Marymount School of New York history

On September 24, 1936, ten students enter what is to be the first freshman class of Marymount Manhattan College.

The decade of the 1940s began on a sad note for Marymount with the death of Mother Butler in April, 1940.

Mother Therese Dalton succeeded Mother Gerard as president of the college in 1943.

The Snow Queen Festival, a popular tradition to benefit overseas missions (a favorite cause of Mother Butler) began in 1945, and a large new dormitory, Gailhac Hall, was built soon after.

Mother Gerard was subsequently elected General Superior of the congregation in 1946.

The swimming pool, formerly located on the 8th floor of the Main building, officially opens for beginning, intermediate and advanced swimming classes (Corviae, March 1949).

Marymount University, the first Catholic college to be established in Virginia, was founded in 1950.

Mother du Sacre Coeur Smith, a former classics professor and dean of the college, became president of Marymount in 1953.

Sister Elizabeth Gallagher, RSHM, becomes Marymount’s first president, serving until 1955.

A highlight of this decade was the 1957 celebration of the 50th anniversary of Marymount's founding.

Sister Berchmans Walsh, RSHM, becomes Marymount’s second president, serving until 1960.

1961 Marymount College is granted an absolute charter as an independent college by the Regents of the University of the State of New York on February 24, 1961, and changes its name to Marymount Manhattan College.

Peter Baker, who began teaching at MMC in September 1962, is the longest-serving faculty and staff member of Marymount Manhattan College after 50 years of service.

The first recorded Alumni Association Medal is awarded to Barbara Lynch Loughlin ’70, “the student who has been voted by the graduating class to have exercised the greatest influence for good upon her companions” (Today, June 1970).

Janet Collins, the first African-American prima ballerina to perform at the New York Metropolitan Opera, begins teaching dance at MMC, and continues until 1971.

In 1974 Ferraro accepted a position as an assistant district attorney in the Investigations Bureau in Queens.

Brigid Driscoll, then associate dean, introduced the Weekend College in 1975.

In 1976, Fordham University began offering graduate-level programs in social work, education, and business on property owned by the religious community near the Marymount campus but this had no effect on the independent status of either institution.

In 1978 she was elected to the United States House of Representatives from New York’s Ninth Congressional District, running as a Democrat on a platform supporting law and order, the elderly, and neighbourhood preservation.

Doctor Christin resigned as president in 1979 and Sister Brigid Driscoll was formally installed as president in October of that year—restoring the tradition of Marymount being led by a member of the R.S.H.M. congregation.

In 1980 Ferraro was elected secretary of the Democratic caucus, and she took a seat in the House Steering and Policy Committee.

Also in 1984, Democratic Party presidential candidate Walter Mondale selected Ferraro to be his running mate.

Ferraro’s autobiography, Ferraro: My Story, was published in 1985.

In 1990, Ferraro established a scholarship in memory of her mother, Antonetta Ferraro, who urged Geraldine to attend college despite her own hardships as a widow.

In 1997, Marymount celebrated the 90th anniversary of its founding with a Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral.

Sister Brigid resigned as president in 1999 and was succeeded by Anne Slattery, '69, a former banker.

The Agreement of Consolidation was announced in December 2000, and Fordham declared its intentions to continue to operate Marymount as an undergraduate women's college within the University for as long as it was "academically and financially feasible" to do so.

Sister Eymard Gallagher, RSHM, becomes Marymount’s fourth president, serving until 2001.

Anne-Marie Keyes, Ph.D., begins teaching philosophy at MMC, and continues to do so until 2003.

Sister Judith Savard, RSHM, joins the MMC faculty, and teaches art history, studio art and graphic design until her death in 2004.

Marsha A. Hewitt, Esq. ’67 (English) joins the Board of Trustees and serves the College until 2006.

The Marymount Campus was then sold by Fordham to EF Education in February 2008.

She is the Executive Director of the Mount Auburn Cambridge Independent Practice Association (MACIPA). She was honored with the President’s Medal in 2010.

On December 6, 2011, President Judson R. Shaver, Ph.D., hosted MMC’s most generous and steadfast donors at The Lotos Club in Manhattan for a celebratory dinner marking the College’s 75th anniversary.

Kerry Walk, Ph.D., officially begins her term as the 8th president on July 1, 2015.