當一所美國音樂學院迎來中國買家

Two decades ago, Rider College was hailed as a savior in the music world when it acquired neighboring Westminster Choir College, a beloved but struggling institution in downtown Princeton. It was vital, Rider officials said, to sustain a storied history replete with students who had sung on the original “Fantasia” soundtrack, and worked with Bernstein and Toscanini.

二十年前萊德學院(Rider College)買下了鄰近的威斯敏斯特合唱學院(Westminster Choir College)，那是普林斯頓市中心的一所深受喜愛但陷入困境的學院，當時人們紛紛稱頌萊德是音樂界的救世主。管理層表示，延續學院的顯赫歷史是十分重要的，那裏的學生曾參與首版《幻想曲》(Fantasia)原聲軌錄製，還曾與伯恩斯坦(Bernstein)和托斯卡尼尼(Toscanini)合作。

Rider’s latest plan for Westminster has struck a far more discordant note.

然而，萊德學院對威斯敏斯特學院的最新計劃，與當時的想法大相徑庭。

Facing what it says are daunting fiscal challenges, Rider, now a university, hopes to sell Westminster to a for-profit Chinese company for $40 million. Under the proposal, the buyer, Beijing Kaiwen Education Technology, would maintain the choir college’s programs and staff in Princeton, while seeking to franchise the Westminster name.

現在已變成大學的萊德稱它正面臨可怕的財務困難，希望以4000萬美元的價格將威斯敏斯特賣給一家營利性的中國公司。根據提議，買家北京凱文教育技術公司將保留該學院在普林斯頓的課程和教職員工，同時打算髮展威斯敏斯特的品牌特許經營。

“It’s like passing on your child to the next parent and saying they can give them a better future than we can give them,” said Gregory G. Dell’Omo, Rider’s president. “Yes, it’s sort of a tough, sad decision, but it’s almost tough love.”

“這就像把你的孩子轉給另一位家長，認爲他們可以給孩子一個更好的未來，比我們所能給的更好，”萊德大學的校長格雷戈裏·G·戴洛莫(Gregory G. Dell’Omo)說。“是的，這是一個艱難、悲傷的決定，但差不多是種出於愛的狠心吧。”

But some Westminster and Rider professors, armed with fresh financial data, question Kaiwen’s experience in higher education. Many have also lost confidence in Dr. Dell’Omo, a former human resources executive in the retail industry, who took office in August 2015.

不過，威斯敏斯特和萊德的一些教授根據最近的財政數據質疑凱文在高等教育方面的經驗。許多人也對戴洛莫失去了信心，他原是零售行業的人力資源主管，於2015年8月上任。

“Rider is not in crisis: that is a pure scare tactic to justify what he wants to do, which is get a windfall of money,” said Jeffrey R. Halpern, a sociology professor and longtime official with the Rider chapter of the American Association of University Professors. “He really epitomizes what we’d call the corporatization of American higher education.”

“萊德並沒有陷入危機：這純粹是一種恐嚇戰術，爲他想做的事找理由，他是想賺一筆意外之財，”社會學教授、在美國大學教授協會(American Association of University Professors)萊德分部任職多年的傑弗裏·R·哈爾彭(Jeffrey R. Halpern)說。“他其實是我們所說的美國高等教育公司化的典型體現。”

The existential battle over Rider and Westminster, eight miles apart, comes as many colleges, especially those with only local or regional reputations, confront shrinking demographics and declining government support.

萊德和威斯敏斯特相隔八英里。在兩校爲生存而掙扎的同時，很多大學，尤其是那些只有地方或地區聲譽的大學，面臨着入學人數和政府支持的縮減。

Outside Boston, Mount Ida College, a private college founded in 1899, closed in April. In Pennsylvania, the RAND Corporation just urged major changes or even consolidation at state colleges. In northern New Jersey, Drew University, reeling from credit rating downgrades, slashed tuition by 20 percent last fall, in hopes of boosting enrollment.

