Paier College of Art Changes its Name and Moves to University of Bridgeport Campus

Cayla Bamberger reports for The Wilton Bulletin Paier College of Art will be moving to the campus of the University of Bridgeport and will change its name to Paier College. 

Paier's move results from agreements announced in 2020 where Goodwin University of East Hartford, CT, Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, and Paier College of Art indicated they would be co-locating on the campus of the University of Bridgeport and purchasing all of the school’s property and programs.

Bamberger indicates that there are no plans to sell the Hamden campus. Paier College will occupy "...the Arnold Bernhard Center, a nine-story building on the Long Island Sound, houses a 1,000-seat performing arts theater, a permanent art gallery and dozens of classrooms, offices and performance and event spaces. Cooper Hall will provide 140 beds of on-campus housing to Paier students and UB students taking classes through Paier."

Paier was founded by by Edward T. and Adele K. Paier in 1946. They acquired the Whitney School of Art in 1954, changed the name of the combined institutions to Paier School of Art, and also moved to New Haven, CT. Paier then moved again to Hamden, CT in 1960 and was accredited as a 4-year, degree-granting institution in 1982.

The University of New Haven Centennial

The University of New Haven in West Haven, CT is celebrating the centennial of its founding in 1920. The Charger Bulletin posted "Changes to Celebrating the University’s Centennial," on August 31, 2020 with reporting by Beth Beaudry, Student Life Editor. 

You can also visit the Charging Into Our Second Century web page for more event information, an institutional timeline, alumni memories, and other centennial information.

The institution was founded in 1920 when the evening school of the evening school of New Haven YMCA affiliated with Northeastern University. It was chartered as New Haven College in 1926 and the name changed to New Haven YMCA Junior College in 1935. The name was then changed to New Haven College in 1953. The campus relocated to West Haven, CT in 1960 and in 1970 the name changed to the University of New Haven.

Digital versions of university catalogs, yearbooks, and other institutional publications can be accessed via the University of New Haven Collection at The Internet Archive. 

The University Archives also digitizes photographs for online viewing and downloading through the University of New Haven Library collection on Flickr. The photographs include campus buildings, events, class pictures, and people associated with the University.

Tunxis Community College Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Tunxis Community College in Farmington, Connecticut is preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding. The first classes were held during the 1969-70 academic year and enrollment now exceed 6,000 students.

The 50th anniversary web page includes information on upcoming activities and a timeline with key dates in institutional history.

You can learn more in an article published by the Hartford Courant, "Tunxis Community College Marks 50 Years," with reporting by Michael Walsh.

Augustus Storrs Hall...Honoring an Important Person at the University of Connecticut

The University of Connecticut Archives and Special Collections maintains an interesting blog.  One of their posts from earlier this year caught my attention this morning.  The "Augustus Storrs Hall" post with the building honoring the person who donated land for an agricultural college in 1880. Augustus Storrs Hall was built in 1906 and was the first brick building on campus. It was initially a men’s dormitory with 66 two-man rooms but within two years each room held three students. In 1952 it was renovated for offices and classrooms. It is now home to the School of Nursing.

UConn was founded as Storrs Agricultural School in 1881. The name changed to Storrs Agricultural College 1893, to Connecticut Agricultural College in 1899, to Connecticut State College in 1933, and finally to the University of Connecticut in 1939.

A sampling of other more recent posts includes: "Brien McMahon Hall" and "Alfred Gordon Gulley Hall."

College and university archives are a great source of ideas and information for those researching history of institutions. A number also actively post images and links to historical information. I maintain a Twitter list, "Archives and Spec Coll," for those who might be interested and will enjoy any suggestions if you know of archives or special collections with Twitter accounts. It only takes a few minutes to scan recent posts using the list.

Lincoln College of New England Announces Closure

 

Lincoln College of New England, a small for-profit institution, announced that it will no longer enroll students and intends to close at the end of 2018.

The institution was founded in 1966 as Briarwood Secretarial School in Bristol, Connecticut.  Courses were offered the following year at a site in Southington, Ct.  The school then received its state charter in 1979 as Briarwood College.  Baccalaureate programs were add in 2005 for criminal justice and funeral service management.  

Briarwood College was acquired by Lincoln Educational Services Corporation in 2008.  The following year LESC acquired Clemens College in Suffield, CT and merged the two institutions to form Lincoln College of New England.

If you are interested in recent trends for closures, mergers,and acquisitions access College Closures since 2009 in the index at the right of any College History Garden page.  There are separate tabs for non-profit closures, for-profit closures, and one for mergers and acquisitions.  Each tab includes basic information for the institutions, i.e., Carnegie Classification, sector, accrediting agency, and the IPEDS unitid.

You can also read more about the closure at "Lincoln College in Southington to close at end of year," from the Meriden, CT Record-Journal.

Sacred Heart University and St. Vincent's College Consider Merger

Rick Seltzer reports for Inside Higher Ed in "Considering Mergers in Connecticut," that Sacred Heart University and St. Vincent's College signed a management agreement leading to possible merger in a year.  During the interim period Sacred Heart will provide a number of administrative functions for students and staff of St. Vincent's.  The two institutions are both located a few miles apart in Fairfield, CT and Bridgeport, CT.

You can also see posts about the management agreement on the web sites of the respective institution.

Colorado Heights University will be Closing

The Denver Post reported today that Colorado Heights University will be closing.  The Denver Business Journal published an article yesterday, "University housed in historic Loretto Heights campus to close."  There is also a statement on the institution's web site with links to additional information.

