Jessi Rae Morton, News Editor 

In June 2025, Guilford College and the Piedmont Land Conservancy announced a conservation partnership designed to protect 120 acres known as Guilford Woods. Under the agreement, Piedmont Land Conservancy (PLC) will purchase the development rights to the land, preventing it from being developed in the future. Guilford College retains ownership, and PLC will raise money over the next couple of years to pay for the development rights. This funding will help Guilford College achieve financial sustainability while also ensuring protection for this historically and environmentally significant area. 

A June 4, 2025, press release from the PLC explains that Guilford Woods is a “mature hardwood forest [that] supports abundant plant and animal life and provides a natural buffer against the surrounding roads, subdivisions, and shopping centers. The land is also a site that has borne witness to centuries of history, from the presence of Native American communities, Revolutionary War skirmishes, and freedom seekers escaping along the Underground Railroad.” 

As the press release further explains, “The 120-acre easement at Guilford Woods will connect to the neighboring 100-acre Julian and Ethel Clay Price Park, also protected by Piedmont Land Conservancy, creating a new link to become part of Greensboro’s 100-mile trail network.” Thus, the agreement is beneficial for the larger Greensboro community as well, expanding outdoor recreation in addition to the preservation efforts noted above. 

The Memorandum of Understanding between Guilford College and PLC is especially important considering recent financial concerns surrounding the college. According to a report by Chris Burritt for Business North Carolina, “Guilford College averted the potential loss of its academic accreditation after raising more than $5 million in unrestricted cash by June 30.” However, this statement may have been premature. 

As Sharlee DiMenichi explains in an article for Friends Journal, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges “will decide in December [2025] whether [Guilford College] will lose its accreditation, according to the 2024 disclosure statement. SACSCOC agreed to let the school continue on probation rather than revoke its accreditation because the agency’s trustees determined that the college had taken important recent steps to address its lack of compliance with SACSCOC’s fiscal standards. SACSCOC also expects all deficiencies in the college’s finances to be fixed by the end of 2025.” 

The agreement between Guilford College and PLC is part of the college’s plan to ease its financial situation while also ensuring the protection of Guilford Woods if the college’s circumstances worsen. To purchase the development rights, PLC must raise $8.5 million by the end of 2027, per DiMenichi’s article. In addition to the easement, Guilford College has also reduced its labor force and sought donations, primarily from alumni. 

As the only Quaker-founded college in the southeastern United States, Guilford College has a rich history, including its connection to the Underground Railroad and Quaker abolitionist Levi Coffin. According to the Guilford College website, “Guilford is one of the few college campuses listed by the U.S. Department of the Interior as a National Historic District and is part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.” The college “was originally created to teach the children of the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers. The movement and its teachings were shaped by a progressive belief in all people’s spiritual equality, and in the importance of taking socially responsible action in service to the community’s greater good.” 

In announcing the agreement, a Guilford College publication quoted incoming PLC board president Mary Magrinat, who said, “This is a win-win-win for PLC, Guilford College, and the greater community. […] The land will be permanently protected, Guilford College will receive vital financial support for its programs, and the public will gain official access to pristine green space in a rapidly growing part of Greensboro.” 

As Guilford College continues to face a difficult battle to maintain its accreditation, the institution is finding ways to continue upholding its foundational values. Through their partnership with PLC, they are conserving Guilford Woods and ensuring access to this historic greenspace for the Greensboro community, both now and in the future.