Fordham has signed a contract with EF Schools, Inc. (EF Education), for the sale of its Marymount campus in Tarrytown, N.Y. The contract price is $27 million including furnishings and equipment.
The campus was sold due to its large size relative to the University’s needs, according to Fordham officials. Plus, the costs associated with its upkeep made it financially untenable as a Westchester campus.
EF Education is a world leader in language instruction, offering study abroad, language education and cultural exchange programs for students and adults in 40 destinations around the globe. The firm has had a long relationship with Marymount, one that considerably predates the college’s consolidation with Fordham. The property will officially change hands in late spring.
Fordham is not making any profit on the sale. The proceeds match the debt the University assumed when consolidating with Marymount, combined with operating losses over the period of consolidation and capital investments since 2000.
“I do want to emphasize Fordham’s commitment to educating its remaining Marymount women in the tradition founded by Mother Marie Joseph Butler 100 years ago, and our commitment to honor that tradition and the Marymount alumnae in the years to come,” said Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham. “Fordham is proud of its Marymount women, none more so than those who have shown such resilience in the face of change.”
Sisters of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM) live in four houses on the north side of the Marymount campus; those houses and the property they occupy are not included in the sale. The University has separated the four houses from the sale so that the sisters can continue to live there. In addition, Fordham has given the sisters a monetary gift to celebrate their many contributions to the life of the American Church.
