Marymount Manhattan College is aprivate college on theUpper East Side ofManhattan. As of 2020, enrollment consisted of 1,571 undergraduate students with women making up 80.1% and men 19.9% of student enrollment.[3]
Marymount Manhattan College was founded in 1936 by theReligious of the Sacred Heart of Mary as a two-year women's college and a New York City extension ofMarymount College inTarrytown, New York. In 1948, the college moved to its present location on East 71st Street and became a four-year bachelor's degree-granting college; the first class graduated from MMC in 1950. In 1961, MMC was granted an absolute charter as an independent four-year college by the Regents of theUniversity of the State of New York.[4]
Since 1961, Marymount Manhattan has been an independent, private college open to all creeds, while noting its foundation by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary. While the college no longer described itself asCatholic, the Catholic Church continued to list it in the Catholic Directory until 2005. Unaware that the college did not claim to be a Catholic school, theCardinal Newman Society protested the college's announcement of its decision to invite then-SenatorHillary Clinton to deliver acommencement address and to confer an honorary doctoral degree upon her, due to Clinton's longtime public support forabortion rights.[5] In response to the protests and without objection by the college, it was de-listed fromThe Official Catholic Directory, which identifies Catholic institutions.
In 1990,Regina Peruggi became the first lay president.[6] In 2003, the college's mezzanine was renamed in her honor.
In 2001, the college opened the 55th Street Residence Hall, one of the tallest dorms in the United States,[7] with 32 floors of student housing in a 46-story building. In 2015, Marymount Manhattan opened a second residence hall for upperclassmen located in Cooper Square, a 12-story building to house 270 students[8]
In 2017, just under 2,000 students were enrolled representing 48 U.S. states and 36 countries. In conjunction with its core liberal arts curriculum, Marymount Manhattan offers 30 major programs of study and over 40 minors along with pre-professional programs.[9] It is accredited by theMiddle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools. The college offers a degree program for incarcerated women at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, granting an Associates of Arts degree in social science and Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology.[10]
In July 2015,Kerry Walk was unanimously selected by the Trustees of Marymount Manhattan College as the school's eighth president.[12]
Kerry Walk resigned effective June 2023 to become president of the University of the Arts, which closed a year later. On May 29, 2024, media sources announced that Marymount Manhattan College would be merging withNortheastern University as part of its Global University System.[13][14] Marymount Manhattan College will be renamedNortheastern University-New York City. The merger will not be finalized until it receives regulatory approval, which could take up to two years.[15]
