Tale Of Two Universities And How They Handled A Closed College
Long Island University & the closing of Southampton College vs. Fordham & the Closing of Marymount College in Tarrytown.
L.I.U.
In the course of the Southampton campus tenure under Long Island University, it produced 34 Fulbright scholars, most of which hailed from the marine science program.
After many years of fiscal mismanagement, the University announced a multimillion-dollar capital campaign, launched a new interdisciplinary CORE curriculum and the construction of a new library to revamp the campus. After one year of a 10-year plan however, Long Island University officials ceased all plans, and Long Island University decided to effectively close the campus.
On March 24, 2006, SUNY announced a final agreement for the purchase of the 81-acre (330,000 m2) Southampton College property from L.I.U. SUNY paid US $35 million ($54,792,500 in 2025.) for the 84-acre campus and its waterfront facility for its famed Marine Biology Department, as well as the NPR-affiliated WLIU FM 88.3 radio station. (1)
Stony Brook Southampton
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A Long Island official accuses Stony Brook University of being the East End's "biggest slumlord."
The university is on the hot seat for the operation of its Southampton campus. Graduate students said they like having the run of Stony Brook Southampton - there are no problems finding parking. But it's a bit desolate.
With 400 students enrolled (half online), the campus in the heart of Southampton is mostly unused and many buildings are crumbling. "The campus itself is in a state of disrepair. If this was in private hands, we'd consider them to be slumlords," said Assemblyman Fred Thiele, a Democrat from Sag Harbor. “The state university has failed to keep its commitments as stewards of the campus it acquired from Southampton College in 2006.
Typical Southampton College Reaction (Based on my recent query)
“Southampton's alumni have no campus or other connection to the University or its other campuses and so there's no relevance to Southampton alumni.” said a Southampton alumni in response to a L.I.U. Facebook survey, “There's no reason for SC alumni to donate to L.I.U. and no incentive for L.I.U. to bother with us. We've been abandoned.”
FORDHAM
In 1907, land near Tarrytown, New York became the location Marymount College.[3] The college was founded as an independent girls' boarding school by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM) to "create a place of learning where women could grow and where they could receive an education that would prepare them for positions of leadership and influence in the world." It was the first women's college in the United States to offer a study abroad program. (4)
In 2000, Marymount entered into an agreement to consolidate with Fordham University. In October 2005, after two years of study, Fordham announced its plans to close Marymount in 2007. At the time, the Fordham University Board of Trustees, explained that "despite the very best efforts of the faculty, administration and staff, it is no longer academically or financially feasible to continue to operate Marymount College as a separate school within the University".[5]
In August 2007, Fordham announced it would sell the Marymount campus. The decision disappointed many alumnae, as the university had purchased the college with the promise that it would try to continue to operate it as a women's institution.[6] The university claimed unjustifiable and disproportionate costs to maintain the large campus as reason for closure.
On February 17, 2008, Fordham announced the sale of the campus (27 acres) for $27 million ($39,578,338 in 2025) to EF Education, a chain of private language-instruction schools.(7)
EF Education First (abbreviated as EF) is an international education company that specializes in language training, educational travels, academic degree programs, and cultural exchanges. The company was founded in 1965 in Sweden.? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Typical Marymount College Reaction (Based on my recent query)
“Everyone was shocked when Fordham sold the property so very quickly. So there are still bad feelings.” A Marymount graduate replied, “I have attended a reunion that was held at Fordham and they do have a very nice, good sized room dedicated to Marymount and they make a point of including us in their reunions.”
Note: EF allows 1x on campus visits per year during reunion and provides tours of the campus. Security is reported to be “pretty tight” , perhaps understandable since it is a boarding school and needs to maintain safety on the campus.
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The Dedicated “Marymount” room is located in Fordham’s Bronx campus in the “old” library. The ceiling is a replica of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. (See below).
Here is a recent photo of a Marymount College alumni gathering conducted at Fordham’s Rose Hill campus in The Bronx.
Let’s recall the distinctions between these situations.
First, Marymount was founded in 1907. It was an independent all-women’s college for almost 100 years. It was determined to stay independent but that became impossible around the start of the millennium.
Fordham took over Marymount and according to press releases issues at the time of their divestiture allowed the Westchester County school to offer the lowest tuition within the university. However, skeptics saw the acquisition of the college as a real estate venture.(
L.I.U. created Southampton College and within 2 generations abandoned it.
Second, Fordham and Marymount are both Catholic Institutions. L.I.U. and Southampton College are/were non-sectarian. Well, that rules out a Sistine Chapel replica anyway.
Third, This comes from someone who runs Facebook sites for his graduation classes for both universities and comes in contact with multiple colleges, from multiple campuses through multiple graduation years. Marymount was all women and women are just more communicative and social.
Translation: If Marymount had been an all-men’s college I doubt they would have stuck with Fordham.
Fourth, Fordham's endowment is $972 million (16,500 students); Long Island University's endowment is $224.4 million (16,000 students).(9)
Finally, L.I.U.s alumni support structure is incredibly inept compared to Fordham; They have over 50 “Regional Chapters” around the world. Almost 40 of them are located domestically.
Recommendations
References:
-Kevin Bergin
Class of 1990
L.I.U.
#FordhamUniversity #LongIslandUniversity #MarymountCollege #SouthamptonCollege #EducationFirst