CLAYTON 鈥 Fontbonne University students had just returned from spring break Monday when they received a text message at 11:09 a.m.: 鈥淧resident Blattner will hold an all-student meeting at 11:30 a.m. today to share important news,鈥 the message read. 鈥淧lease attend if able.鈥
About 100 out of 874 students turned out. The university鈥檚 leader, Nancy Blattner, read from prepared notes: The 101-year-old institution would close after the summer 2025 term. She did not take any questions.
Several students began crying; others abruptly left. The mood was somber. Anger began to bubble.
鈥淚t felt very heavy,鈥 said graduate student Abby Platte.
The announcement came less than four months after officials said they had a plan to ensure the longevity of the Clayton-based university.
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But it鈥檚 unclear whether the plan 鈥 eliminating 21 degree programs and 19 faculty positions 鈥 was given a chance to work: Just weeks after publicizing the cuts in November, Fontbonne quietly began negotiations to sell its campus to Washington University.
Blattner told reporters Monday that she never thought she would have to shut down a university. She felt heartbroken, she said, to deliver the news to students that included two of her grandchildren.
鈥淵our dream of graduating from Fontbonne may not be realized,鈥 she told students, 鈥渂ut your dream of graduating from college can be.鈥
It was a shocking end, but one that came after years of declining enrollment and budget deficits. And its demise comes as colleges across the country are facing more competition for fewer students that has widened the gulf between small, liberal arts colleges and major research universities.
Merger talks failed
The end of Fontbonne closes a chapter in local feminist history.聽The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet founded the college in 1923 to open higher education to more women after World War I. The college鈥檚 primary fields of study were dominated by women 鈥 education, fine arts, dietetics, speech and communication. And although the college became co-ed in the 1970s, only two of Fontbonne鈥檚 15 presidents were men.
Article from Jun 18, 1923 亚洲无码 (St. 亚洲无码, Missouri)
Fontbonne experienced its best years from 1980 to 2010, when enrollment grew to a peak of 3,000. The athletics program was upgraded to NCAA Division III and many academic programs were added. The university attracted international students and working professionals seeking advanced degrees through weekend and night classes.
The university鈥檚 downfall followed several missteps, like buying the shuttered John F. Kennedy High School in west St. 亚洲无码 County in 2018 only to sell it without ever breaking ground. Blattner鈥檚 plan to boost enrollment with a sprint football program in 2022 failed when half the team dropped out after its inaugural season.
Other factors out of Fontbonne鈥檚 control include a longstanding decline in birth rates and a growing distrust in the value of higher education.
Blattner told reporters that she knew there would be 鈥渟ignificant financial challenges鈥 when she returned to the university in July 2020 after serving as vice president from 2004 to 2009. The university had been losing students for a decade, and was increasingly dependent on tuition because of declining endowment funds, which now stand at $9 million.
Still, Blattner said Nov. 30 that the 鈥渇inal retrenchment plan鈥 of more than $2 million in budget cuts would insure Fontbonne鈥檚 long-term sustainability. But by late December, talks had started on a real estate deal with Washington U., Blattner told reporters Monday. At least six Fontbonne officials resigned prior to the closure announcement, including the heads of human resources, finance, marketing and registration.
When asked what caused the sudden about-face, Blattner cited two primary factors: Fontbonne leaders failed to negotiate a merger or acquisition with 鈥渕any鈥 other colleges. And the Higher Learning Commission, the main accrediting body for universities, told Fontbonne to submit a viability plan for every degree program it offered, Blattner said.
That mandate, Blattner said, meant Fontbonne couldn鈥檛 admit new students, leaving it with no choice but to close.
A spokeswoman for the commission said universities are asked to submit a plan for programs they expect to close in order to provide students with options for completing their studies.
鈥淭he institution determines what programs it is closing or discontinuing. HLC has no role in making that determination,鈥 the spokeswoman, Laura Janota, said in an email.
Blattner informed the HLC on March 8 that the university would close. Fontbonne鈥檚 board of trustees voted two days later to shut down. At some point that weekend, Fontbonne and Washington U. agreed to the sale.
