Every K.C. Old Boy (hereinafter “Old Boy”) that I have encountered over the past decade or so, has essentially the same lamentation, and that is; “the College needs help bad”. During the passage of this time, tens of fundraising events have been held by the four North American chapters of KCOBA with varying returns amounting to thousands of dollars. It is well documented that close to 90 percent of this surplus revenue has made its way either directly to the College or the Kingston College Development Trust Fund (KCDTF). The New York Chapter has done a remarkable job of documenting its disbursement of funds via its heralded Souvenir Journal associated with the annual reunion and awards dinner. I have no doubt that the Toronto, Florida and Atlanta Chapters can produce similar documentation of their disbursement of funds to our beloved alma mater and the KCDTF. However, there continues to be a glaring absence of consistent, pertinent and RELIABLE information that would show end usage of funds disbursed for particular endeavors at the school. We have been generally contented to accept the flimsy verbal summaries of those pretending to be in the know, without the required due diligence for confirmation.
The Social Services building project at the Melbourne campus stands as a prime example of a hands-off approach by the school’s administration. The grass has literally been allowed to grow in and around the foundation holding up the shell of the intended structure, as confirmed recently by an Old Boy and former headboy, Dr. Cedric Lazarus. All and sundry agree that the importance of having the Social Services building cannot be over-emphasized. Yet, after the best efforts of the Florida and Atlanta chapters yielded the bulk of the funding for its completion, the project remains adrift. Vice-principal Keith Bryan enthusiastically informed the recent KCOBA Summit in Toronto that a contractor was on board and that the work was about to re-start. Technically, he was correct, as the phrase “work was about to re-start” is indicative of a state of continuum. Practically though, as it turned out, the vice-principal’s statement was at best misleading, however unintentional. We were also informed approximately 3-months ago that the project was scheduled to be completed in 3-months. It is such unreliable information that has provided the fodder for discontent and mistrust. Merely going through the motion of handing us appeasing commentaries on our areas of interest appears to have become the norm from some quarters in Jamaica. Perhaps the proponents have yielded to the temptation to hide behind the great physical distance that separates Jamaica from North America, believing that it is not practical for us to confirm the validity of their statements. What else can one infer?
But, it is also the fault of the North American chapters to remain party to such blatant disregard for “truth in information”. In New York I was often told to “cool it” by my fellow board members when I opted to challenge (they said attack) the school on this issue. Now that I am in Atlanta and no longer the president of a KCOBA Chapter, I don’t have the pressures of protocol anymore, and so I am re-opening this matter of communication faux pas. If providing requested information to the North American Chapters is not considered important (or even a priority)by the school’s administrators then we should be told that this is so; pure and simple The prudent thing to do then would be to cease all direct funding of programs at the school and instead deposit surplus funds from our fundraisers in the KCDTF. It would then be incumbent on the school to petition the KCDTF for funding of particular programs. The KCDTF provides quarterly reports so there would be no issues associated with reporting of how the funds that we provided have been utilized.
Some of course will disagree with the suggestion above, more so because of their jaundiced view of the KCDTF. However, let us not discount the requirements of the IRS pertaining to 501c(3) organizations such as ours, prominent amongst which is adhering to proper reporting procedures. One of the oldest Jamaican alumnae association based in New York City was recently audited and literally “raked over the coals” as they say, due to data gaps. This particular association is one of the better operated ones in NYC, yet its officers had to endure tense and trying conditions, which none of us should want to encounter.
In summary then, the choice is ours, really; and that is, do nothing to change the status quo or do what makes sense for the longevity of our associations.
