Bacone to start classes in midst of financial hardship

Aug. 4—Bacone College officials say they are working to get finances on secure ground as more than 100 students are expected to begin classes this month.

"I think the local area knows we've had some past troubles, and we're working on getting them taken care of," Bacone President Nicky Michael said this week.

Financial issues — including a lawsuit, which could have led to an auction of the campus in June — created questions as to whether Bacone would be able to remain open. Students will begin online classes Wednesday and face-to-face classes beginning Aug. 16. Current enrollment is down from 248 students last August, though students continue to enroll.

Losing Bacone, established in 1880, would have left a hole for past graduates and Native Americans seeking higher education in Muskogee.

"It's important for Bacone to be around, not only for the next generation of folks that are local that want to have the option, but for the graduates as well," said U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-OK.

"It's extremely important for the alumni when they have Bacone listed on their resume, it's not a university that's gone," Lankford said while attending a ribbon cutting here this week. "So it's really important those who graduated from there to be able to maintain that as well as be the local presence."

Michael said the Bacone Board of Trustees declared a financial crisis earlier this year. Maintenance issues, including in student housing and a buckled basketball court, plagued Bacone in 2022. Michael said those issues contributed to the financial situation this year.

A lawsuit filed against Bacone alleging breach of contract sought more than $1 million. Utah energy company Midgley-Huber Energy Concepts (MHEC) sought payment for energy conservation services. Muskogee County District Court Judge King ordered the campus to be sold at auction to pay the debt. MHEC recalled its request for an auction in April. Bacone officials declined comment on the lawsuit.

Bacone received a Financial Distress designation based on the college being placed on Heightened Cash Monitoring by the U.S. Department of Education, according to the Higher Learning Commission website. The Department of Education uses the designation to provide additional oversight on financial or federal compliance issues.

The Higher Learning Commission called the designation a "consumer protection mechanism." Bacone must host a focused visit by the commission no later than November if the commission is to drop the designation.

"Bacone College remains accredited while it pursues efforts to remedy concerns that have led to this designation," the commission's notice said.

Bacone Chief Operations Officer Leroy Thompson said Bacone is seeking status as a tribal college through Bureau of Indian Education and Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"It will provide us with annual income from the federal government with allotment per native student, guaranteed," he said, adding that the allotment is about $7,000 per student.

"It also allows our students to apply for scholarships they could not apply for right now outside third-party scholarships," he said. "So there is a benefit to the student and the institution."

Part of this process includes getting charters from tribes, he said.

"Charters can be looked upon as letters of support," Thompson said. "While they have not committed dollars, they have committed their support towards the institution becoming a tribal college."

Michael said the Kiowa, Osage and the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes have charters with Bacone. The Otoe-Missouria tribe and United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians canceled their charters, she said.

Thompson said the college is working with a professional fundraiser who has "made contact with significant donors."

Thompson said Bacone is selling two undeveloped plots on its campus — 30 acres at York Street south of Old Bacone Road and about 27 acres along York north of the Murrow Children's Home, which is not part of campus property.

The college also wants to sell seven acres to Muskogee Public Schools. Thompson said the district could use the land as a parking lot for Muskogee High School's Rougher Village stadium and field house. Many visitors attending major events at Rougher Village must park at Northpointe Plaza shopping center and cross the Bacone campus. Thompson said 50 cars have parked on the campus.

Muskogee Public School spokesman Brandon Irby confirmed that MPS officials have met with Bacone officials, but had no further information.

Michael said the school could use the properties as a solar energy farm if they are not sold.

Admissions Director Paige Shaffer said Bacone also plans to rent out historic campus sites, such as Bacone Chapel, Wacoche Hall dining hall, Journeycake Hall and Ataloa Lodge.

"We have wonderful old buildings that are part of history," she said. "They used to be rented out for events, and that stopped several years ago."

For now, the focus is on getting the campus ready for the new school year.

Michael said fire alarms are being installed in student housing, then the city fire marshal must approve the alarm system. As a result, the student move-in date has been delayed one week to Aug. 14.

Maintenance crews are preparing the grounds and contractors are laying the new basketball court, she said.

Michael said she expects the campus to be in much better financial shape by the start of spring semester.