Anatomy of Failed Merger

Two neighbors on Massachusetts' North Shore -- Salem State University and the Montserrat College of Art -- spent more than half a year immersed in detailed and time consuming merger negotiations, only to find in the end that a union that seemed beneficial at first would actually end up being a financial drain.  Mergers by nature are complicated undertakings, particularly when a public university is considering absorbing a private institution, as was the case with Salem State and Montserrat.