Marymount College, Tarrytown (also known as Marymount College of Fordham University) was a women's college in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

which eventually became part of

Fordham University Fordham University () is a private Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its original campus is located, Fordham is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit un ...

. The Marymount campus was located in

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North ...

. The last class graduated in 2007, and the campus was sold in 2008.

History

Johanna Butler was born on July 22, 1860, in

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

, Ireland, the daughter of prosperous farmers John and Ellen Forrestal Butler. At the age of sixteen, she joined the French congregation of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM) at

Béziers Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a subprefecture of the Hérault department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hosts the famous ''Feria de Béziers'', which is centred on bullfighting. A million visitors are attra ...

, taking the name "Marie Joseph". In 1903, Butler was appointed superior of the congregation's convent and school on Long Island. In 1907, her cousin James Butler donated land near Tarrytown, New York for the founding of the college. The college was founded as an independent girls' boarding school by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM) to "create a place of learning where women could grow and where they could receive an education that would prepare them for positions of leadership and influence in the world." In February 1908, the school opened with six students. By 1918, the school offered an advanced two-year degree. In 1919, it obtained a provisional college charter. The charter became permanent in 1924, which is the year that Marymount began granting baccalaureate degrees. Marymount College at Tarrytown was the first of several colleges founded by the RSHM (

Marymount colleges The Marymount Colleges are a group of colleges founded by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM), an institute with French origins which was founded on February 24, 1849. When the institution expanded to the United States, its members f ...

). It was the first women's college in the United States to offer a study abroad program. In 2000, Marymount entered into an agreement to consolidate with Fordham University. The college was renamed Marymount College of Fordham University. In October 2005, after two years of study, Fordham announced its plans to close Marymount in 2007. At the time, John N. Tognino, chair of the Fordham University Board of Trustees, explained that "despite the very best efforts of the faculty, administration and staff, it is no longer academically or financially feasible to continue to operate Marymount College as a separate school within the University". In August 2007, Fordham announced it would sell the Marymount campus. The decision disappointed many alumnae, as the university had purchased the college with the promise that it would try to continue to operate it as a women's institution. The University claimed unjustifiable and disproportionate costs to maintain the large campus as reason for closure. Skeptics saw the acquisition of the college as a real estate venture. On February 17, 2008, Fordham announced the sale of the campus for $27 million to

EF Education EF Education First (abbreviated as EF) is an international education company that specializes in language training, educational travel, academic degree programs, and cultural exchange. The company was founded in 1965 by Bertil Hult in the Sw ...

, a chain of private language-instruction schools.Mytelka, Andrew (February 17, 2008
"Fordham U. Sells Marymount College Campus for $27-Million"
'' Chronicle of Higher Education''

References

{{reflist Tarrytown, New York Former Catholic universities and colleges in the United States Former women's universities and colleges in the United States Defunct Catholic universities and colleges in the United States Marymount College, Tarrytown Educational institutions established in 1907 Educational institutions disestablished in 2007 Schools in Westchester County, New York 1907 establishments in New York (state)

History

See also

References