Hands to Heaven. Illustration by A Journey through NYC religions

The board of The King’s College, located in the Wall Street area of Manhattan, had promised a “significant announcement” this week about new developments. Many people thought that a partnership with another university was in the making. Tonight was anticlimactic.

The board says that The King’s College is going into a holding pattern without classes, hoping for better times. If there ever was a possibility of a surprise of good news, it didn’t happen. The board was full of regrets.

Instead, the announcement is “the College will not be offering classes for the fall of 2023 semester.” Some faculty at a meeting today said that the mood was very glum. Others had skipped the announcement because they had already found jobs ranging from teaching at other colleges or any job that would pay the rent. Others were participating in the weddings of their former student or were on trips abroad.

The leaders of the college vaguely referred to diligent explorations of many options. In conclusion, the board announced that it will have to reduce or eliminate faculty and staff positions. “It is with regret we share that our faculty and staff positions will be reduced or eliminated.” Faculty were informed that many contracts that were up for renewal on August 1st would not be renewed.

King’s hasn’t decided to permanently close and is appealing the decision to strip its accreditation made by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

The board and senior administrators hope that they will be able to find “strategic alliance opportunities.”