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Dave Bangert of the Lafayette, IN Journal & Courier reports in " Amid St. Joe's alumni anger, new trustees see rebirth for shuttered campus ," that alumni and friends of St. Joseph's College in Rennselaer, IN are working to reopen the institution.  Bangert's article includes excerpts of interviews with two members of trustees, Peter Ippolito and Ned Tonner. St. Joseph's announced a suspension of classes in early 2017.  You can refer to an earlier post on the College History Garden that includes links to a variety of press reports since the initial announcement .

Tusculum College in Tennessee announced this week that it will change its name to Tusculum University beginning July 1, 2018 .  Tusculum is the " ...oldest institution of higher education in Tennessee, the twenty-eighth oldest in the nation, and the oldest coeducational institution affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). " Tusculum's traces its history to the founding of Martin's Academy in 1784, later renamed as Washington College.   It was later was known as Tusculum College after 1844.  Tusculum merged with Greeneville College in 1868 to become Greeneville & Tusculum College.  The name was shortened to Tusculum College in 1912.

The Telegraph of Alton, IL published an article this week commemorating the closure of Shurtleff College, " Shurtleff College, opened in 1827, closed 60 years ago ."  The author, Tom Emery, provides an interesting historical sketch.  The instit ution  evolved from Rock Spring Academy or Rock Springs Seminary in Rock Springs, IL which closed in 1831 and moved to Alton. It was initially known as Alton Seminary or Alton College before the name changed to Shurtleff College in 1836. Classes were suspended after 1956, though institution didn't officially close for several years permitting several students to complete degree requirements. The campus was taken over by Southern Illinois University and for use as an offsite center until SIU-Edwardsville opened in 1972. Part of the Shurleff campus site is now used by SIU Dental School. Shurtleff College is considered by some to be the first college in Illinois and the first founded between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi River. 

Wichita Area Technical College (WATC) and Wichita State University announced today that WATC will affiliate with WSU to become the Witchita State University Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology .  WATC was founded in 1965 and enrolls roughly 3,500 students. You can also read more about the affiliation on the KWCH-12 website, " WATC to become the 'WSU Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology ." If you are interested in recent trends for mergers and affiliations,  access  College Closures since 2009  in the index at the right of any  College History Garden  page.  There is a separate tab for mergers, affiliations, or acquisitions.  Each tab includes basic information for each institution, i.e., Carnegie Classification, sector, accrediting agency, and the IPEDS unitid.

Nevada Public Radio's Yesterdays series featured histories of the state's institutions in recent programs. Great Basin College was the focus of a program on November 7th  with an emphasis on local leaders in Elko, NV who worked to establish the institution in 1967 as the first community college in the state.  Initially known as Elko Community College, the name changed to Northern Nevada College in 1973 and to Great Basin College in 1995. " UNLV at 60 " commemorates the first campus building that opened in 1957.  The post was published on October 27th and provides a sketch of the institution's history.  Extension classes were first offered by the University of Nevada, Reno in 1951 to serve the growing Las Vegas population.  The institution was first known as Nevada Southern University and changed the name to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1965.

St. Gregory's University in Shawnee, OK announced this past week that it will close at the end of the current fall semester .  The institution was founded by Benedictine monks at Sacred Heart Mission in 1875.  It relocated to Shawnee, OK in 1916 and was initially chartered as the Catholic University of Oklahoma.  It was renamed St. Gregory's College.  Later after 1997, the name changed to St. Gregory's University. You can read more at Inside Higher Ed in Scott Jaschik's article, " Another Small Private College Will Close ." Patrina Adger interviewed students and staff and her video is posted on the KOCO-TV News website, " Students at St. Gregory's University looking for answers after news of closu re ." If you are interested in recent trends for closures and mergers,  access  College Closures since 2009  in the index at the right of any  College History Garden  page.  There are separate tabs for non-profit and for-profit closures.  Each tab inc