Manhattan College Students and Brother at the Unveiling Ceremony of
Manhattan University.
MANHATTAN.EDU/COURTESY
By Isaiah Rosario, Staff Writer
In a shocking turn of events and after years of deliberation, Manhattan College is no more. On Aug. 21, it was announced that the college’s name would be changed to Manhattan University, effective immediately.
To become a university in the past, the college would need to satisfy a Ph.D. requirement. However, due to new requirements put forth by the New York State Board of Regents, colleges without Ph.D. programs are now able to apply to become a university, which made MU eligible.
According to President Milo Riverso, he believed that some of the major items that went into the name change were the prominence of the faculty at the university and the programs that the university offers, which deserve a significant status to draw from the international sector more.
“High school enrollment is declining and the value of a higher education is being questioned,” Riverso said. “The affordability of higher education is a concern to a lot of families who have multiple children, or even one child. We need to survive as an educational institution and draw from the international sector. We also want to draw the best of the best students and we have great proficiency in business and in engineering and a lot of the stem sciences. That’s something that I think the international student is looking for.”
While the school made a lot of changes academically in the past year with the removal of programs and majors, the name change to “university” brings hopes to push the school forward academically, including a move to the doctoral level in the future. Although there is no timeframe for the new program, administration at the school feels this is a step in the right direction.
“I think that [becoming a university] gives us the ability to move to the doctoral level, for sure,” interim provost Rani Roy said. “I think that’s maybe a farther down-the-road conversation. I do think university is more reflective of the current depth and breadth of the programming that we offer at Manhattan [University] … so I believe that that university designation is very reflective of who we are. While New York State had these rules and changed them, we were kind of considered a master’s level institution that offered a wide variety of programs.”
The Quadrangle spoke to Manhattan University seniors who are excited about the new transition and feel like it is a massive step in the right direction for the school, but feel that it came as a shock, due to a lack of information shared beforehand.
“The name change from college to university is a progressive step for Manhattan,” senior Adam Ruiz said. “Considering the changes over the past year under the new administration, I believe that Manhattan University will have a better ability to expand its prestige from the tri-state area to a national level. The University branding should attract more students and bring light to some of our renowned graduate programs, as well as opportunities for research and hands-on learning. The community and alumni network that Manhattan College has fostered for many years should only grow across the student body and expand in the industry as Manhattan University.”
Other students wondered if the financial struggles of the college would improve with the name change.
“I think the transition to a university is a shock after the last few months, especially considering all the budget cuts that have been made,” senior Ava Gaspari said. “I don’t know what exactly changed to make us qualify as a university. It’s exciting, but it seems random right now and especially as a senior, it’s weird to graduate from a different school than I enrolled in.”
Despite the excitement with the transition, there are still some updates to be made to campus signs and merchandise that bear the previous name.
Some students feel the transition should have been rolled out slowly as a result.
“I think the name change is fitting for having multiple schools within Manhattan, and will make the name sound more prestigious,” senior Dennis Peitler said. “That being said, I think the transition should have been thought out a lot more by the school, even if it meant being pushed back to next year, as almost all the signs on campus still say ‘college’ making it feel like we’re in the middle of an awkward, unplanned transition.”