Purposes and Status of Cranbrook Educational Community

The Cranbrook Educational Community is a private institution. Its purpose, non-profit status, non-discrimination framework, and full complement of programs, are governed by article I. sections 1.3 -1.5 of the amended and restated bylaws from January 16, 2021.

Excerpt from Article I. Corporate Organization of the Cranbrook Educational Community (“Corporation”) bylaws.

1.3 Purposes.
The purposes for which the Corporation is organized are as follows:

A.    To receive and administer funds and property and to operate exclusively for charitable, scientific, literary, and educational purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) (“Section 501(c)(3)”) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code (the “Code”), and in particular to operate Primary Program Areas (each a “Primary Program Area”), which are the Cranbrook Academy of Art (“CAA”), Cranbrook Art Museum (“CAM”), Cranbrook Institute of Science (“CIS”), and Cranbrook Schools (“CS”), along with other significant program areas, including but not limited to, the Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research (“CCCR”). Together, CAA, CAM, CIS, and CS are known as and referred to herein as the Primary Program Areas.

i.    With respect to CAA, to assist in providing aesthetic and social needs through education in the arts; to provide access to facilities, personnel, and courses of study for education in the arts as may from time to time be desirable; to operate masters’ degree programs as authorized by the State of Michigan; to confer customary degrees of higher learning, including, but not limited to the degree of master of fine arts, the degree of master of architecture, and other honors and diplomas in fields contemplated by the curriculum; and to provide a library with visual and written research materials, publications, and other resources, which shall be available under reasonable rules and policies to other program areas of the Corporation and the general public.

ii.    With respect to CAM, to provide and maintain a museum with galleries for the presentation of visual arts; to maintain collections storage facilities for the museum’s permanent and study collections and, as space permits, other important collections; to maintain records and documents related to objects of the museum’s collections for the use and benefit of the Corporation’s other program areas and, to the extent permitted by the Corporation’s rules and policies, the general public; to encourage and develop research, interpretation, and dissemination of CAM’s presentations and holdings; and to provide beneficial educational programs to the Corporation’s other program areas and the general public, to the extent permitted by the Corporation’s rules and policies.

iii.    With respect to CIS, to provide and maintain a planetarium, observatory, and a general natural history museum embracing exhibits and resources illustrating the various sciences and technology for the use and benefit of the Corporation’s other program areas and, to the extent permitted by the Corporation’s rules and policies, the general public; to encourage and develop the study of sciences and technology and advance the general knowledge of such fields; to provide beneficial influence not only to its immediate community, but also to science and humanity as a whole; and through research, discovery, outreach programs, and publications, to render a service for the betterment of humankind.

iv.    With respect to CS, to conduct and operate schools at various campuses for pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade college preparatory educational purposes; to maintain a regular faculty and curriculum at such schools for enrolled students; and to carry on the development, advancement, and operation of educational activities and institutions on property located in the City of Bloomfield Hills, Oakland County, Michigan, and at such other locations as the Board of Trustees may deem appropriate.

v.    With respect to CCCR, to provide centralized management and preservation of the Corporation’s diverse art, architecture, landscape, design, and historic resources, including the Corporation’s archives, and assets not otherwise managed and provided by a Primary Program Area, which are currently owned or may be acquired from time to time as approved by the Board of Trustees; to administer and maintain the Smith House building and contents, property, and landscape located in Bloomfield Township, Michigan; to encourage and develop research, interpretation and dissemination of the Corporation’s assets; and to provide beneficial educational programs to the Corporation’s other program areas and the general public, to the extent permitted by the Corporation’s rules and policies.

B.    To preserve and maintain landscape features, historic fountains, statuary, and other art objects owned by the Corporation and located on or off the Corporation’s campus for the benefit of students and, to the extent permitted by the Corporation’s rules and policies, the general public as the Board of Trustees may deem appropriate.

C.    To provide suitable buildings and facilities for the Corporation’s program areas; to house students, faculty, volunteers, and other personnel serving the Corporation; to erect new buildings and facilities on property held for the use and benefit of the Corporation; to remove, maintain, improve, or repair any buildings and facilities; and to lease any of the Corporation’s buildings and facilities as the Board of Trustees may deem appropriate.

D.    To hold, manage, collect, maintain, acquire, own, dispose of and deal with any real and personal property and to apply gifts, grants, and bequests and their proceeds to further the Corporation’s purposes as the Board of Trustees may deem appropriate.

E.    To do all such things and to perform all such acts to accomplish its purposes as the Board of Trustees may determine to be appropriate and as are not forbidden by Section 501(c)(3), with all the power conferred on nonprofit corporations under the laws of the State of Michigan.

1.4 Nonprofit Operation.

The Corporation shall be operated exclusively for charitable, artistic, scientific, historical, literary and educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) as a nonprofit Corporation. No Trustee shall have any title to or interest in the corporate property or earnings in the Trustee’s individual or private capacity, and no part of the net earnings of the Corporation shall inure to the benefit of any Trustee, officer, or private individual. No substantial part of the activities of the Corporation shall consist of carrying on propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the Corporation shall not participate in or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office nor shall the Corporation allow its facilities or physical spaces to be used for any such political campaign purposes.

1.5 Non-Discrimination.

The Corporation shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, national origin, disability, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, marital status, or military status in the operation of its purposes, including, but not limited to, the administration of its schools, degree programs, and educational policies, selection of faculty, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school administered programs.