Lon Morris College is on the edge of collapse. Earlier this week, just days after the end of the semester, school staff was notified that they were all out of jobs. The two year private college, which opened it’s doors as a female academy in 1854, has been struggling with it’s finances. The school has already missed three payrolls and has hired a consultation company to review the institution’s finances and decide the fate of the school.
Layoff notices were delivered by email to all but an essential 11 staff members. The board of trustees have said that the furloughs were made by the consultation company as part of the reorganization and not by the board, but there is little difference in who is sending the unfortunate news. College president, Miles McCall has also stepped down from his position stating that the reorganization has an improved chance of success with his position open.
While staff now wait to hear news if and when they might be returning to work, there is no word on what will happen to one thousand students enrolled in the college. Lon Morris affiliated with the United Methodist Church, but is the only school that is not owned by the denomination. Fellow schools under that same affiliation were questioned regarding accepting Lon Morris students in the case that the campus does not reopen by fall semester, but so far no official statements have been made.