1899年在波士頓郊外成立的私立大學艾達學院(Mount Ida College)於今年4月關閉。在賓夕法尼亞州，蘭德公司(RAND Corporation)剛剛敦促幾個州立大學進行重大改革，甚至是合併。在新澤西州北部，受信用評級下調影響的德魯大學(Drew University)去年秋天爲了鼓勵學生申請，將學費降低了20%。

For Westminster and its 439 students, the next few months could be the most pivotal yet.

對威斯敏斯特以及它的439名學生來說，接下來的幾個月可能是最關鍵的。

A group of Westminster alumni sued Rider in Federal District Court in Manhattan in June 2017, arguing that a sale would violate the Rider-Westminster merger. The Princeton Theological Seminary contended in state court in February that the sale would break a promise made by the original donor of the land, to which it could lay claim. Meanwhile, another group of alumni, faculty, parents and donors, concerned about the Kaiwen transaction, just established a new nonprofit, The Westminster Foundation, Princeton, N.J., “to ensure the continued existence” of Westminster.

2017年6月，威斯敏斯特的一羣校友在曼哈頓聯邦地區法院起訴萊德，稱出售將違反萊德與威斯敏斯特的合併協議。今年2月，普林斯頓神學院(Princeton Theological Seminary)在州法院提出，這項交易將違背對最初的土地捐贈者所做的承諾，它可以對這片土地提出權利主張。與此同時，另一羣對凱文的交易感到擔憂的校友、教師、家長和捐贈者剛剛成立了一個新的非營利組織——新澤西州普林斯頓威斯敏斯特基金會(Westminster Foundation)，“以確保該校繼續存在”。

The uncertainty has already chilled interest in Westminster, where annual tuition is $37,650: the incoming class of freshmen and graduate students is expected to be half the normal size of roughly 110, faculty members estimate.

這種不確定性已經降低了學生對威斯敏斯特的興趣。該校一年的學費爲37650美元。據教師們估計，新生和研究生規模將是平常的約110人的一半。

“It’s tough — I know what the college is going through, and there are not a lot of alternatives right now,” said former New Jersey Gov. Thomas H. Kean, who served as Drew’s president from 1990 to 2005, and has been active in efforts to preserve Westminster. “This is one of the best schools of its kind — not just in the state, but the country and the world. To lose it would be a tragedy.”

“這是個艱難的選擇，我知道這個學院正在經歷什麼，現在它沒有很多選擇，”前新澤西州州長托馬斯·H·基恩(Thomas H. Kean)表示。他曾於1990年至2005年擔任德魯大學的校長，一直在積極努力保護威斯敏斯特。“它是它所在的領域最好的學校之一，不僅是在新澤西州，而且是在美國和全世界。失去它會是一個悲劇。”

Founded in 1920 in a Presbyterian church in Dayton, Ohio, Westminster relocated to Ithaca, N.Y., before settling in Princeton in 1932. While it lacks the cachet of New York’s Juilliard School or Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music, Westminster has trained many singers affiliated with the Metropolitan Opera, as well as scores of choral directors and music teachers.

威斯敏斯特最初是1920年在俄亥俄州代頓市的一所長老會教堂成立的，後來遷往紐約州伊薩卡，最後於1932年搬到了普林斯頓。雖然沒有紐約的茱莉亞學院(Juilliard School)或費城的柯蒂斯音樂學院(Curtis Institute of Music)的威望，但它培養了許多大都會歌劇院(Metropolitan Opera)的歌唱家，以及許多合唱指揮和音樂教師。

In the early 1990s, though, the college nearly closed in the face of mounting debt, declining enrollment and deteriorating facilities. Along came Rider, a private college which hoped to expand into the arts.

但是，在上世紀90年代初，由於債務不斷增加、入學人數不斷減少、設施不斷老化，這所學院幾近倒閉，遂被想涉足藝術領域的私立學院萊德併購。

After the 2008 recession, however, Rider’s enrollment fell by 12 percent, before rebounding slightly in 2016. Now, with 88 percent of its revenue coming from students, the university relies more on tuition than its peers, according to Moody’s Investor Service, which revised its outlook for Rider to negative in November, citing the potential impact of the Westminster sale.

