Nasson College
43°27′57″N 70°47′56″W / 43.465934°N 70.798858°W
Nasson College was a private four-year accredited liberal arts college in Springvale, Maine, United States, that was established in 1912 and closed in 1983.
History
The college was founded in 1912 as the Nasson Institute.[1] Nasson Institute offered a two-year women's program, becoming a four-year school in 1935 and co-educational in 1952. Nasson offered majors in such fields as biology, English, environmental science, government, history, mathematics, and medical technology.[2]
The New Division
The realities of operating two substantially different educational models under the same college umbrella resulted in substantial conflict at Nasson. The old division comprised traditional students and conservative faculty, while the New Division was made up of hippies and more liberal professors.[3]
Closure
The failure of the New Division made the college risk-averse, and it struggled to respond to shifting enrollment and mounting financial pressures.[4] Several overtures were made between Nasson and the University of New England, but no deal was ever made to merge the institutions.[5] Nasson had been reliant on the Draft during the Vietnam War, both for G.I. Bill students and as a potential haven for those looking to avoid the war. With the end of the war, student populations dwindled, and the college ran out of funds. It filed for bankruptcy in 1983 and closed its doors.[6][7]
Re-opening
A new owner, businessman Edward Mattar III, acquired the site and promised to open a new college there by 1985. The second incarnation of Nasson College offered business and management courses.[8] However, it was not successful. The state seized several buildings in 1996 and auctioned them off to a bidder who turned out to be a proxy for Mattar, which led to further legal troubles.[9]
Campus site after closure
Most of the buildings on the original campus have been reused for other purposes. The Nasson Memorial Student Activity Center was acquired by an alumni group and repurposed as a community center in 2002.[10] A community health center opened in a former science building in 2012.[11] In 2022, it was announced that - nearly forty years after the college closed - the last original buildings on campus would become apartments.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Van Allen, Peter (November 30, 2022). "Last vacancies on former Nasson College campus to become market-rate apartments". Mainebiz. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
- ↑ "Nasson College Alumni Association: History". www.nasson.org. Retrieved 2023-08-31.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named:2 - ↑ Sternberg, Robert J. "Failure to Change". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2023-08-31.
- ↑ Schneider, Richard (2012). College for Sale: The Fall and Rise of a Closed College Campus. p. 59. ISBN 9781475946987.
- ↑ Schneider, Richard (2012). College for Sale: The Fall and Rise of a Closed College Campus. iUniverse. pp. 2–3. ISBN 9781475946987.
- ↑ "The Nasson College board of trustees has voted to... - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved 2023-08-31.
- ↑ Writer, Ellen W. Todd Sanford News. "Author chronicles the 'Fall and Rise' of Nasson campus Book's release coincides with college's 100th anniversary". Foster's Daily Democrat. Retrieved 2023-08-31.
- ↑ Van Allen, Peter (July 9, 2018). "A Mainebiz reporter's memories of Nasson College". Mainebiz. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
- ↑ "About – NASSON COMMUNITY CENTER & LITTLE THEATRE". Retrieved 2023-08-31.
- ↑ Mendros, Dina (2012-08-28). "Health center to expand". Press Herald. Retrieved 2023-08-31.