Alferian's · Journal

Not meaning to be melodramatic about it, but it seems that Samhuinn is a good time for a corporation to pass on into some new form of life, and I have made the decision now to let Avalon Center pass on.  Some of you may be completely unaware of Avalon Center for Druidic Studies.  Some of you may be avid supporters.  Some may have picked up our brochures at a local conference or shop.  In short, ACDS was founded to be a scholarly center for Druidry, a post-secondary institution of higher education founded on druidic principles.  

However, three months ago I reached the conclusion that if I could not manage to find administrative help for the Center, I could not continue directing it.  Although I have had contributions from perhaps a score of teachers, donors, advisors, and governors serving on the ACDS board, still the majority of the work falls upon my shoulders.  My health has not been good and despite the doctors working on it for the past year or more, it still isn't very good.  No need to go into the details.  The upshot is that I have very little energy and have many bad days when I can do little but rest and be melancholy.

This situation, as you can appreciate, makes for a very ineffective leader.  My lack of business experience does not help matters.  I have been carrying on with the energy from a sense of calling, but even that has now ebbed away and the practicalities of physically living will not support it.

This Summer I suspended teaching operations at the Center for two quarters.  Lack of students along with lack of personnel to run the Center, and lack of funds, have made ACDS unsustainable.  Some of the Governors encouraged me to carry on for another term and see if we could resume offering classes for Winter Quarter.  As recently as last week, I still maintained some hope that we could, but then my health took another downturn.  So, I have resigned myself to this decision and am going to close the Center.

Perhaps in the future circumstances will change, patrons and staff will be found, and someone will be able to revive the idea of a druid college.  But I no longer anticipate that I will be the one to do so.  We can only hope that when the time is right, such an institution may be brought into a more complete manifestation.

Meanwhile, we can content ourselves with having achieved a good experiment.  We succeeded in gaining tax-exempt status as a school with our mission, which is certainly a small step but a hopeful one for the future of druid education in the United States.  

I wish to express my sincere thanks to all the teachers who have contributed their time and talents to developing courses for ACDS, whether or not they actually taught any students.  It was not effort wasted, but all part of our experiment to see if our world was ready for such formal education directed at achieving further light in Druidry.  The conclusion I come to is that the world is not quite ready, or, as is perhaps equally true, I lack the skills necessary to create a viable institution which could market and promote itself to draw in a sufficient and sustained flow of students to make the business work.  I have learned a great deal about just how difficult it is to create any business and sustain it, and I have learned a great deal about not-for-profit organizations.  My respect for those who can create such organizations and sustain them until they become established cultural institutions is more profound that ever before.

We can be proud of having managed Avalon Center in a fiscally responsible way and ended our endeavor with our books balanced.  Any money remaining in the Avalon bank accounts, of which I think there will be little, will be, according to our articles of organization, donated to another charity with a similar mission.  That decision will be made by the Board of Governors before they go home and return to their other pursuits.

We can also be proud of having served some 25 students over the past two years, some of whom were unable to complete their coursework, but all of whom, I trust found the courses valuable.

Thanks once again to everyone who has made this venture possible.  I hope that you will all be proud that you were once a part of that shining spot called Avalon.

Blessings and Light /|\