In a sign that athletics can’t always save struggling colleges, Lourdes University, a small, Catholic institution outside Toledo, Ohio, announced Wednesday that it will close at the end of the academic year.
Like hundreds of similar campuses faced with falling enrollment, Lourdes had sought to bolster its numbers by dramatically expanding its athletics programs. Those efforts did bring new students to campus, but overall enrollment continued to decline.
“We recognize the gravity of this moment and the pain this news may bring,” said a statement from the university’s board and the Sisters of St. Francis, the order of nuns that founded the institution as a junior college in the late 1950s. “However, this decision reflects a sober assessment of what can be sustained responsibly while preserving the quality and integrity that define Lourdes.”
