, James S. Pula, Stanislaus Blejwas, and John Bukowczyk to name a few, combined with the positive reception of a new Polish Pope and the Solidarity Movement, brought a renewed interest in Polish and Polish American history and culture. This phenomenon spread throughout the United States causing Polish Americans to become ethnically conscious once again. Thanks to these factors, a new effort to stimulate and enrich Polish heritage took form. To accomplish this, the majority of Polonia believed that Polish studies chairs or departments needed to be established in mainstream, and ideally prestigious, universities across the nation. This would not only allow descendants of Polish immigrants to study Polish history and culture, but also non-Poles interested in the subject. As one PNA member wrote in a letter-to-the-editor in Zgoda, "Expansion of existing and establishment of new Polish and Polish American studies centers at selected universities would be the most effective way to accomplish this." Due to this factor the Polish American community lost whatever interest it had in the isolated and fledgling Alliance College. It came to be considered a waste of money, a "bottom-less pit," too buried in its problems to be worth saving or reviving. Members of the community, including the PNA, increasingly felt that the money for such educational programs would be better spent elsewhere. Moreover, this "new generation" of Polish American scholars, who stood at the hub of this movement, encouraged the development of local educational and cultural programs that would benefit the local communities as opposed to national organizations such as PNA and the Polish American Congress (PAC). As a result, for the majority of the Polish American community the closing of Alliance College "went under the radar, nobody really noticed."40 31
      Nevertheless, the sale of the college, more than its becoming a penitentiary, left a bad taste in the mouths of much of Polonia, especially the former students, staff, and faculty. Today, the saga of Alliance College remains a hot-button issue for many people. Mention the words Alliance College to certain individuals and you will receive an initial reaction of pleasant nostalgia followed by scorn, confusion, and disappointment. Now, some twenty years later, many alumni, former faculty, and staff of the College still possess a strong fondness for the school. One alum even takes his family "up the hill" once a year to look at the school, an event which is now done through barbed-wire.41 Few have ever really understood or accepted the circumstances of Alliance's closing, and the impressions of the PNA and Polish American community concerning the situation differ immensely. Overall, the PNA was disillusioned in its attempts to maintain the Polish character of the institution and its archaic vision of using the college as a vehicle for the preservation of Polish ethnic identity. Rather than adapting the college to the changing education environment, the PNA, School Board of Trustees, and School Commission stubbornly ran its so-called "pride and joy" into the ground, using its constituency and the community as a scapegoat. But, then again, the dynamics of the Polish American community brought changes that the PNA either could not or would not adapt to. In the end, it is difficult to ascertain why exactly the college closed and how, if possible, it could have been saved. No one factor can be linked to its demise. A more accurate conclusion would be that a great number of factors, compounded together, led to the school's closing. The PNA was and is still an insurance company, not a cultural organization. Sometime during the middle of the twentieth century, concerns in the PNA shifted to its expanding insurance program which remained its sole priority. It is possible, though only an assumption, that the PNA had trouble maintaining two large institutions as part of one organization. Alliance College may have been more successful as its own separate entity. However, its difficult and progressive financial situation would have made this a remote possibility. 32


      The author would like to thank Renata Vickrey and Ewa Wolynska at the Central Connecticut State University library for their assistance with illustrations for this article.

1Polonia is a term used to reference a Polish community living outside of Poland. In this case it is the community that refers to itself as Polish or of Polish decent living in the United States.

2The most recent definitive history of the PNA was written by Donald E. Pienkos and published in 1984 for the centennial history of the organization. Earlier histories of the PNA exist that discuss Alliance College, as well as case studies about the Polish American Community. However, to the extent of the author's knowledge, no current, post 1987, article or book has yet been published that mentions or details the closing of the school.

3Donald E. Pienkos, PNA: A Centennial History of the Polish National Alliance of the United States of North America (New York: Columbia University Press, 1984), 20-25, 92, 258, 264, the quote appears on page 265.

4Pienkos, PNA: A Centennial History, 265.

5Pienkos, PNA: A Centennial History, 92, 266-67.

6Pienkos, PNA: A Centennial History, 267.

7Pienkos, PNA: A Centennial History, 270-72.

8Bogucki Papers, Connecticut Polish American Archives, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, Connecticut, Accession No: CPAA-05-05, Box 2, Folder 8.

9Alliance College Bulletin, 1985-1987 (Cambridge Springs, PA: Alliance College, 1885), 31-67.

10Susan Carey, "At Alliance College, It Helps If you Know Polkas from Pierogis — Tiny School Hopes to Survive by Stressing Polish Ties; Big Advantage: Low Cost," Wall Street Journal (December 10, 1984), 1.

11Carey, "At Alliance College," 1; Pienkos, PNA: A Centennial History, 273; "Polish College Closing; Low on Money, Students," Butler Eagle (April 9, 1987).

12Interciew, Hilary Czaplicki with the author, October 9, 2007.

13Bogucki Collection, Connecticut Polish American Archives, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, Connecticut, Accession No. CPAA-05-05, Box 2, Folder 8.

