Emmanuel College (Massachusetts)

Administration Building, Emmanuel College

The Emmanuel College Administration Building was built in 1919 by the architecture firm Maginnis & Walsh. Maginnis & Walsh are also known for building Gasson Hall at Boston College and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.[4][5] The Administration Building at Emmanuel College is notable for its early 20th century Gothic architecture.

In the early years, Emmanuel was a day college preparing women for professional fields such as education, nursing and social work. Despite being commuters, students were involved in numerous co-curricular activities including student publications and athletics. The 1920s, 1930s and 1940s saw growth not only in the student population, academic programs and activities, but also in the physical campus, with additional land purchases on Brookline Avenue and Avenue Louis Pasteur. In 1949, the College completed the construction of Alumnae Hall; this science center, the first building constructed on campus after the original Administration Building, signified Emmanuel's strength in the sciences, which continues today.

John F. Kennedy served on the college's advisory board from 1946 until his death in 1963.[6]

During the building boom of the 1950s and 1960s, Emmanuel became a residential college. New buildings included Marian Hall (residential, dining and student center), St. James Hall, Julie Hall, St. Ann Hall, Loretto Hall and St. Joseph Hall. The Cardinal Cushing Library was also dedicated in 1965. By 1968, residential students outnumbered commuters for the first time.

Over the years, the College has responded to shifting demographics in higher education and the world at large with an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. In the 1970s, Emmanuel began to offer degree completion programs to adult learners and, in 1990, the College expanded its programs to include flexible accelerated formats, with programs in business and nursing offered at satellite centers.

The trustees of the college were incorporated by the state in 1921.[7] In 2000, cash-strapped and with fewer than 500 students enrolled, Emmanuel College faced an uncertain future. Led by longtime President Sister Janet Eisner, the college signed an agreement with Merck Pharmaceuticals to lease a portion of its campus for a new research laboratory, for 75 years and approximately $50 million. The agreement makes Emmanuel the only college in the country with a pharmaceutical lab on campus.[8]

The subsequent windfall and alliance with Merck permitted Emmanuel to add dormitories so it could start admitting men in 2001, sparking a sustained revival that has made Emmanuel one of the fastest growing colleges in New England. Emmanuel developed an ambitious building campaign featuring the state-of-the-art Jean Yawkey Student Center, which opened in 2004 as the first new building on campus in 35 years.[9] That same year, Merck opened its 12-story facility, whose glass facade glitters over the college's main quad and English Gothic buildings.

Until 2001, Emmanuel was a women's college primarily known for training teachers but long-time President Sister Janet Eisner used the windfall to secure millions in federal science grants to fund the construction of a $50 million science center. The Maureen Murphy Wilkens Science Center opened in fall 2009 effectively doubling the academic space of the campus. The Wilkens Center is four floors and 47,500 feet and contains faculty/student research space and offices, student study areas, new classrooms for all academic areas, 120 underground parking spaces, as well as teaching laboratories for Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry and Physics.[10] Since 2001, overall enrollment has tripled, but male enrollment has declined since the initial surge.[11] In 2016, Julie Hall was torn down to make way for a new apartment-style 18-floor residence hall. Built for a cost of $140 million, the cost of the project was the same as Emmanuel's total endowment, the New Residence Hall provides 692 beds of apartment-style housing to upper-class students. It also houses approximately 250 students from nearby MCPHS University.[12]

Emmanuel College is currently celebrating its centennial anniversary.

Emmanuel's 17-acre campus is located adjacent to the Longwood Medical District in the Fenway area of Boston. The gated campus consists of 11 buildings, including seven academic buildings and four dormitories. Academic buildings include the original Administration Building, the Cardinal Cushing Library, the Jean Yawkey Center, Marian Hall, the new Maureen Murphy Wilkens Science Center and Merck Research Laboratories-Boston.[13]

Approximately 75% of Emmanuel's traditional undergraduates reside in the residence halls on campus, while the remainder commute from the local area. The four dormitories include St. Ann Hall, Loretto Hall, St. Joseph Hall and the New Residence Hall.[14] In 2018, Emmanuel College opened an 18-story residence hall at the former location of Julie Hall. The New Residence Hall provides apartment style housing to upper-class students.[15] Additionally, classes are offered at the graduate and professional level at satellite locations in Quincy and Woburn.[16]

Emmanuel College was ranked among the top ten best college locations in America, and #1 in Massachusetts.[17]

The college is Roman Catholic, founded by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.[18] It is also a member of the Colleges of the Fenway consortium, which also includes neighboring Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Simmons College, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and formerly Wheelock College.[19]

Jean Yawkey Center

At the undergraduate level, Emmanuel offers over 60 majors, minors and concentrations in the liberal arts and sciences. In 2019, the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing granted the College initial approval status for four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program. The college plans to place students accept students into the program for the fall of 2019.[20] The Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees require the successful completion of a minimum of 128 credits, distributed among the general requirements, major requirements and elective or minor courses. Students are required to complete the first-year seminar program during the first semester of their freshman year, which consists of a one-semester topical seminar related to "Knowledge, Values and Social Change."[21]

Emmanuel College is composed of six schools. These are the School of Humanities & Social Sciences, the School of Science & Health, the School of Business & Management, the School of Education, and the School of Nursing.[22]

The most popular majors at Emmanuel College are Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Psychology, Business, Management, Marketing, Education, Communications, and Journalism.[23]

• Mary McGrory, a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist. Placed on Nixon's Enemies List.[38][39]
• Mary Beth Cahill, interim CEO of the Democratic National Committee and campaign manager for Senator John Kerry’s 2004 presidential run.[40]
• Nancy Kerrigan, a figure skater who represented the United States at the 1992 Winter Olympics and the 1994 Winter Olympics.[41]
• Marian T. Ryan, District Attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The Commonwealth's only female District Attorney.
• Helen Vendler, a literary critic and distinguished Harvard University Professor.[42]
• Brian Gallivan, actor and executive producer of sitcoms Sassy Gay Friend and The McCarthys.[43]
• Dick Berggren, a motorsports announcer and editor, a former faculty member at the college.[44]
• Linda McCarriston, an award-winning poet. Former professor at Vermont College, George Washington University, and Radcliffe College. Currently a professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage.[45]

In addition to serving on the advisory board, John F. Kennedy gave the college's commencement speech in 1949.[46]

• Media related to Emmanuel College (Massachusetts) at Wikimedia Commons
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• Official athletics website