For those who are not aware of
the parlous state of the American Society for Psychical Research and are
wondering what this is about, please see my previous posts on the subject, ‘More Downs than Ups at the American Society for Psychical Research’ and ‘The American Society for Psychical Research: Recent Developments’, for the background.
The change.org petition addressed
to the New York Charities Bureau seems to have stalled just over the half-way
point. All those who would like to see
the ASPR survive are urged to sign the petition and circulate it to anybody
else they think might be willing to sign it so that it reaches the target
of 1,000 signatures as quickly as possible.
The petition is here:
Reaching the target will help to
achieve two aims. Firstly, it will send
a message to the current ASPR management that their activities are being
subjected to close scrutiny. Secondly, regulatory bodies will be much more likely
to act if they feel there is widespread negative public opinion on the matter.
As well as signing the petition,
New York residents can complain directly to the Attorney General as well as to their state representative who would ask
the New York Attorney General to investigate.
In the event that mismanagement or misuse of assets is uncovered,
directors and officers can be sued in order to recover the missing funds for
the charity. This could be the stimulus
for a criminal investigation, if warranted.
The Attorney General’s office
receives large volumes of complaints about charities, and with resources scarce
it is easy for the Attorney General's Charities Bureau to focus on those cases
with a high profile and neglect the rest.
Simply because they are not investigating does not mean that all is
well, but an investigation is less likely while those who care for psychical
research sit on their hands.
If there are any ASPR members
left, their protests would be particularly welcome as carrying greater weight
than those of outsiders. Also, ex-board
members who have remained quiet for many years should add their voices to the
campaign. They have nothing to lose by
speaking out and should not feel constrained by a sense of loyalty that was not
reciprocated. Some of them may have made
private complaints in the past, but now is the time to renew their concerns,
and make them public.
Frankly, time is not on our
side. With an enormous mortgage and no
obvious way for it to be repaid, it is necessary to act before the headquarters
building is lost, and possibly the archives too. Why such large loans were taken out, and
where the money went, are questions that need to be answered. In the absence of a voluntary accounting by
the ASPR’s President and Executive Director, the only alternative is for
official scrutiny to elicit the information.
Please help to make that happen.
If anybody has information that
could be useful in the efforts to save the ASPR, please get in touch:
tom.ruffles@yahoo.co.uk
Acknowledgements:
I would like to thank those who
have contacted me to express their concerns about the matter, and particularly James
A. Conrad, who has done a huge amount of tenacious research delving into the murky
legal and financial situation. Diario de Ciencias Psíquicas has kindly translated my
previous posts on the ASPR into Spanish, thereby making them available to a
wider audience.
