Messiah College Philadelphia Campus Undergoes Changes

After serving as a cornerstone of Messiah College's mission, culture, and curriculum for over 40 years, the buildings of the Messiah College Philadelphia Campus (MCPC) will likely be sold to Temple University this fall. Messiah College plans to lease one of the two North Broad Street townhouses back from Temple. Programming at MCPC will continue as usual in fall 2010 with a diminished capacity of 37-40 students. President Kim Phipps says the college is committed to keeping MCPC, even if financial stewardship requires the downsizing of the program. She says the urban experience and focus on racial reconciliation and social justice, which hallmark the MCPC program, are crucial to Messiah College's vision.

She also acknowledges the emotional and spiritual significance of MCPC to students, many of whom describe the experience as life-changing. "In this tough economic climate, institutions are having to make challenging decisions" says Phipps. "We worked very hard to make sure we could maintain [MCPC]."

The decision to sell the Philadelphia property came as part of an ongoing review of college finances started in 2006. The goal of this review is to increase the financial sustainability of the college in order to curb tuition increases. While staff and services have been trimmed across campus, the downsizing of MCPC and the reorganization of the academic departments are the two most visible changes.

Provost Randy Basinger, who headed the financial review of MCPC, says the program represents a challenging business model that requires heavy subsidies from the college. Students attending MCPC pay a slightly discounted Messiah College tuition, much of which goes to Temple for the courses taken there by MCPC students.

Messiah College must pay to maintain its own staff of faculty (some of whom take the train from Harrisburg to Philadelphia once a week), residence life, maintenance, and other support staff in Philadelphia. While much of this money comes from student fees, the difference must come out of the school's general operating budget.

The program also suffers from erratic enrollment. It is not unusual for one semester to have almost twice as many residents as the one preceding it. Basinger points out the irony that Messiah College currently spends thousands of dollars per year to recruit Grantham students for a program that loses money for the college.

According to Basinger, the academic importance of MCPC has waned over the years as the Grantham curriculum has become more diverse and self-sufficient. During the early years of the program, it was common for 70% of MCPC residents to have curricular requirements which could only be fulfilled at Temple, whereas that proportion is currently closer to 30%.

Only four majors explicitly require time at MCPC: Journalism, Broadcasting, Film, and Finance. While some have expressed concern that these majors will fill up all of the 37-40 spaces, Basinger says that this is unlikely as these are all small majors.

Basinger also notes that Messiah College's influence on external programs has expanded greatly since MCPC's founding, including the Harrisburg Institute and a robust study abroad program. "For a long time, Philadelphia was the only game in town for students who wanted to study off-campus" says Basinger.

The college will receive approximately $3 million from the sale of the property. Most of that, says Phipps, will go into a Trustee-managed endowment fund to secure the financial future of the college and serve as a source of funds for student scholarships and large capital purchases.

Since the sale is not finalized, the college is still reviewing which of the two townhouse blocks it will lease from Temple. While both townhouse blocks contain student residences, the support and recreational facilities are quite different. "It's certain that we won't be leasing back the whole thing," says Phipps.

Both current MCPC students and alumni of the program have expressed concern that Temple will want to use the space for something else. Phipps assured that any contract will contain a stipulation that Temple University must provide adequate accommodations for 37-40 MCPC students and staff should they choose to renege on the lease.

Student reaction is mixed. While MCPC's dedicated alumni are sad to see the cutbacks, some admit the necessity. Senior SO/AN major Samantha Moore, who served as MCPC's assistant resident director in Spring 2009, says that the budget cuts make sense to her considering the holistic financial health of the college. "Those buildings were built in the late 1800s" says Moore, recalling the high cost of maintaining the property.

Other students think the college should push the program more vigorously, rather than downsizing it. Senior elementary education major April Lindley says that Messiah College should require more students to spend time in Philadelphia as part of their curriculum, including social work, Christian ministries, and modern language majors. "People need to learn and work in their home state: in a situation and setting that they could work in after graduation" says Lindley. "It's a great experience, they should encourage people to get out of Grantham.