Local Colleges Step Up to Support Marian Court College Students

By BROOKLYN LOWERY (Patch Staff)

Representatives from North Shore Community College and Salem State University were in Swampscott Wednesday meeting with Marian Court College students about what to do now that their college has announced its closure.

Earlier this week, Marian Court College announced it will close its doors on June 26, citing low enrollment. That decision left 145 students, some day and some evening, wondering where to go to finish their degrees.

Marian Court College President Denise Hammon announced that Salem State University and North Shore Community College have agreed to accept students from Marian Court, and representatives with both schools said they’ve taken a hands-on approach to making sure those students’ needs are met.

“All of our staff know that any student that comes to us from Marian Court College, we will give them immediate service and work very creatively to ensure that as much if not all of their credits transfer,” North Shore Community College President Pat Gentile said. “Whenever you experience a trauma, and this is a trauma to some of the students, it takes some time to get your balance back.”

Salem State University Spokeswoman Karen Cady agreed that her school is doing “everything we can to help them.”

Marian Court College’s student population is 98 percent first-generation college students and poor, a demographic makeup that both Salem State and North Shore are prepared to serve, according to their representatives.

“We’re a very diverse community,” Cady said, adding that 31 percent of Salem State’s students self-identify as people of color. “They will feel very at home here. A lot of our students do have financial need and this will be a really good fit for them.”

At North Shore Community College, several programs, including financial aid and special advising options, are already in place to assist students who come to college from poor families or without much background or experience with the higher education system.

“We understand the impact, the emotional impact of having this happen,” Gentile said. “A lot of our students are not as savvy about what college choices are out there or how to make immediate plans to go someplace else. So it really shakes their confidence when something like this happens.”

Both women said the landscape is difficult right now for public and private institutions, but they’ve never had to cope with a college closing so close to home.

“This is a unique situation and we’re kind of figuring it out day by day,” Cady said. “Everyone is doing what they can do to get their plan in place. The admissions councilor said they’re excellent students.”

Neither representative knew yet how many students from Marian Court College would be coming to their respective institutions, but both said there was a place for any who wanted to come.

Gentile also said that she has spoken with Marian Court College’s Hammon and extended an invitation for any of that school’s faculty to sit down with North Shore Community College’s Human Resources Vice President Madeline Wallace. While there aren’t many job openings available now, Gentile said that there could be in the future and any application from a Marian Court College employee would be taken “very seriously.”

Admissions representatives from both schools planned to be on Marian Court College’s campus again Friday meeting with students.

Additional information is available at NorthShore.edu (look for “prospective student” information) and at SalemState.edu (under “admissions”).