The History of Gwynedd Mercy College
Gwynedd-Mercy College---a private, co-educational institution located in suburban Pennsylvania---has a Roman Catholic tradition and an enrollment of about 3,000.
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The Sisters of Mercy
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Gwynedd-Mercy College traces its story back to the mid-19th century, when Catherine McAuley (1778-1841) used her inheritance from her deceased father to build a house in Dublin, Ireland, called House of Mercy to provide lodging and education for underprivileged women and children. Since society of the day disapproved of women not part of the clergy forming support groups outside of the church, McAuley eventually decided to form the inhabitants of her house as a religious community named Sisters of Mercy in 1831.
Gwynedd-Mercy Junior College
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In 1861, two decades after McAuley's death, the Sisters of Mercy came to Philadelphia, and then arrived at Gwynedd Valley---about 25 miles away from the city---in 1947 with the intent of founding a junior college that espouses the ideals of a liberal arts education. Gwynedd-Mercy Junior College was established in 1948, its compound name derived from the place it was located and the order that founded it.
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The College Becomes a Four-Year Institution
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In 1963, the college was rechartered to enable it to award bachelor's degrees. The "Junior" was thus dropped from the institution's name to reflect its new status.
Growth
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Under Sister Mary Gregory Campbell---the college president from 1959-71---Gwynedd-Mercy College grew in physical size, number of programs and academic status. New buildings were constructed between 1964 and 1965--the McAuley Academic and Cultural Center, the Waldron Student Center and the college's first on-campus dormitory (Loyola Hall). In 1966, the college admitted men to become coeducational, and in 1967, nursing and business education were added to the undergraduate curriculum. By the 1970-71 school year---Campbell's last as president---the school's dormitories were filled to capacity.
Gwynedd-Mercy College Today
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Gwynedd-Mercy College currently offers more than 40 associate's, bachelor's and master's degree programs on a full- and part-time basis in the following schools: Allied Health Professions, Arts & Sciences, Business and Computer Information Sciences, Education and Nursing. There is also the Center for Lifelong Learning---located at the college's Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, campus---which is designed to accommodate the schedules of working adults, and offers a handful of accelerated programs. In the 2008 edition of the U.S. News and World Report's "America's Best Colleges," Gwynedd-Mercy College was ranked among the top master's-level universities in the northern region of the United States.
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References
- Photo Credit Stateuniversity.com, Gwynedd-Mercy College, mic.ul.ie
