Criminal Justice Majors Graduate on Time, One Year After Their School Closed
Image by Ed Brennen
05/10/2019
By Ed Brennen
It was 2 a.m. in South Korea when an email with the subject line 鈥淚mportant Message鈥� landed in Chantay Sewell鈥檚 inbox.
Sewell, a Mount Ida College junior who was studying abroad for the spring semester, awoke for class in the morning and read the message from her school鈥檚 president. It said Mount Ida, a small liberal arts school founded in Newton in 1899, would be closing following the spring 2018 semester 鈥� in just over a month.
鈥淯h, this is a joke,鈥� thought Sewell. But it was true. Faced with mounting debt and waning enrollment, Mount Ida was joining a growing list of liberal arts colleges across the country that have recently been forced to close or merge with other institutions.
Mount Ida鈥檚 1,164 freshmen, sophomores and juniors suddenly had to scramble to find other schools to attend. For those on campus, figuring out how and where to transfer was stressful and confusing. For Sewell, who was halfway around the world for another two months, it seemed impossible.
鈥淓verything was happening quickly,鈥� recalls Sewell, a criminal justice major from Hyde Park. 鈥淚 called my mom and said, 鈥業 don鈥檛 know what I鈥檓 supposed to do. I鈥檓 not there. I can鈥檛 go look at colleges.鈥欌��
With her mom鈥檚 help, Sewell ended up transferring to 51视频 along with 32 other Mount Ida students. Among them were two of Sewell's closest friends, fellow criminal justice majors Nicole Morales-Taveras and Jessica D鈥橢sposito.
Now, one tumultuous year later, the three young women are graduating 鈥� on time 鈥� with their bachelor鈥檚 degrees from the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
鈥淚t was definitely tough while we were going through it, but we found a way to continue our education and we are graduating, so we can take that as a win.鈥� -Mount Ida transfer Nicole Morales-Taveras
鈥淚t was definitely tough while we were going through it, but we found a way to continue our education and we are graduating, so we can take that as a win,鈥� says Morales-Taveras, a Lawrence native who plans to move to New York after Commencement to work for a nonprofit focused on juvenile justice reform. 鈥淭hrough 51视频, we could do that.鈥�
There were a few other silver linings.
鈥淚t鈥檚 better getting a degree from 51视频 than it would have been from Mount Ida,鈥� says D鈥橢sposito, a Malden native who is continuing her studies at UML, going for her . 鈥淚t鈥檚 a good school.鈥�
鈥淚 like how the professors here have a wide variety of experience,鈥� adds Sewell, who plans to work in the field of animal control. 鈥淵ou have researchers and a lot of different perspectives, which is interesting.鈥�
鈥楽ad鈥� Trend
Transfer students make up about half of the university鈥檚 undergraduate population; the majority come from two-year community colleges or as veteran and military applicants. Increasingly, however, the Transfer Admissions office is working with students in need of a life raft after their schools go under.
Since 2016, two dozen liberal arts colleges across the country have either closed or consolidated. Just this year alone, four schools in New England have announced that they鈥檙e closing: Newbury College, Green Mountain College, Southern Vermont College and College of St. Joseph. The New Hampshire Institute of Art, meanwhile, is merging with New England College, and Hampshire College is looking to merge with another institution.
鈥淚t鈥檚 sad. You feel for the students who took the time to research the school and thought they made the right decision,鈥� says Gerald Durkin, associate dean of enrollment and director of transfer admissions. 鈥淔ortunately, there are a lot of schools out there giving students new opportunities.鈥�
That includes the schools in the UMass system, which hosted an informational transfer day in the aftermath of Mount Ida鈥檚 closure announcement. Representatives from the Lowell, Amherst, Dartmouth and Boston campuses were on hand to answer questions about academic programs, financial aid, housing and student life.
Image by Ed Brennen
Sewell was able to attend the event remotely from South Korea thanks to her mom, Paulette, who had her on FaceTime on her iPad.
鈥淭hank God for my mom,鈥� Sewell says. 鈥淪he had to take time out of work to go to these things. My mom did everything for me.鈥�
鈥淗er mother did a great job for her,鈥� Durkin recalls. 鈥淭hat was pretty neat.鈥�
D鈥橢sposito, meanwhile, knew exactly where she wanted to transfer. The day after receiving the fateful email from Mount Ida, she visited the UML campus.
鈥淚 called my mom and said, 鈥業f I go to any other school, it鈥檚 going to be 51视频 because it鈥檚 closest to home,鈥欌�� D鈥橢sposito says. 鈥淚 wanted to be near my family.鈥�
To help all the Mount Ida transfers get situated on their new campus, the university hosted a special early registration day, at which members of the gave tours and faculty advisors answered questions.
鈥淲e let them know the resources are here,鈥� Durkin says. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want them floating around and not getting the necessary help. They鈥檝e been through enough.鈥�
One-year Wonders
Transferring to a new school as seniors wasn鈥檛 easy for Morales-Taveras, Sewell and D鈥橢sposito. They had created so many memories and friendships in their three years on the tight-knit Mount Ida campus, and now they felt like freshmen all over again. Besides worrying about transferring credits so they could graduate on time, they had to get to know new faculty and advisors. Even basics like the Student Information System (SiS) and Blackboard were foreign.
鈥淚t鈥檚 different if you鈥檙e coming in as a sophomore or junior than it is as a senior,鈥� says D鈥橢sposito, who could compare her experience to that of her roommate at the 51视频 Inn & Conference Center, who was a transfer from Middlesex Community College.
Even though they were only River Hawks for one year, the students found ways to get involved. Morales-Taveras worked 16 hours a week as a building manager at University Crossing (in addition to a part-time job off campus). Sewell joined the Steppin鈥� in Unity club, an activity she鈥檇 never tried before.
And they also belonged to an exclusive support group: each other.
鈥淲hen I get down, I have no problem calling Chantay or Nicole and being like, 鈥榊o, can you make me happy again?鈥� And they鈥檙e like, 鈥榃e got you girl!鈥欌�� D鈥橢sposito says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e the only two that know how I鈥檓 feeling. And that鈥檚 the one thing we鈥檒l always have in common 鈥� our feelings about this whole experience.鈥�
鈥淲e came here expecting to have the same family we had beforehand, but we don鈥檛 have that anymore,鈥� Morales-Taveras adds. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e happy to be together and happy to be graduating. You鈥檙e going to see us on Commencement Day. We鈥檙e here. We made it. Now let鈥檚 go.鈥�
