To the editor:
I would like to respond to Peter Most’s recent article about Simon’s Rock. I would like to respond directly to him. I am a parent of a Rocker who came to Great Barrington specifically for the school. I bought a home, pay taxes, buy goods and services. I pay tuition. I also contribute to the school. I would like to know why Mr. Most thinks that Simon’s Rock owes anyone in this town any consideration, the strong implication in his article being that the college should give Great Barrington a reduced price. Why? It has not been my experience here in this town that the community of Great Barrington does or has done anything for Simon’s Rock. There are wealthy people living within walking distance of the campus, and as a parent who drives through campus several times a day, I can say with authority that homeowners utilize its beautiful walkways daily for their constitutionals. So, where have the donations been? I also know with authority that they have not existed. Great Barrington and its citizens have not helped or supported Simon’s Rock. Why should Simon’s Rock give Great Barrington consideration? You have let a valuable and precious resource leave the area. You are the ones who are leaving the many wooded acres that have been beloved by students, been the source of learning for many graduated environmentalists and scientists and artists, and been inhabited by the wildlife that is being pushed out elsewhere by development and carefully mown lawns vulnerable to development. Simon’s Rock has preserved and protected 275 acres of beautiful land. So, in my opinion, shame on Great Barrington for doing absolutely nothing to help save this wonderful school.
And, if you actually did your homework, you would know that the property is owned by Bard College, and big Bard will decide who buys the Simon’s Rock campus and for how much.
I am not one bit impressed by this town and its reaction to the loss of something you should have appreciated far more than you ever did. In typical Great Barrington fashion, though, you will form nonprofit groups and committees and you will do a lot of talking—leading to nothing—and all talk about how you can pick apart the pieces of the campus and use them, opportunistically, for your own self-centered purposes. It is not too late, you know. Why don’t you actually do something useful and organize donors to save the school from moving? I challenge you to be that altruistic. Or are you just interested in getting your hands on the spoils… at a discount?
I would like to know.
Cynthia McCallister
Great Barrington
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