Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - College students attending Medaille University are now looking for a new school to continue their studies. The college announced Monday that they will be closing their doors for good at the end of this semester after a failed attempt to make a deal with Trocaire college.
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"It was definitely a shock," said Xaneya Thomas, President of Medaille's Student Government Association on WBEN Tuesday morning.
"They had been working on the asset purchase agreement with Trocaire for over two years now. And I know personally, speaking with faculty and staff, they were doing tons of paperwork and background work with the New York State Education Department and all these other qualifying factors, to transfer programs and everything. So Trocaire, to pull out as abruptly as they did, nobody was expecting it. Because both sides were putting in as much work as possible to make it happen."
Thomas believes not only did the school not give students proper notice, but there could have been other avenues the college could have pursued before deciding to close down. She places a lot of the blame on the university's board of trustees.
"This completely falls on the board of trustees at Medaille University. Because they have approved ridiculous budgets that have left us in deficit. They have ignored multiple votes of no confidence from both from all faculty, staff, and students. They were even listed as one of the reasons why we failed our integrity and ethics standard under the Middle States Commission, which is the accrediting body for what was Medina University. They had no clue because they didn't read either reports, like the first warning report and the one where they followed up to see what changes we've made as an institution. So they've been very hands off and just completely disregarded the responsibilities as trustee members."
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Thomas shares her frustrations with having to complete her studies elsewhere.
"I am a third-year, luckily, I've held up well in academics. So the academic piece I'm not too concerned with, but I do play women's basketball, and I have for my entire college career. So moving to a different school, figuring out if I'll be able to play basketball there, and knowing that I won't be able to play with my teammates, it is frustrating, and it has been difficult, especially with the finances. They can match our first year of tuition at a new transferred school. But that doesn't take into account other things like living off-campus. I had just signed a lease for an apartment. And then Medaille announced the closing so I'm tied to Buffalo."
For her fellow students, the pressure is on to find a new college and have credits transfer.
"I'm a criminal justice major and my concentration is law in society. So a lot of schools luckily offer some form of that for me, like criminal justice or political science, but I can only hope my credits transfer, all of them," said Thomas.