不過，在2008年的經濟衰退之後，萊德的入學率下降了12%，2016年略有反彈。根據穆迪投資者服務公司Moody’s Investor Service)的數據，萊德目前有88%的收入來自學生，所以，它比其他同行更依賴學費。去年11月，穆迪以出售威斯敏斯特的潛在影響爲根據，將萊德的前景調整爲負面。

“As part of our financials, and our strategy going forward, we cannot make the kind of investments that Westminster needs,” said Dr. Dell’Omo, who previously served as president of Robert Morris University, outside Pittsburgh.

“作爲我們財務以及未來戰略的一部分，我們無法做出威斯敏斯特所需的投資，”戴洛莫說，此前他在位於匹茲堡郊外的羅伯特·莫里斯大學(Robert Morris University)擔任校長。

Dr. Dell’Omo has pushed to incorporate more “higher-demand career” programs, such as computer science and sports management into Rider’s offerings. When he revived a proposal to move Westminster to Rider’s main Lawrenceville, N.J., campus, and sell the 23-acre Princeton parcel, irate faculty, students and alumni said the acoustics and intimate milieu could not be replicated.

戴洛莫已推動將更多“需求更高的職業”課程納入到萊德提供的課程中，例如計算機科學和體育管理。他重啓了將威斯敏斯特搬到萊德的新澤西州勞倫斯維爾主校園的方案，並出售位於普林斯頓的這塊23英畝的校區，這激怒了教師、學生和校友們，他們表示那裏的聲學環境和私密氛圍無法複製。

Rider then approached other colleges — Princeton, Juilliard, Oberlin, and the like — about taking over Westminster, but no offers materialized because the choir school may have been “too much of a niche market,” Dr. Dell’Omo said. The only viable offers came from overseas, he said, and Kaiwen, a publicly traded company on the Shenzhen stock exchange, had the most impressive plan.

之後，萊德又與普林斯頓、茱莉亞、歐柏林(Oberlin)等學校進行接觸，希望它們接管威斯敏斯特，但是沒有收到任何報價，因爲這個合唱學校可能“對於這個小衆市場來說太大了”，戴洛莫說。他說，僅有的幾個可行報價來自海外，而深圳證券交易所上市公司凱文給出了最出色的方案。

Kaiwen runs two international K-12 schools in Beijing, and has partnered with the Manchester City soccer club and Major League Baseball on sports education. So the company was particularly interested in the Westminster Conservatory of Music, which gives music lessons to children and adults, and Westminster Continuing Education, which primarily runs on-campus summer programs.

凱文在北京經營着兩所K-12國際學校，並與曼城足球俱樂部和美國職業棒球大聯盟合作進行體育教育。因此，該公司對威斯敏斯特這所爲兒童和成人提供音樂課程的音樂學院特別感興趣，此外還有它的威斯敏斯特繼續教育(Westminster Continuing Education)計劃，以校園夏季課程爲主。

“They understand the idea of branding,” Dr. Dell’Omo said. One thought is that Kaiwen would start new Westminster schools in other places.

“他們理解品牌塑造，”戴洛莫說。目前的想法之一是由凱文在其他地方開辦新的威斯敏斯特學校。

Under the deal, Rider would still run Westminster for the next academic year, and Kaiwen, operating as a nonprofit locally, would honor Rider’s student aid packages. Two consultants based in the United States with experience in accreditation and music education are aiding the transition, and PwC, formerly known as PricewaterhouseCoopers, is vetting Kaiwen, Dr. Dell’Omo added.

