March 26, 2018

Thomas Aquinas College amends opening of Northfield campus to 2019

REGIONAL
By Stephen Kiltonic

Pictured is Stone Hall on the campus of the former Northfield Mount Herman School. (IObserve file photo/courtesy of Thomas Aquinas College)

NORTHFIELD – Thomas Aquinas College, which originally planned to open a satellite branch campus on the grounds of the former Northfield campus of the Northfield Mount Herman School this fall, has amended its plans for the property.

The college, which took over ownership of the former prep school campus last May, now hopes to open a New England campus in August 2019, pending approval of the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education.

“When the National Christian Foundation first gave us the Northfield property, we decided, despite admittedly long odds, to try to launch a branch campus in time for the 2018-19 academic year,” said Thomas Aquinas president Michael F. McLean. “It has become clear, however, that the project requires a more generous timeline. As such, we have decided to amend the Northfield plan and delay the prospective opening of a New England campus until August of 2019.”

The signing ceremony for the Northfield campus, which took place in Olivia Hall in May 2017, was attended by Michael McLean (right), president of the Catholic college, and Emmitt Mitchell, a member of the NCF’s Heartland Board of Governors and president of the Moody Center. (IObserve file photo/Stephen Kiltonic)

In pursuit of that goal, the college will continue to maintain the New England property – it has already re-roofed two major buildings – and work with the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education on its application.

“In the event that the college receives the Commonwealth’s approval, we will have more time to raise funds and prepare the campus for occupancy,” said McLean.

Thomas Aquinas College, located in Santa Paula, California, hopes to welcome students to New England at Convocation 2019.

“We remain fully committed to this project,” said McLean, “and hopeful that we can bring the college’s unique approach to Catholic liberal education to the East Coast.”

The National Christian Foundation (NCF) donated a majority of the 500,000 square-foot-campus, including 22 buildings, to the college as a gift. It’s expected that the enrollment at the Northfield campus will eventually grow to serve from 350-400 students.

A smaller portion of the property was given to the Moody Center, which will occupy several buildings on campus, including the historic Moody Auditorium, which was the home to the famous revivals of the 19^th century evangelist Dwight L. Moody. Moody founded the campus’ original school, the Northfield Seminary for Young Ladies, in 1879.

Thomas Aquinas College, founded in 1971, offers its students one, four-year, classical curriculum that spans the major arts and sciences with a focus on the Great Books. Students read the original works of the greatest thinkers in Western civilization in all the major disciplines: mathematics, natural science, literature, philosophy and theology while academic life is conducted under the light of the Catholic faith.

A video version of this story will be featured in an upcoming edition of “Real to Reel,” the Diocese of Springfield’s weekly television newsmagazine that airs Saturday evenings at 7
on WWLP-22 NEWS.