Pandemic Forces Accelerated Mercyhurst North East Closure, Postpones Graduation Ceremonies
Consolidation efforts of Mercyhurst University's North East campus to its main campus in Erie have been accelerated, Mercychurst President Michael T. Victor announced Friday.
The university now plans to relocate most academic, residential and administrative operations at North East to Erie by the Fall 2020 semester. The only exceptions will be allied health, nursing, biology and municipal police programs. The North East campus will be maintained to continue provision of services to these programs.
Originally, Mercyhurst officials had announced that the transition would take place over a two year period, relocating all programs to the Erie campus by June 2021. However, uncertainty surrounding the continued evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic led officials to make the move sooner. Although the North East campus had been seeing an enrollment decline over the last decade, the pandemic has significantly affected current enrollment at the school.
President Victor says no interruption to current North East students' education is anticipated. All students will be given the opportunity to complete degree requirements on the main campus. Additionally, tuition, room and board and financial aid rates for North East students transitioning to Erie will be honored.
North East athletics will cease this fall, but university officials say current North East student-athletes' scholarship awards will be honored on the school's main campus.
Construction on new state-of-the-art academic facilities, classrooms and labs on the school's Erie campus will proceed once normal operations resume. The new facilities will create additional space for the combined North East and Erie health care degree programs.
Mercyhurst officials also announced Friday that graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2020 will be postponed until 2021. After exploring options for dates in August or throughout Fall 2020, the decision was made to wait a year because of the sheer amount of uncertainty surrounding the pandemic.
The graduation postponement will ensure the Class of 2020 will receive the traditional graduation they deserve. University officials also note that many other schools, such as Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Brown University and Princeton have made similar decisions.