Merrimack College is a

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Augustinian university in

North Andover, Massachusetts North Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 30,915. History Native Americans inhabited what is now northeastern Massachusetts for thousands of years prior to European colonizati ...

. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. It enrolls approximately 5,700 undergraduate and graduate students from 34 states and 36 countries. The school has an acceptance rate of 75%.

History

Merrimack College was established in 1947 by the

Order of Saint Augustine The Order of Saint Augustine (), abbreviated OSA, is a mendicant order, mendicant catholic religious order, religious order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who ...

following an invitation by the Archbishop of Boston, Richard Cushing. It is the second Augustinian affiliated college in the United States after

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

leaders saw a need to create a

liberal arts college A liberal arts college or liberal arts institution of higher education is a college with an emphasis on Undergraduate education, undergraduate study in the Liberal arts education, liberal arts of humanities and science. Such colleges aim to impart ...

largely in a commuter school format for veterans returning from

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Archbishop Cushing tabbed the Rev. Vincent McQuade, O.S.A, to lead the college. McQuade was a native of

Lawrence, Massachusetts Lawrence is a city located in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Merrimack River. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 89,143. Surrounding communities include Methuen, Massachusetts, Methuen ...

and longtime friend of Cushing. McQuade joined the effort after working on the faculty at Villanova working with veterans transitioning home from the war. McQuade organized the creation process, including land purchases and zoning, securing a charter from the state, establishing curriculum, and managing the college's campus construction. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts granted a charter to The Augustinian College of the Merrimack Valley in March 1947 and the college officially opened in September of the same year.

Presidents

Merrimack College has had 8 presidents since it was founded in 1947: # Vincent A. McQuade, 1947–1968 (founder) # John R. Aherne, 1968–1976 # John A. Coughlan, 1976–1981 # John E. Deegan, 1981–1994 # Richard J. Santagati, 1994–2008 # Joseph D. Calderone, 2008–2008 # Ronald O. Champagne, 2008–2010 # Christoper E. Hopey, 2010–Present

Academics

Merrimack College offers more than 100 undergraduate academic programs and more than 40 graduate programs including accelerated master's degrees. The College's five schools include the Girard School of Business, the Winston School of Education and Social Policy, the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and Computational Sciences, and the School of Nursing and Health Sciences.

Campus

The main campus of Merrimack College is situated on of land in

, a suburb 25 miles north of downtown

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. The main campus features over 40 buildings, including a 125,000-volume library; several classroom buildings, including the state-of-the-art School of Engineering and Computational Sciences complex; Palmisano Hall; the Sakowich Campus Center; the Rogers Center for the Arts; the Merrimack Athletic Complex; Austin Hall, which houses administrative offices; the Collegiate Church of Christ the Teacher; student apartment buildings and residence halls. Additionally, Merrimack owns several properties outside of the main campus, including the Louis H. Hamel Health Center and Saint Ambrose Friary (located across Elm Street from the bulk of campus). The library is named after McQuade, the college's founder. The college’s academic buildings, as well as the church and Austin Hall, are generally fronted towards Route 114, with the residence halls, athletic facilities and campus center lying further back. In 2017, the college received a $29.7 million tax-exempt bond from MassDevelopment. Merrimack designated several major projects for the funds, including construction of two academic buildings and three residence halls; renovations to renovate O’Reilly Hall, McQuade Library, and several other campus buildings; and upgrades to athletic facilities.

Student life

Athletics

The athletic teams, except for

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

and men's lacrosse, participate in the

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Its current 13 full members are located in five Northeastern states: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachuse ...

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

. They began their four-year transition from Division II to Division I during the 2019–20 season and have been full Division I members since the 2023–24 season. During the college's transition to Division I, it added varsity programs in women's bowling, men's volleyball, men's golf, and dance, bringing the total number of teams participating in intercollegiate sport to 28 (12 men's teams and 16 women's teams). The men's and women's

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the go ...

programs are currently NCAA Division I programs, participating in the

Hockey East The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for ...

conference.

Notable alumni

Entertainment/Media * Billy Costa - radio and television host * Charlie Day - actor and comedian * Kelly Lange - Tv news reporter * Sally Ann Freedman - Beauty Queen and professional model Business * Richard Potember - inventor and engineer * Bob Unanue - CEO of

Goya Foods Goya Foods, Inc., is a private company, private American multinational corporation, multinational producer and distributor of foods and beverages sold in the United States and many Spanish-speaking countries. The company operates facilities in the ...

