Hurdles are needed to be overcome.

The Washington Post reports.

Sweet Briar president: More than miracles needed to save small colleges

Phillip C. Stone stepped into an extraordinary challenge when he became president of Sweet Briar College last summer: no students, almost no faculty or staff and millions in mandatory severance payments.

He agreed to lead the school after alumnae and other supporters brokered a settlement with the leadership who had forced the closure of the more-than-100-year-old women’s college in rural Virginia. Like many small, private liberal arts colleges, Sweet Briar had been struggling to survive. But alumnae fought to save it.

Stone had to enact a turnaround with lightning speed: The school year would begin in six weeks.