Last week, Fordham signed a contract with EF Schools, Inc. (EF Education), for the sale of the Marymount campus. The University will move its Westchester operations to a new campus at 400 Westchester Ave., in West Harrison, N.Y., in time for the Fall 2008 semester.
EF Education has had a long relationship with Marymount, one that considerably predates the college’s consolidation with Fordham. The property will officially change hands in the late spring. The University delayed public announcement of the sale so that Marymount alumnae and the college’s remaining students could be informed first.
“I do want to emphasize Fordham’s commitment to educating its remaining Marymount women in the tradition founded by Mother Marie Joseph Butler 100 years ago, and our commitment to honor that tradition and the Marymount alumnae in the years to come,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “Fordham is proud of its Marymount women none more so than those who have shown such resilience in the face of change.”
Sisters of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM) live in four houses on the north side of the Marymount campus; those houses and the property they occupy are not included in the sale. The University has separated the four houses from the sale so that the sisters can continue to live there. In addition, Fordham has given the sisters a monetary gift to celebrate their many contributions to the life of the American Church.
Fordham’s adult undergraduate program, and Graduate Schools of Business Administration, Education, Religion and Religious Education, and Social Service will move into Fordham Westchester—a three-story, 62,500-square-foot building that includes “smart classrooms,” a library and computer lab, and student lounge. The West Harrison campus is located on the White Plains border, just off Interstate 287 near the Hutchinson Parkway and Route 684. The newly-constructed academic facilities surround a large central courtyard in a building that sits on 32 landscaped acres with a stream and pond. The building offers parking for 250 vehicles and access to public transportation. The University has signed a 20-year lease on the property, which is well-suited to its academic and program needs.
