After 85 years in operation, St. Catharine College is closing, effective Monday. Trustees at the Catholic, liberal arts school near Springfield, voted in late spring to shut it down.
Officials say they had no choice but to close the institution, which has seen declining enrollment and has been embroiled in a legal battle with the U.S. Department of Education over financial aid cuts.
The closure left several hundred students scrambling to transfer to other schools. More than 100 faculty and staff were laid off, including human resources director Carlotta Brussell, who’s worked at St. Catharine for nearly a decade and earned three degrees from the school. She was among a handful of workers still on campus last week. She says it’s been a difficult time. “Seeing the students go off and saying goodbye to them has been one thing. Saying goodbye to my staff and faculty. The tears. It’s really been sad, because they are such loyal and dedicated people.”
St. Catharine College was established in 1931 by the Dominican Sisters. The school property is being placed in receivership and will be sold to pay off creditors.