No surprise to students
Several students told the Post-Dispatch they were not surprised by the university鈥檚 upcoming closure. Deferred maintenance in various dormitories and academic buildings had piled up over the years. And since the fall 2023 semester, they felt that staff and faculty seemed to put in less effort. They described what felt like a 鈥渕ass exodus鈥 of administrators and professors beginning in January.
Kaylee Gordon sensed things weren鈥檛 going well as soon as she arrived last fall as a freshman from Dexter, Missouri. The elevator and HVAC system in her dorm regularly broke down. Students were fined $100 for propping their doors open, she said. Her adviser quit after telling students to transfer to other schools.
鈥淚t鈥檚 time to move on and forget this whole year ever happened,鈥 said Gordon, 19, who will transfer to the University of Missouri-Columbia next fall.
Graduate student M.V. Laughlin also had an inkling that the university might close. The university announced in November that the fine arts department was one of 21 programs the school was going to cut. She launched an effort to save her department by fundraising. But she said administrators 鈥渞esisted鈥 her efforts. She felt a glimmer of hope that officials could change their minds when a representative of the Sisters of St. Joseph told her there may be good news in February. Ultimately, no such news was delivered.
Undergraduate Alina Dunder was in the process of applying for a master鈥檚 degree in fine arts education and only needs two more courses to earn a teaching certificate.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very frustrating for me, having almost submitted my application and then having this decision being made seemingly last minute,鈥 Dunder said. 鈥淣o real notice, no real plan. It doesn鈥檛 seem like there was any (effort) to save the university.鈥
鈥楢 dignified conclusion鈥
Arguably the most distinguished program at Fontbonne was deaf education. The school received more than $8 million in federal grants over the years to increase the number of teachers and speech pathologists who serve children with hearing loss. The program鈥檚 graduates were actively recruited to jobs across the country.
Last year, there were 60 graduates with a bachelor鈥檚 or master鈥檚 degree in speech-language pathology, Fontbonne鈥檚 largest major. Another 34 graduated with degrees in special education.
鈥淚n the day when it is getting difficult to find teachers, I worry about not having Fontbonne in the St. 亚洲无码 area,鈥 said Anne Burgio, a deaf education major who graduated from Fontbonne in 1997 and now works in the Lindbergh School District. 鈥淲hen I heard a teacher went to Fontbonne, I knew we were getting a quality trained teacher. It was truly a special place.鈥
Losing a school that prepares teachers to work with children who are deaf 鈥渋s obviously not ideal because there are so few programs and especially programs that train specifically in listening and spoken language development,鈥 said Amy Knackstedt, director of the Joanne Parrish Knight Family Center at the Central Institute for the Deaf in St. 亚洲无码.
Knackstedt, who has bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees from Fontbonne, added that while the closure is disappointing, St. 亚洲无码 is fortunate that Washington U.鈥檚 deaf education department remains strong.
Blattner, the Fontbonne president, said she wants 鈥渢o help as many people as possible to a dignified conclusion鈥 of their time at the university. The remaining endowment will be used for scholarships. Courses in the summer terms of 2024 and 2025 will be tuition-free, along with any courses above a full load in the final academic year.
A prayer service in Doerr Chapel on campus Wednesday felt like a family funeral. About 25 of the Sisters of St. Joseph raised their hands and sang 鈥淪ancte Joseph鈥 in Latin to close the service.
鈥淲e were celebrating the difference that Fontbonne has made and will continue to make forever,鈥 said Joan Falk, who graduated in fine arts in the 1960s. 鈥淭he ripples that go out from the work they鈥檝e done will never stop.鈥
Michelle Torigian, who graduated in 1995, said Fontbonne influenced her faith journey to becoming a pastor at St. Paul United Church of Christ in Belleville.
鈥淏eing a person of faith, you understand the depths of what renewal and resurrection are about, and even with endings there are beginnings,鈥 Torigian said. 鈥淏ut first there is a time to grieve, and that鈥檚 what this time is.鈥