College of New Rochelle

The College of New Rochelle (CNR) was a private Catholic college with its main campus in New Rochelle, New York, but also in Australia, England, and Germany. It was founded as the College of St. Angela by the Ursuline Order as the first Catholic women's college in New York in 1904, when women were generally excluded from higher education. The name was changed to the College of New Rochelle in 1910. The college was composed of four schools and became co-educational in 2016.[2] In early 2019, Mercy College and College of New Rochelle announced that College of New Rochelle would be absorbed into Mercy College before fall 2019, including College of New Rochelle's students, faculty, programs, and some facilities, as well as transcripts, history, and legacy of CNR alumni. Mercy College became the repository of CNR documents.[3]

The College of New Rochelle
Latin: Collegium Novae Rupellae
MottoWisdom for Life
TypePrivate
Active1904–2019
Location
New Rochelle
,
New York
,
United States

40.901664°N 73.781197°W / 40.901664; -73.781197
CampusSuburban, 20 acres
ColorsBlue & White[1]
AffiliationsMSA
ACCU
NAICU
CIC
MascotBlue Angels

On September 20, 2019, the college declared bankruptcy due to $80 million in liabilities. The campus was subsequently sold in an auction and purchased by New York Trustees of the Masonic Hall and Asylum Fund.[4] The Trustees are entrusted with the maintenance and protection of certain assets of the New York State Masonic Fraternity including the Utica Masonic Care Community. The college has been renamed to the Masonic Care Community of New Rochelle.

Academics

The College of New Rochelle was chartered by the regents of the state of New York and was accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. The School of Nursing and Healthcare Professions was accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

The college offered undergraduate degrees including bachelor of arts, bachelor of fine arts, bachelor of science, bachelor of business management and bachelor of science in nursing. Graduate degrees offered by the college included master of arts, master of science, and master of science in education.

Of the faculty, 89% held doctoral degrees or the highest degree available in their field. The student-faculty ratio was 11:1.[5]

Following the university model, the College of New Rochelle was composed of five separate schools: School of Arts and Sciences; School of Nursing and Healthcare Professions; School of Business; School of New Resources (for adult learners); and Graduate School.

Financial challenges

On February 22, 2019, the college announced its intention to close at the end of summer 2019. The college under President Judith Huntington had failed to pay federal payroll taxes and owed the IRS an estimated $20 million. Following that discovery, the college fired faculty and staff, resulting in a lawsuit from dismissed tenured faculty. A New York State judge ruled that those dismissals were improper.[6] On March 28, 2019, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Keith Borge, the former controller of the college, with "defrauding municipal securities investors by fraudulently concealing the college's deteriorating finances." The U.S. Attorney's Office also brought criminal charges against Borge, who pleaded guilty.[7] The SEC did not file charges against the college because it cooperated with the investigation.

Later that same year, in September, the college declared bankruptcy as it had $80 million in liabilities. The campus and related materials were sold at auction and purchased by Freemasons for $32 million.[4]

Campus

The main campus was located in New Rochelle, a Westchester County, New York, city about 16 miles (26 km) north of Manhattan. In 1896, the college's founder, Mother Irene Gill, traveled to New Rochelle to explore the possibility of establishing a seminary there for young women. During this trip, she came across Leland Castle, an 1850s gothic revival structure and former vacation home of wealthy New York hotelier Simeon Leland. The castle was purchased in 1897 and became the first structure of the college. It has since been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The castle is part of the campus quadrangle and housed the "Castle Gallery".[8]

The campus consisted of 20 main buildings, including a $28M athletic, recreational, and educational complex called the Wellness Center (completed in 2008), which featured an NCAA competition-sized swimming pool, basketball court, fitness center, indoor running track, yoga studio, roof garden and meditation garden, and volleyball court; it also had the Mooney Center with computer and photography labs, and TV production studio; the 200,000-volume Mother Irene Gill Memorial Library; the Student Campus Center; the Rogick Life Sciences Building with many laboratories; four residence halls; and the Learning Resource Center for Nursing.

  • Gill Memorial Library
  • Gill Memorial Library
  • Campus

Notable alumni

The College of New Rochelle's alumni were integrated into Mercy College's alumni community in 2019.

References
  1. "Athletic Quick Facts". Archived from the original on October 27, 2010. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
  2. https://www.lohud.com/story/news/education/2019/03/07/remembering-college-new-rochelle/3055425002/
  3. Mitchell, Alex (February 28, 2019). "Mercy College student swell/Absorbs failed sister school, College of New Rochelle". Bronx Times. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  4. Lungariello, Mark (November 25, 2019). "Sold! Masons' $32M bid for College of New Rochelle campus approved in bankruptcy court". Rockland/Westchester Journal News. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  5. "CNR Facts". Archived from the original on January 16, 2010. Retrieved September 2, 2009.
  6. Jaschik, Scott (February 22, 2019). "Another Private College May Close". Inside Higher Education. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  7. "SEC Charges College Official for Fraudulently Concealing Financial Troubles from Municipal Bond Investors". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. April 2, 2019. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  8. Leland Castle [College of New Rochelle]. National Register of Historic Places designation report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service, 1976.
  9. "New England News Forum". New England News. May 24, 2007. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2008.
  10. "Pat Modell, actress and wife of former owner Art Modell, dies". NFL.com. October 12, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  11. "CICU: Mary Donahue Biography". Archived from the original on May 18, 2011. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  12. Disney Corporate Website Archived September 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine

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