14Alexander Koproski Collection, Connecticut Polish American Archives, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, Connecticut, Accession No. CPAA-87-07, Box 9, Folder 29. It is difficult determined as to what type of audience/student Alliance's recruitment campaigns were geared towards.

15Alexander Koproski Collection, Connecticut Polish American Archives, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, Connecticut, Accession No. CPAA-87-07, Box 9, Folder 29.

16Alliance's new publications program is what attracted John Kozlowski to enroll in the college. Letter, John Kozlowski to the author, March 1, 2007.

17"Alliance College intensified its recruitment activities," Zgoda, April 15, 1977, 1; "We urge college-bound students to consider Alliance College," Zgoda, May 15, 1978, 4; "Is money keeping you or a family member from attending college?" Zgoda, June 1, 1981, 7; "Polish Open Golf Tourney Raises Funds for A.C." Zgoda, October 15, 1984, 2.

18"Proudly Polish College to Shut in Pennsylvania," New York Times, April 19, 1987, A39.

19"Proudly Polish College," A39; interview, Hilary Czaplicki with author, October 9, 2007; "Statement on Alliance College," Zgoda, April 1, 1987, 1.

20Letter, Dave Matejczyk to author, March 6, 2007; letter, John Kozlowski to author, March 1, 2007. Dave Matejczyk received his undergraduate degree at Alliance College and served on the alumni board during the school's closing. He currently serves as the secretary for the Alliance College Alumni Association.

21Letter, Dave Matejczyk to author, March 6, 2007; letter, John Kozlowski to author, March 1, 2007; "Polish College Closing; Low on Money, Students," Butler Eagle, April 9, 1987; "Alliance Administration Resigns on Eve of Campus Rally," Polish American Journal, May 1987, 1; letter, Thomas Jarzab to author, March 8, 2007.

22Letter, Dave Matejczyk to author, March 6, 2007; letter, John Kozlowski to author, March 1, 2007; "Polish College Closing; Low on Money, Students," Butler Eagle, April 9, 1987; "Alliance Administration Resigns on Eve of Campus Rally," Polish American Journal, May 1987, 1; letter, Thomas Jarzab to author, March 8, 2007.

23Letter, Dave Matejczyk to author, March 6, 2007; "73rd Commencement at Alliance College," Zgoda, June 1, 1987, 1, 12.

24"Alliance College Campus is Sold," 1; interview, Hilary Czaplicki with author, October 9, 2007.

25"Campus is Sold," 1; interview, Hilary Czaplicki with author, October 9, 2007; "Proudly Polish," A39; "Report of the Committee on Alliance College," Zgoda, December 1, 1991, 8; letter, Dave Matejczyk to author, March 6, 2007; "Work begins on new Stryker Brigade readiness center near Cambridge," Meadville Tribune, March 7, 2007.

26"Proudly Polish College"; e-mail from John Kozlowski to author, March 1, 2007.

27Interview, Hilary Czaplicki with author, October 9, 2007.

28Alliance College Bulletin, 1985-1987, 12-14.

29Marion M. Coleman, Journey into Another World; Part 3: Journey's End (1939–1974) (Cheshire, Connecticut: privately printed, 1975), 122.

30Coleman, Journey into Another World, 118.

31Coleman, Journey into Another World, 122.

32Jim Stuczynski, "The Financial Situation at Alliance," Droll Dram, December 20, 1973, 4. It is unknown whether the author is a student or member of the faculty.

33Herman A. Szymański, "The General Fee at Alliance College," Droll Dram, March 7, 1974, 4.

34Letter, John Kozlowski to author, March 1, 2007.

35This is evident in the publication, or lack thereof, of the school's closing in the Polish American press. Many of the articles do not go beyond announcing the closing.

36Anthony Kuzniewski, "Boot Straps and Book Learning: Reflections on the Education of Polish Americans," Polish American Studies, Vol. 32 (1975), 5, 12-13; Janice E. Kleeman, "Polish-American Assimilation: The Interaction of Opportunity and Attitude," Polish American Studies, Vol. 42 (1985), 21.

37Helena Znaniecki Lopata, Polish Americans: Status Competition in an Ethnic Community (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., [1976]), 50-53.

38Letter, Larry DeCicco to author, March 8, 2007; letter, John Kozlowski to author, March 1, 2007; Carey, "At Alliance College," 1.

39Paul J. Best, "Polish-American Scholarly Organizations," in Stanislaus A. Blejwas and Mieczysław B. Biskupski, eds., Pastor of the Poles: Polish American Essays Presented to Right Reverend Monsignor John P. Wodarski in Honor of the Fiftieth Anniversary of His Ordination (New Britain, Connecticut: Polish Studies Program Monographs, 1982), 154-163.

40Interview with Eva Wolynska, May 9, 2007; "Letters to the Editor," Zgoda, July 1, 1991, 2. It must be noted that the comments of Mrs. Wolynska are representative of the Polish American Community in the largely Northeastern area of the United States.

41Letter, Doug Mlodzinski to author, March 6, 2007.

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