Marian Court College Students Continue to Campaign to for Now-Closed School

When Marian Court College closed its doors on June 30, it left 145 students in need of a new school and five full-time faculty members, 15 staff members and a dozen adjunct teachers without jobs.

But a grassroots campaign led by students of the Swampscott-based college are still hoping Marian Court College’s closing isn’t permanent.

Taryn Walsh, an MCC student at the time its closing was announced, has spearheaded the campaign to save the 50-year-old college and has served as a point person with the college’s board of trustees.

In late June, Walsh and a number of students drafted a memo of ideas and suggestions for saving the school. The ideas ranged from increasing tuition costs to marketing the school in different ways to new groups of people.

“The students have come up with some really great ideas, mainly because the night students in particular (who started this campaign) are mostly working professionals,” Walsh said. “We have a lot of experience and insight that we can offer the situation.”

While the students’ passion did convince the board to go to the Sisters of Mercy, who run the college, for some additional time to come up with a solution, it did not ultimately prevent the college’s closing.

Still, the students haven’t given up.

Walsh said the students have shifted their focus from keeping the school open, to finding a way for Marian Court College to reopen at a later date, possibly at a new location and with the implementation of the ideas in the original memo.

Walsh met with several board members earlier this week to brief them on this new direction.

“The good news is, the Board seemed intrigued by the suggestion, and seemed to be supportive of this,” she said. The board indicated to her that members planned to contact the Sisters of Mercy again this week and, as of this publication, Walsh was awaiting news of how that conversation went.

In mid-June, Marian Court College’s Board of Trustees announced the school’s closure and cited insurmountable financial issues and low enrollment as the cause.

“It’s worth saving,” Walsh told Patch just after the closing was announced. “I think all the students felt the same way about the school closing; confusion, shock, frustration, but mostly sad. When we decided to try to save the school though, every student has really gotten on board and done their part. We all want to save this school - not one of us wants to have to transfer and finish somewhere else.”

A GoFundMe campaign has been started to raise funds for the school and students and others continue to circulate a petition to save the school.

“We are still trying to gather support so if people want to sign our petition and/or donate to our Go Fund Me page, it would be appreciated,” Walsh shared.