While an official statement on the matter is still pending, there is a report out there that Fisher More College will close its doors May 5.
That’s the latest story I’ve heard from some folks very well placed to know. I do not believe the official announcement has been made, yet, but the financial problems at Fisher-More College have developed to the point – as many insiders thought they would – that the college will be forced to close its campus on May 5.
From what I understand, the hope is to keep the college open as an online-only college but Fisher-More does not have accreditation for such. In addition, the accrediting agency has previously only granted accreditation to online programs that develop from a real, physical college. It is unknown whether accreditation can be obtained for an online-only school.
It is sad that the closing chapter of the school was the ugly affair of the TLM. But the trajectory of the college was likely set long before Bishop Olson even became Bishop. Nailing the coffin shut does not kill its inhabitant, so Bishop Olson is not responsible for this.
Obviously, the college had its financial difficulties for some time, difficulties that were not helped by the incidents over the last 2 months for which the administration of the college bears a significant amount of responsibility.
That said, the school’s financial plan, as detailed in their published documents, was entirely dependent of securing a sizable grant from a generous donor capable of sustaining the school indefinitely . That isn’t really a plan, that is a dream.
That said, I really love the idea of an affordable Traditional Catholic College and I hope that someone, someday succeeds with one. If they do, Fisher More College will be the cautionary tale that helps them avoid the pitfalls.
April 7, 2014 at 9:23 pm
VATICAN II PLUS TWO =
And where are the schools
The daily Mass
Lines to confess
A uniformed lass?
And where are the schools
The Latin class
Cassocked priest
Candles in brass?
And where are the schools
To strengthen souls
Shape their wills
Set the goals?
And where are the schools
The altar boy
Assisting priest
Like Christ, their joy?
And where are the schools
Oh, time you lied
A generation
Has gone and died.
And where are the schools
Which don’t derive
That two plus two
Are sometimes five?
The Fraternity –
They’re found in large
Where struggling families
Let priest take charge
For the good of the whole
Priests’ lives are laid
So many may come
Not be afraid
And win the Faith
From Christ-like hand…
St. Pie the Tenth
Two and two are grand!!
April 7, 2014 at 11:47 pm
Great….we can send the kids to G-Town or N.D., so they can help promote the culture of death!
April 8, 2014 at 12:31 am
FMC's failure, in my opinion, is due in part to the current state of education, ironically. I think it should have always been a private matter between His Excellency and the College, but I don't know that could have ever happened. In order for it to have succeeded:
– FMC and His Excellency needed to communicate directly, without intermediaries befuddling complex theological issues. The well was poisoned, and the fanfare around the letter's leaking was damning.
– I'm sure there are local benefactors easily capable of floating such a small institution in the five years it would take for sustainability; they would need the bishop's approval, and that can never happen now. Too many shots have been fired.
– It's virtually impossible for laity to define a Traditional Catholic College: they would require a firm philosophical and theological foundation, as well as an audience able to keep up with them. They'd also have to be savvy enough to react to the crowd's perception. For Pete's sake, there aren't even any regularized active traditional teaching orders; how could a layman be able to navigate those waters?
– Lastly, democratic equivocation and name-calling would've needed to stop, both internally and externally. e.g., Anti-modernists = Vatican II critics = those who reject V2's validity = those who reject the N.O.'s validity = those who reject the pope's validity = those who are sedevacantists. It's a slippery slope of which most non-traddies are afraid.
But our faith cannot be grounded in fear (as Bp. Olson said at vespers before his Installation). This time, fear won, and the devil. I only hope the students who persevered there this past year can learn the lessons and teach their kids how to avoid it in the future.