* Brian C. Mitchell - American academic administrator * John F. Carney - civil engineer * Richard S. Potember - investor and scientist Politics * Marc Lombardo - Massachusetts state representative * Barbara L'Italien - Massachusetts state representative and former member of the senate * Steven Angelo - Massachusetts state representative * Christopher Fallon - Massachusetts state representative * Brian Cresta - Massachusetts state representative * Vincent Lozzi - Massachusetts state representative * Regina Birdsell - New Hampshire senator and state representative * David Doherty - New Hampshire state representative *

T. J. Donovan Thomas J. "T. J." Donovan Jr. (born January 15, 1974) is an American lawyer and politician who served as Vermont Attorney General from 2017 to 2022. He was first elected in 2016 with over 66 percent of the vote. He previously served for ten years ...

- former attorney general of Vermont * Paul V. Kelly - former

Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs The assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs is the head of the Bureau of Legislative Affairs within the United States Department of State. List of assistant secretaries of state for legislative affairs References External links ...

* Adam J. Satchell - Rhode Island senate member Athletics *

Carl Yastrzemski Carl Michael Yastrzemski Sr. ( ; born August 22, 1939), nicknamed "Yaz", is an American former professional baseball player who played his entire career with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He started his career primarily as a ...

- baseball player * Ryan O'Rourke - baseball player and coach * Brian Murphy - baseball coach * Joe Gallo - basketball coach *

Jordan Minor Jordan Minor (born March 11, 2000) is an American basketball player for the Long Island Nets of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Merrimack Warriors and the Virginia Cavaliers. High school career Minor attended Boston Coll ...

- basketball player * Ed Murphy - basketball player * Bill Herrion - basketball coach * Greg Herenda - basketball coach * Tom Herrion - basketball coach * Gelvis Solano - basketball player * Darren Duncan - basketball player * Juvaris Hayes - basketball player * Nolan Godfrey - Lacrosse player * Anthony Aquino - ice hockey player * Chris Barton - ice hockey player * Will Calverley - ice hockey player * Joe Cannata - ice hockey player * Declan Carlile - ice hockey player * Greg Classen - ice hockey player * Mike Collins - ice hockey player * Mark Cornforth - ice hockey player * Billy Costa - ice hockey player * Stéphane Da Costa - ice hockey player * Collin Delia - ice hockey player * Mike Doneghey - ice hockey player * Joe Exter - ice hockey player * Teal Fowler - ice hockey player * Matt Foy - ice hockey player * Jim Hrivnak - ice hockey player * John Jakopin - ice hockey player * Bob Jay - ice hockey player * Alex Jefferies - ice hockey player * Johnathan Kovacevic - ice hockey player * Steve McKenna - ice hockey player * Hugo Ollas - ice hockey player * Kris Porter - ice hockey player * Rob Ricci - ice hockey player * Marco Rosa - ice hockey player *

Bryan Schmidt Bryan Schmidt (born July 27, 1981) is an American professional ice hockey player who is currently playing for Nottingham Panthers of the EIHL. Awards and honors *Regular season MVP, Merrimack College Merrimack College is a Private univers ...

- ice hockey player * Darrel Scoville - ice hockey player * Brett Seney - ice hockey player * Karl Stollery - ice hockey player * Rejean Stringer - ice hockey player * Mike Vaskivuo - ice hockey player *

Jim Vesey James Edward Vesey, Sr. (born October 29, 1965) is an American former ice hockey player, who currently works as a scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was a Division II-III Hobey Baker award winner at Merrimack in 1988. He played 15 games in t ...

- ice hockey player * Jason Wolfe - ice hockey player * Shawn Loiseau - football player * Joe Clancy - football player and coach * Carly Muscaro - Olympic runner

Notes

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Buildings and structures in North Andover, Massachusetts Universities and colleges established in 1947 Augustinian universities and colleges Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities Private universities and colleges in Massachusetts Universities and colleges in Essex County, Massachusetts Catholic universities and colleges in Massachusetts 1947 establishments in Massachusetts