The Fallout: University of the Arts Haunted by Unanswered Questions Months After Sudden Closure

PART I

Sometimes it takes a closure to remind us just how public a private college’s institutional importance actually is. This year has seen the winding down of several historic private colleges, including Wells College in New York and Goddard College in Vermont. Announcements of their closures sparked shock, grief and dismay. Arguably, the most dramatic closure came at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. In June, the nearly 150-year-old institution’s life came to a sudden, shocking end when it shuttered with just a week’s notice. The event is still reverberating in the city to which UArts belonged, its closure a public trauma. The announcement sparked protests, media and legal investigations, multiple lawsuits and other legal actions, and the swift departure of the university’s top executive.