ICYMI: Marian Court College Supporters End Campaign to Revive School

The campaign to save Swampscott’s Marian Court College came to an unsuccessful close late last month in spite of the best efforts of students, faculty and supporters of the school.

The school’s board of trustees announced the decision to close the college in mid-June, citing financial challenges as the reason. The decision left 145 students, some day and some evening, without a way to finish their programs of study, and numerous full-time faculty and staff members, as well as part-time adjunct faculty and staff, without jobs.

Taryn Walsh, a student at Marian Court College at the time, said the grassroots effort to save the school came to an end after supporters received word from the Sisters of Mercy, the organization that owns the Swampscott property and founded the college in 1964.

“The students wrote directly to the Sisters of Mercy, and we were told that keeping the school open, or re-opening at another time was not something that were prepared to pursue,” Walsh explained. “We had no choice at that point but to end the campaign.”

According to the Save Marian Court College Facebook page, the campaign ended July 24. The page became a private page at that time.

A number of individuals had contributed to a GoFundMe campaign started on the school’s behalf, but Walsh said those donations were returned to the benefactors weeks ago.

For her part, Walsh said she plans to take advantage of the offer from Salem State University to accept Marian Court College students. Salem State, along with North Shore Community College, announced in June that it intended to work with Marian Court students to help them continue their educations.