Moravian College announces its transition to a university
Moravian College announced Tuesday that it is transitioning into a university.
The college said it began the process to become Moravian University this fall. The move is subject to approval by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which Moravian expects to complete by 2021, the announcement on the college’s website said.
The change would reflect Moravian’s growth and its addition of graduate programs leading to master’s and doctoral degrees, the college said, while colleges are typically smaller and focus mainly on undergraduate education.
The benefits of switching to university status include a better fit for Moravian’s academic offerings, a more competitive academic and athletic landscape, greater prestige and more applications from students, who generally favor universities over colleges, the website said.
“Because of the increasing strength of Moravian, it is time for us to claim the prestige that a university title brings to any institution,” Moravian President Bryon Grigsby said in a video on the website.
Alyson Remsing, a 2003 Moravian graduate now helping recruit new students, said she couldn’t be more thrilled.
“I think it shows that Moravian is continually growing and moving forward,” Remsing said.
Some made light of the news
about the transition on Moravian’s Twitter page.
“What are we supposed to do with all of our Moravian College gear?” tweeted a user named “Mr. Frank.”
“Keep it! They will be collectibles one day,” the college tweeted back.
Ken Rampolla, a 1979 graduate and Moravian board chairperson, applauded the transition.
“We’ve come to the realization that the move to become a university was inevitable with the tremendous growth we’ve experienced over the last decade,” Rampolla said. “This is one of the most exciting developments I’ve been a part of in my
40-plus years as a Greyhound.”
Moravian, America’s sixth oldest college, was founded in 1742 as separate boys’ and girls’ schools.
The girls’ school moved from Germantown in Philadelphia to Bethlehem in 1749, where it became Moravian Female Seminary in 1785, and is now the South campus.
The boys’ schools opened in Bethlehem and Nazareth, later merging to form Nazareth Hall. In 1807, the men’s college and seminary built an extension of Nazareth Hall called Moravian College and Theological Seminary.
In 1863, both the college and seminary were chartered by
the state to grant baccalaureate degrees. In 1894, the school adopted blue and grey as its colors to symbolize the need for the nation to heal after the Civil War.
In 1954, the women’s and men’s schools merged to form the Lehigh Valley’s first co-ed institution of higher learning.
In 2016, Moravian reorganized into the School of Natural and Health Sciences, the School of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and Moravian Seminary.