根據協議，威斯敏斯特的下一個學年仍將由萊德管理，學生的助學金將由以非營利機構身份在當地開展業務的凱文承付。戴洛莫還說，兩位有資格認證和音樂教育經驗的美國顧問正在協助完成轉交工作，普華永道會計師事務所正在對凱文進行審計。

One of Kaiwen’s top shareHolders is Badachu Holdings, a state-controlled enterprise. One person listed as a director at both Kaiwen and Badachu is Xu Huadong, who held leadership positions within the Chinese People’s Liberation Army from 1978-2000.

凱文的最大股東之一是由國家控股的八大處控股集團。在凱文和八大處均被列爲董事的徐華東，1978年至2000年曾在中國人民解放軍內擔任領導職務。

Kaiwen declined an interview request, saying it was “inappropriate for Kaiwen Education to comment on any pending transactions.”

凱文拒絕了採訪要求，稱“凱文教育對任何未決交易發表評論是不恰當的”。

But in an interview with Chinese media in March, Xu Guangyu, Kaiwen’s chairman, a choral singer in college, talked about how Westminster would be “an important part” of a globalization strategy to offer a broad “quality education.” Mr. Xu also said that “whether it is our music education resources or our sports resources, everything is shared.”

但在3月份接受中國媒體採訪時，凱文的董事長，曾在大學參加過合唱團的徐廣宇，談起了威斯敏斯特如何成爲該公司提供廣泛“素質教育”這一全球化戰略的“重要組成部分”。徐廣宇還說“無論說是我們的音樂教育資源、體育教育資源，方方面面都是共享的。”

Chinese companies are increasingly eying education-related mergers following the early, though not sustained, success of Qtone Education Group in 2015. But for Kaiwen, “the prospects of profit are not optimistic” because of the company’s weak revenues.

繼2015年全通教育集團早早獲得成功後（雖然未能持續下去），中國企業日益留心與教育相關的合併活動。但對凱文來說，“盈利前景並不樂觀”，因爲公司的營收狀況低迷。

Rider faculty are even more dubious. In a new report, three current and retired professors, relying on public data, flag Kaiwen’s high debt and negative cash flow, and criticize Dr. Dell’Omo and Rider’s board of trustees for “a failure to perform due diligence and carry out fiduciary responsibilities.”

萊德的教職員工感到更加懷疑。在一份新報告中，三位現任及退休教授根據公開數據指出了凱文的高負債和負現金流，並批評戴洛莫和萊德董事會“沒有履行盡職調查義務及信託責任”。

“To claim that Rider is likely to fail or collapse is an absurd characterization of the financial situation of Rider University,” wrote Howard J. Bunsis, a professor of accounting at Eastern Michigan University, in a 28-page analysis of Rider’s finances, commissioned by the faculty union.

受教員工會委託的東密歇根大學(Eastern Michigan University)會計學教授霍華德·J·班西斯(Howard J. Bunsis)在一份28頁的萊德財務分析報告中寫道：“宣稱萊德可能破產或倒閉，是對萊德大學財務狀況的荒謬表述。”

On campus, where Westminster’s motto is “spectemur agendo,” or “let us be judged by our deeds,” many students said that they were skittish, particularly if future enrollment plummets.

威斯敏斯特的校訓是“spectemur agendo”，意思是“根據我們的行爲來評判我們”，許多學生說他們擔驚受怕，特別是如果未來入學率暴跌的話。

But Ingrid Clarfield, a longtime professor of piano, said she was cautiously upbeat. After attending a recent Music Teachers National Association conference, she was heartened by educators with experience in China.

但長期擔任鋼琴教授的英格麗德·克拉菲爾德(Ingrid Clarfield)表示謹慎的樂觀。在前不久的音樂教師全國協會會議上，一些曾赴中國執教的教育工作者令她感到鼓舞。

“I said, give it to me straight, and they felt this would be a very beneficial move for both Westminster and Kaiwen,” she said. “I really need to believe strongly in this.”

“我說，你們就跟我直說吧，他們認爲這對威斯敏斯特和凱文都會是非常有利的舉措，”她說。“我真的需要堅信這一點。”