The College of New Rochelle (CNR) was a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
college with its main campus in
New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...
, but also in Australia, England, and Germany. It was founded as the College of St. Angela by Mother Irene Gill, OSU of the
Ursuline Order as the first Catholic
women's college
Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...
in New York in 1904. 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. 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.
On September 20, 2019, the college declared
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
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.
The Trustees are entrusted with the maintenance and protection of certain assets of the
Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York including the Utica Masonic Care Community. The college site has been renamed to the Masonic Care Community of New Rochelle.
Academics
The College of New Rochelle was chartered by the
Regents
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
of the state of
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
and was accredited by the
Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools
The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) was a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performed peer evaluation and regional accreditation of public and private schools in the Mid-Atla ...
. The School of Nursing and Healthcare Professions was accredited by the
Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education
The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) is a nursing education accrediting agency in the United States. The CCNE is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
CCNE accreditation is a voluntary, self-regulatory process, and the ...
.
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.
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.
Campus
The main campus was located in New Rochelle, a
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...
, city about north of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. In 1896, the college's founder, Mother Irene Gill, OSU, traveled to New Rochelle to explore the possibility of establishing a seminary there for young women. During this trip, she came across
Leland Castle
Leland Castle (also known as Castle View) is a building in New Rochelle, New York. It was constructed during the years in 1855 - 1859 in the Gothic Revival style, and was the country residence of Simeon Leland, a wealthy New York City hotel prop ...
, an 1850s
gothic revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
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 National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. The castle was part of the campus quadrangle and housed the "Castle Gallery".
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
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
competition-sized swimming pool, basketball court, fitness center, indoor running track,
yoga
Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...
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
Mother Irene Gill Memorial Library was the centrally administered library of the College of New Rochelle in New York. It comprised the main college library and five affiliated libraries:
* Co-Op City
* Brooklyn
* John Cardinal O'Connor in the Sout ...
; the Student Campus Center; the Rogick Life Sciences Building with many laboratories; four
residence hall
A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...
s; and the Learning Resource Center for Nursing.
Gill_Memorial_Library_1.jpg, Gill Memorial Library
Gill Memorial Library 2.jpg, Gill Memorial Library
Gill4.jpg, Campus
Athletics
CNR athletic teams were the Blue Angels. The college was a member of the
United States Collegiate Athletic Association
The United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) is a national organization for the intercollegiate athletic programs of 72 mostly small colleges, including community/junior colleges, across the United States. The USCAA holds 15 nationa ...
(USCAA), primarily competing in the
Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
The Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) is a member conference of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA). It consists of eight small colleges in New York state. HVIAC's first championships were held in the ...
(HVIAC) from 2004–05 to 2018–19.
CNR competed in 12 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports included baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer and swimming; while women's sports included basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis and volleyball.
Closure
On February 22, 2019, the college announced its intention to close at the end of summer 2019. The college 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. On March 28, 2019, the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...
(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. He was subsequently sentenced to three years in jail. 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
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
as it had $80 million in liabilities. The campus and related materials were sold at auction and purchased by The Lodge Society Temple of New Rochelle for $32 million in a private real estate bankruptcy auction case.
Notable alumni
The College of New Rochelle's alumni were integrated into Mercy College's alumni community in 2019.
*
Madeleine Blais
Madeleine Blais (born 1946) is an American journalist, author and professor in the University of Massachusetts Amherst's journalism department. As a reporter for the ''Miami Herald'', Blais earned the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 1980 fo ...
, (b 1946),
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
–winning journalist and author
*
Patricia Breslin
Patricia Rose Breslin (March 17, 1925 – October 12, 2011) was an American actress and philanthropist. She had a prominent career in television, which included recurring roles as Amanda Miller on '' The People's Choice'' (1955–58), and as Laur ...
, (1931–2011), American actress and philanthropist.
*
Mary Donohue
Mary O'Connor Donohue (born March 22, 1947) is an American retired educator, attorney, politician and Judge of the New York Court of Claims and a former two-term Lieutenant Governor of New York. Donohue was first elected Lieutenant Governor in ...
, (b 1947), retired Judge of the
New York Court of Claims
The New York State Court of Claims is the court of the New York State Unified Court System which handles all claims against the State of New York and certain state agencies.
Judges
Judges of the Court of Claims are appointed by the Governor of New ...
and a former two-term Lieutenant Governor of New York.
*
Tamika Mallory
Tamika Danielle Mallory (born September 4, 1980) is an American activist. She was one of the leading organizers of the 2017 Women's March, for which she and her three other co-chairs were recognized in the ''TIME'' 100 that year. She received t ...
, (b 1980), American activist. She was one of the leading organizers of the 2017
Women's March Women's March may refer to:
* Women's March on Versailles, a 1789 march in Paris
* Women's Sunday, a 1908 suffragette march in London
* Woman Suffrage Procession, a 1913 march and rally in Washington, D.C.
* Women's March (South Africa), a 1956 mar ...
.
*
Regina Peruggi
Regina S. Peruggi (born c. 1947)Karen Arenson ''The New York Times'', May 25, 2004. Retrieved April 6, 2008. Age at time of article was 57. is an American educator, who was the President of Kingsborough Community College from 2005 to 2014, the fir ...
, (b 1947), American educator who was President of
Kingsborough Community College
Kingsborough Community College (KBCC) is a public community college in Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system and the only community college in Brooklyn.[Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...]
*
Mercedes Ruehl
Mercedes J. Ruehl (; born February 28, 1948) is an American screen, stage, and television actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, a Drama Desk Award, two Obie Awards, an ...
, (b 1948),
Academy
An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...
- and
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
–winning American screen and stage actor.
*
Margaret C. Snyder, (1929–2021), American social scientist and founding director of the
United Nations Development Fund for Women
The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, french: Fonds de développement des Nations unies pour la femme, ) was established in December 1976 originally as the Voluntary Fund for the United Nations Decade for Women in the International ...
*
Anne Sweeney
Anne Marie Sweeney (born November 4, 1957) is an American businesswoman. She was formerly the co-chair of Disney Media, President of the Disney–ABC Television Group, and the President of Disney Channel from 1996 to 2014.
In March 2014, she an ...
, (b 1957), American businesswoman, co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of the Disney-ABC Television Group
Disney Corporate Website
* Patricia Ann Tracey
Patricia Ann Tracey (born November 30, 1950) is a retired United States naval officer and the first woman to be promoted to the rank of vice admiral in the United States Navy. She held the positions of chief of naval education and training (CNET) ...
, (b 1950), retired United States naval officer and the first woman to be promoted to the rank of vice admiral in the United States Navy.
* Dorothy Kilgallen
Dorothy Mae Kilgallen (July 3, 1913 – November 8, 1965) was an American columnist, journalist, and television game show panelist. After spending two semesters at the College of New Rochelle, she started her career shortly before her 18th birth ...
, (1913 –1965), American journalist and What's My Line
''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...
panelist.
* Paule Valery Joseph
Paule Valery Joseph is an American nurse and researcher at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. She is the 2022 National Academy of Medicine American Academy of Nursing Fellow.
Early life and education
Joseph is from Venezu ...
, American nurse and Fellow of the National Academy of Medicine
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, En ...
References
External links
*
* - Mercy College
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Rochelle, The College Of
1904 establishments in New York (state)
2019 disestablishments in New York (state)
Defunct universities and colleges in New York (state)
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 Mother Irene Gill, OSU of the Ursuline ...
Educational institutions disestablished in 2019
Educational institutions established in 1904
Ursuline colleges and universities
Former women's universities and colleges in the United States