In May 2022, the Board of Regents of the New York State Department of Education approved Medaille College's request to be designated a university.[4][5] Due to ongoing financial and enrollment challenges, Medaille announced its closure effective August 31, 2023.[6]
History
The Sisters of St. Joseph opened the Institute of the Sisters of Saint Joseph in 1875. This training center for nuns and other vowed women who wanted to serve the church in education, laid the first foundations for what would later eventually become Medaille College.[7]
Degrees were first offered in 1937. At that time, the school's name was Mount Saint Joseph Teachers' College. In 1964, it became Mount Saint Joseph College and in 1968, Medaille College.[7] Most graduates went on to teach at Catholic schools in New York State.[8]
Conflicts over academic freedom
In 2002, President John J. Donohue fired tenured professor Therese Dillon Warden and suspended professor Uhuru Watson. In addition, two other non-tenured professors were likewise punished. They all had allegedly passed around confidential meeting minutes from the tenure and promotion committee and were forbidden to enter campus. Many colleagues protested the disciplinary action as a violation of academic freedom.[2] Kenneth Weshues stated that "Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of individuals at the college have been harmed" due to a "social ill that has laid the college low."[9]
In 2022, Medaille and nearby Trocaire College signed a memorandum of understanding that set "in motion a cooperative agreement that would fulfill the missions of both institutions into the future."[11] Six buildings on Medaille's campus were sold to Trocaire in January 2023[12] and on April 4, it was announced by interim Medaille President Dr. Lori Quigley that Trocaire College would be acquiring Medaille with a scheduled closing date of July 31, 2023.[13] The university was to become a part of Trocaire, while some sports teams would keep using the Medaille Mavericks name. A month later Trocaire College announced they would no longer be acquiring Medaille.[14]
On May 15, 2023, Medaille University announced that it would close on August 31, 2023[15][16][6] and ceased academic operations on that date.[17] A few months later, Niagara University was named as the legacy school for Medaille, agreeing to hold all of the latter's "academic records, student transcripts, and academic catalogs".[18] A legacy institution is required by New York State law.[19]
Medaille's main campus was in Buffalo, New York and 40% of the students lived on campus.[20] It was within the Olmsted Crescent, a historic area of parkways and landscape designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. In January 2023, 6 campus buildings on Medaille's Buffalo campus were sold to Trocaire College.[12]
The 2010 men's soccer team reached Sweet 16 in 2010, the furthest any Medaille sports team ever advanced. Also that same year, their undefeated streak in the AMCC of five years was finally snapped. On September 25, 2010, the Franciscan University Barons pulled off a huge upset, winning the match 2–1.[21]