The institution opened in 1989 as Teikyo Loretto Heights University on the campus of the former Loretto Heights College.  The institution changed its name to Colorado Heights University in 2009.  Roughly 130 students were enrolled in degree programs.  There were also several hundred international students participating in various English-as-a-second-language programs.

The Teikyo Universities Group, a Japanese foundation, affiliated with Teikyo University, has operated several other institutions in the United States:  

• Salem Teikyo University (now Salem International University) in Salem, West Virginia.
• Teikyo-Westmar University, later Westmar University, in Le Mars, Iowa, that closed in 1995.
• Teikyo-Marycrest University, later, Marycrest International University, that closed in 2002, in Davenport, Iowa.
• Teikyo Post University (now Post University) in Waterbury, Connecticut.

If you are interested in recent trends for closures, access College Closures since 2009 in the index at the right of any College History Garden page.  There are separate tabs for non-profit and for-profit closures.  Each tab includes basic information for each institution, i.e., Carnegie Classification, sector, accrediting agency, and the IPEDS unitid.

Connecticut Office of Higher Education offers information for students of institutions in the state that close

The Private Occupational School Unit of the the Connecticut Office of Higher Education provides information for students of institutions that have closed and their website includes a link to a form that can be used to request transcripts.

Education that Liberates and Ennobles: A History of Manchester Community College (CT)

The Hartford Courant features an article on a new history of Manchester Community College.  Education that Liberates and Ennobles: A History of an American Community College was written by Susan Plese a MCC faculty member who started teaching at the institution six years after it was founded in 1963.

Connecticut Colleges that have Closed, Merged, or Changed Names

This table below includes institutions that have closed, merged, or changed their names.  If you note a need for changing or updating information, please notify ray01brown@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

An index with links to separate pages for other states and countries is available.

There is a College History Garden Facebook group or you can view and follow multiple College History Garden boards on Pinterest or there is a board specifically devoted to Connecticut colleges.

Thanks for your interest and suggestions!

Litchfield Law School (CT)

The Litchfield Law School [1784-1833] was the second institution in the U.S. to offer a formal curriculum in law.  The Litchfield Historical Society offers a history of the school and a list of over 1,100 students.  Students included Aaron Burr, Levi Woodbury, John Pierce Brace and John C. Calhoun.

The Harvard Law School Library has digitized a fascinating collection of notebooks of students who attended Litchfield.

The Yale Law School Library also offers links to additional resources. 

"To Learn and Make Respectable Hereafter: The Litchfield Law School in Cultural Context" by Andrew M. Siegel is available from the NYU Law Review. 

Butler and Sawyer Schools (CT)

William Weir writes in the Hartford Courant about closures of Butler Business School in Bridgeport, CT and two campuses of Sawyers Schools located in Hartford and Hamden.

Linda Conner Lambeck's article for the Connecticut Post at ctpost.com, "Butler Business School closes, students stunned," focuses on the impact for students enrolled at Butler.

Butler Business School was founded as Brown's Business College in 1900 and was renamed Gutchess College ten years later. In 1917, Ernest M. Butler, who had been associated with Butler Business School in New Haven, purchased the school. Three generations of the Butler family managed the school until 1999, when it was sold to Academic Enterprises, Inc.

Ethyl M. Sawyer founded the Sawyer School in 1916 with the first Sawyer School located in downtown Los Angeles, CA.  International Industries, Inc., acquired Sawyer in 1967, and created The Sawyer Schools as a subsidiary organization.  A branch campus in Providence, RI began operation in September 1969. Then in 1975, Academic Enterprises, Inc., a Rhode Island corporation, acquired The Sawyer School.  A main campus was then established in Pawtucket, RI and in 1990, The Pelham Educational Group, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Academic Enterprises, d/b/a The Sawyer School was formed as a Connecticut corporation.  The Hamden and Hartford branches of Sawyer were opened in 1994.

Change can be hard...particularly when it involves a name

A number of institutions have changed names in recent years.  Many of the name changes are causes for celebration as the The Hartford Business Journal reported for the University of Saint Joseph (West Hartford, CT).  

 

However, it apparently isn't always so easy.  There have been an unusual flurry of articles in recent days indicating that changing institutional names is often a more difficult process.  

Christopher O'Donnell reports for the Miami Herald-Tribune on problems facing the president of the State College of Florida.  O'Donnell reports that community members are still angry over the president's handling of a 2008 change in name from Manatee Community College.

   

And an investigative report by Shaun Sutner of the Worcester News Telegram found that despite initial promises of minimal cost, the tab for a name change and related marketing campaign at Worcester State University may reach $600,000.

A group of Georgia students have started a petition campaign for consideration of other options for the name of the institution that will result from the announced merger of Georgia Health Sciences University and Augusta State College.

A Houston Chronicle article reports on a marketing campaign at UTHealth to address concerns that a 2010 name change from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center hasn't been as effective as people might have hoped.

Changing names can also be a difficult process in other countries...extensive opposition has erupted in Nigeria at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), one of Nigeria's most prestigious universities, protesting a decision by President Goodluck Jonathan to rename the university after deceased politician, Moshood Kashimawo Abiola.

Finally, the BBC reports that in the United Kingdom, hundreds of people have signed petitions protesting the Royal Agricultural College's proposed change to become the Royal Agricultural University.

Gibbs Colleges and Schools

See Peter Schworm's article, "Gibbs to Close its Boston Campus," from the February 19, 2008 issue of the Boston Globe.