The College of Saint Rose Students React to an Email Letting Them Know the School Is Closing

The Gist:

• The College of Saint Rose in Albany, N.Y. is closing permanently.
• Students have taken to social media to express their disappointment and frustration.
• The school has suffered from financial difficulties for a few years and finally had to call it quits.

According to the Times Union, The College of Saint Rose was established in 1920 and was originally a private school for women. This lasted nearly 50 years until 1969 when the college opened its doors to male students. By far its most famous alumnus is Jimmy Fallon but the school has certainly seen its fair share of soon-to-be professional sports players, writers, and politicians to name a few. It may be small, but it's mighty.

Despite The College of Saint Rose's somewhat long history and diverse curriculum, the school's president sent out an email to students in November 2023 announcing its closing. Although rumors had been swirling for quite some time, the news was still a shock to many students. They took to TikTok with their responses. What happened at The College of Saint Rose and why can't Jimmy Fallon save it?

Julia, who goes by @juliaspeaks on TikTok, used humor to cover up what must have been deeply troubling information about her college closing. In a classic get ready with me TikTok, Julia explained how she found out that The College of Saint Rose was shuttering its doors permanently. Julia did this while wearing her school's sweatshirt, which was a nice touch.

In November 2023, "the news leaked that Saint Rose is closing after the Spring semester [2024]," said Julia while carefully applying eyeliner. "We were all in denial about it," shared Julia because the school hadn't made an official announcement. She was made aware of the school's status via the Times Union's piece which was a history of the college leading up to when it would be closing.

The closing was finally confirmed in an email that the school president sent to students on Nov. 30, 2023. Apparently, the message began with criticism about the media's inaccurate reporting, then backed up everything the Times Union wrote. Sounds pretty chaotic to me. This was also the first time faculty members heard the news that they would be out of a job. Evidently, the same thing happened when the school was cutting programs, presumably in an effort to save money.

Julia goes on to astutely point out that this situation is especially unfair because students are usually at different levels. If you've ever changed colleges and had to transfer credits, then you know how challenging of a task this can be. I'm sure they have an endless amount of questions regarding what will and will not be valid once the school is closed.

As with most things in life, ABC News 10 reported that The College of Saint Rose is basically going out of business. It always comes down to money. Denise Dagnino, a spokesperson for the college, told ABC News 10, "The College of Saint Rose has been forthright about its financial challenges and continues to explore all options." She made this claim a day before the email was sent out by the college's president.

Apparently, the Hail Mary pass was asking the city, county, and state for assistance. "We are already working and talking to as many people as possible to make sure that we come up with some type of a plan for the next steps here," Assemblymember Patricia Fahy told the outlet. David Galin, Chief of Staff to Mayor Sheehan, was very transparent about what was being asked of the Albany city government. "The College requested the City provide $5 million in direct assistance," he said.

David also mentioned the "number of legal and fiscal hurdles" that stand in the way of helping out The College of Saint Rose. Either the city couldn't be of any help or maybe, they are announcing the school's closing now to prepare students but are hoping for a late in the game save. Honestly, this is a difficult situation to put faculty, staff, and students through. I hope someone rides up on a horse and help. Ya hear that, Jimmy Fallon?