SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio — Some Notre Dame College students and staff members are still holding out hope that financial talks can resume in an effort to keep the South Euclid campus open and avoid an announced May shutdown.
Notre Dame graduate student Delores Gray told News 5 she appreciates that the college is working with more than a dozen other Northeast Ohio colleges to transfer displaced students, but she believes it will still hurt many students who were counting the school's specific curriculum.
"People chose the school for a reason, so with it closing, we have to scramble to go to a different school," Gray said. “I just want people to know that we have fight for this college, it’s very important that it stays open.”
Another student we spoke to earlier this week is worried that credits in her specialized program will be difficult to transfer:
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Donna Brown with Black on Black Crime inc. agreed closing Notre Dame College will have an impact on the diverse student population, some of which she said is made up of lower-income students who have extraordinary academic potential.
“Children are going to suffer, it’s not just about the 60% that are minority, it’s not just about the 45% that are black, it’s about every child that’s there," Brown said. “They chose that particular campus because they felt comfortable and they felt they could thrive.”
Student-athletes at Notre Dame are also left wondering what they will do next:
RELATED: Student-athletes in tough position after Notre Dame College announces closure
Peter Corrigan, who is a seven-year Notre Dame College Business Professor, told News 5 that key college benefactors told him they are prepared to donate millions of dollars to settle the school's debt with Bank of America in an attempt to keep the campus open. But Corrigan believes the Notre Dame board of trustees too quickly closed the negotiation window between donors and the bank.
“Benefactors decided to get together and raised their own money to see if they could first do a refinancing of the debt and then finally just saying let’s just buy the debt out," Corrigan said. “The board initially granted that authorization, and what they told me, I just learned in the last day or two, is that the authorization was revoked, so now the benefactors can’t talk to the bank about eliminating the debt."
News 5 reached out to Bank of America for this story, but it wouldn't comment about the situation, only saying, "we have been working closely with the college for many years on this matter."
News 5 also reached out to Notre Dame leadership, which said declining enrollment, a shrinking number of college-age students, rising costs, and debt contributed to the decision to close the college.
Notre Dame College Board Chair Terri Bradford Eason told News 5 that school benefactors did not provide a viable financial plan to Bank of America and issued the following statement:
As Board Chair, a South Euclid Resident, and a parent of an NDC alum, I fully empathize with everyone saddened by the difficult but necessary decision to implement a Teach-Out plan for Notre Dame College.
The Board worked for many years to address longstanding financial challenges and an ongoing decline in enrollment. Despite these efforts, we received a “notice of default and reservation of rights” from Bank of America on November 22, 2023, after which the Board continued our ongoing efforts to identify a viable path forward, prioritizing the best interests of our students.
Since November, we pursued potential acquisitions by two area universities and engaged with a dedicated group of stakeholders interested in raising the significant funds needed to satisfy the college’s debt and support the college’s operations moving forward. At the same time, we began developing a robust Teach-Out Program, creating numerous pathways for our students to continue their education if other efforts proved unsuccessful. We planned to announce the Teach-Out on February 15, 2024, barring any final agreements on acquisition or successful last-minute fundraising efforts to close the substantial financial gap.
As we approached February 15, acquisition discussions were ongoing and the stakeholder group, which was continuing fundraising efforts, requested more time. To give the fundraising effort every opportunity to succeed, we made the decision to delay the announcement until February 28.
In our discussions and in the many emails that have been exchanged with the stakeholders regarding this matter, the following was made clear: In order to continue college operations, the stakeholder group would need to satisfy the debt, as well as provide a written plan to sustain college operations. The Board never received a proposal or written plan from the stakeholder group for consideration.
On February 28, in a further show of good faith, I facilitated a meeting with the stakeholder group and Bank of America. During this meeting, the stakeholder group made a verbal proposal to Bank of America to address the debt. Unfortunately, their proposal to Bank of America was not sufficient to satisfy the debt nor was a financial plan presented to sustain college operations.
Having exhausted all options, we had no choice but to proceed with our Teach-Out Program announcement on February 29, in order to make sure that our students had sufficient time to make plans to continue their education with one of our many Teach-Out partners or at another school.
The Board of Trustees is indebted to our many friends and donors for their extended efforts to work towards a solution that could have sustained Notre Dame College. We’re profoundly grateful to our students for their endurance; to school leadership, faculty and staff for their loyal service and commitment; and to all who have so generously supported this very special institution. Notre Dame College’s impact and legacy will live on through the contributions of our more than 5,000 alumni and all members of our college community, past and present.
Keith Ari Benjamin, Director of Community Services & Development with the City of South Euclid, also responded to News 5 and said the city and Notre Dame College leadership are looking to have a meeting about the future of the historic property within the next two weeks.
Benjamin issued the following statement:
Notre Dame College has been a cherished and integral part of our city's identity for nearly 101 years, and their decision to close comes as a profound loss to our community. The College has not just been a beacon of knowledge for generations of students, but has also served the South Euclid community as a cultural hub, community gathering place and a cherished landmark.
At this time we don’t know what the future holds for this historic property, but we hope an institution of higher learning will be interested in the College campus. The NDC property is zoned R-75, which permits single-family residential housing and new educational institutions would be allowed as a Conditional Use. Any other type of proposed development including apartments and retail would require rezoning.
Meanwhile, students like Delores Gray are hoping financial talks between the bank and college can somehow be reopened in an effort to keep the historic college open for years to come.
“I really want them to set this back up, negotiate, get the schools debt paid so students an faculty can go back to doing their jobs and go back to being out and learning," Gray said. “You can’t keep us in the dark like that, we have to know as well, because it’s our money too.”
News 5 is committed in following through on this developing story.
