CLAYTON 鈥 The classrooms were dark, the library closed, the majority of the dorms cleared out. Common meeting areas, such as the Dunham student center, were almost entirely devoid of people.
Zapher Lea, a junior, was one of the few people left on the campus of Fontbonne University at 4 p.m. on a recent Friday.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been pretty dead,鈥 said Lea, a business administration major, as he sat behind a table in the Atteln Family Fitness Center located in Medaille Hall.
It鈥檚 Lea鈥檚 job to check-in visitors. No one had come by in the two-and-a-half hours since Lea鈥檚 shift started. Likely no one would.
Fontbonne鈥檚 enrollment has dropped by more than half since聽the school announced it would close by fall 2025 and accept no new students. It had 874 graduate and undergraduate students in fall 2023. There are now 339 students left, as the majority of students either graduated or opted to transfer to other area colleges.
People are also reading…
Some sports teams have disbanded as there aren鈥檛 enough students to fill them. Classes have been cut or slimmed or consolidated. Several faculty, staff and administrators have found work elsewhere.
Fontbonne鈥檚 16-acre campus at Wydown and Big Bend boulevards was acquired in June by neighboring Washington University. The prestigious school was not one of the schools to ink 鈥渢each-out鈥 or transfer agreements with Fontbonne.
The hollowing out of Fontbonne 鈥 a stalwart provider of affordable higher education in 最新杏吧原创 for over 100 years 鈥 offers a glimpse of what might await other area colleges and universities as experts warn of precarious futures amid declining birth rates and changing views on the value of a college degree.
Lea came to Fontbonne for its short-lived sprint football team, which had its first season in 2022 but didn鈥檛 have enough players this fall, he said.
Nearly all of Lea鈥檚 friends went home, he said. His former teammates went to other schools to play. Lea left too, at first, for a college in Chicago, but came back to Fontbonne early this fall because his new digs were too far away from home in Sweet Springs, Missouri.
It鈥檚 a bit lonely at Fontbonne, he said, but he knows other people in 最新杏吧原创 鈥渢hat makes being lonely here easier.鈥
鈥淚 don鈥檛 regret coming here,鈥 Lea said. 鈥淭uition is a lot cheaper. It鈥檚 in-state, and I had a scholarship.鈥
Fontbonne was never large. At its peak about a decade ago, it enrolled 2,000 students.
At the very least, , 鈥渙ne of the last鈥 adjuncts at Fontbonne, said 最新杏吧原创 is losing an important place for working-class people to boost their credentials or pursue career changes.
鈥淚f there鈥檚 no little university for that, the only options are the big ones鈥 people can鈥檛 afford, O鈥橲hea said.
鈥業 needed to get out鈥
The mass text sent on March 11 to students was an immediate bad sign. Madeline Price, a sophomore at Fontbonne at the time, looked down at her phone to read the message asking all available students to come to the university鈥檚 gym for some 鈥渋mportant news.鈥
A few students in the gym knew the news even before university President Nancy Blattner could relay it. Some started crying after finding a news article online headlined: 鈥淔ontbonne announces closure,鈥 Price said.
鈥淲hen I heard that, I was like, 鈥極h my god, you鈥檝e got to be kidding me,鈥欌 she said.
Nancy Blattner, president of Fontbonne University, pauses while addressing the media in Ryan Hall Chapel on Monday, March 11, 2024, after announcing the coming closure of the more than 100-year-old institution.
Then came the question Price would agonize over for weeks after that announcement: 鈥淲hat are we supposed to do now?鈥
Eventually, Price made the same decision most Fontbonne students did. She left.
Price and other students who transferred to聽teach-out partners of Fontbonne said they鈥檙e paying the same tuition or less.
Price鈥檚 transfer to Lindenwood was a welcome change, she said. Her father went to Fontbonne, and she was used to small schools after attending Notre Dame High in 最新杏吧原创 County. But Fontbonne was starting to feel claustrophobic, she said. There was 鈥渘othing to do.鈥 She鈥檇 see the same people every day.
鈥淚 needed to get out,鈥 Price said.
At Lindenwood, Price joined a sorority. Her classes have gone from five to 15 people at Fontbonne to at least 20.
Even so, Fontbonne remains an important place to Price and her dad.
鈥淚 drive past all the time and I鈥檓 like, 鈥楾his was my home away from home,鈥 Price said. 鈥淚t鈥檒l always be a place in our memory.鈥
Former Fontbonne student Madeline Price, center, gets her classwork checked on Tuesday, Nov 19, 2024, by her professor, Kathryn Barohn, who teaches Math Structures for Teachers at Lindenwood University. Price, a junior education major, thrives at Lindenwood for last remaining credit hours after leaving Fontbonne University.
A 鈥榙ifficult鈥 situation
Fontbonne鈥檚 closure was a less welcome change for Darren Luchetti.
Luchetti came to Fontbonne for baseball, a sport he鈥檚 played since he was 5. But Luchetti doesn鈥檛 play anymore. Luchetti鈥檚 new school聽is in a higher sports division than Fontbonne. Luchetti decided to focus on his academics this year.
鈥淚t was a pretty difficult situation,鈥 said Luchetti of Fontbonne鈥檚 closure. 鈥淚t was kind of a struggle for a couple of months towards the end of the school year to figure out where I鈥檇 live.鈥
Luchetti now lives with his parents in Maryville, Illinois. He attends Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, which offers Fontbonne students in good academic standing 50% off tuition for up to six semesters.
For Emily Mack, a nursing student in her senior year, news of Fontbonne鈥檚 closure brought anxiety.
Transferring from one nursing program to another is extremely difficult, Mack said. Nursing programs vary widely in when students take certain classes. And nursing credits rarely transfer to another school in their entirety.
鈥淭here were a lot of unanswered questions about how we were going to finish getting our nursing degree and what opportunities we鈥檇 have, and if there was a chance we wouldn鈥檛 be able to graduate,鈥 Mack said.
Fontbonne eventually added Goldfarb School of Nursing to the list of 27 schools that entered into teach-out agreements with Fontbonne. It was the only school to accept all of Mack鈥檚 credits 鈥 and now she'll graduate a semester early.
鈥淭hey were able to work with me and let me graduate early, with the workload, of course, being pretty extensive,鈥 Mack said.
Fontbonne University is seen on Monday, March 11, 2024, in Clayton. Fontbonne announced it will close in fall 2025 amid declining enrollment and budget deficits. The 16-acre property will be bought by Washington University.
In an email to the Post-Dispatch, Fontbonne鈥檚 Executive Vice President and Provost Adam Weyahupt said the university doesn鈥檛 have complete data on where students transferred. Many graduated in the spring or summer, and a new class didn鈥檛 cycle through as no new students were accepted this fall.
On a recent Monday afternoon, basketball player Cristian Newcombe was one of few students on campus.
Newcombe, a junior on the men鈥檚 basketball team, said it鈥檚 been 鈥渜uiet.鈥 One of his classes has just three students. Athletic events don鈥檛 have 鈥渢he same kind of energy.鈥
鈥淲e wanted to keep that one extra year of playing athletics,鈥 Newcombe said of he and his teammates. 鈥淚f it doesn鈥檛 work out at another school, we still have this chance here.鈥
Nancy Blattner, president of Fontbonne University, reads a statement in Ryan Hall Chapel on Monday, March 11, 2024, before taking questions from media about the coming closure of the 100-year-old institution.
Nancy Blattner, president of Fontbonne University, answers pre-submitted questions in Ryan Hall Chapel on Monday, March 11, 2024, after reading a statement to media about the coming closure of the 100-year-old institution.
