Mount Mercy move good for region

By The Gazette Editorial Board

Congratulations to Mount Mercy College, which officially became Mount Mercy University a week ago.

The change in status reflects and recognizes the school's deliberate growth over the past few years. It also should help pave the way for even more changes - including an ambitious new campus building plan.

What won't change, now that the college has become one of only a handful of Mercy universities in the country, is the school's stated commitment to academic and personal growth.

“We will forever carry the vision of the Sisters of Mercy with us, and continue to live out that call in our new future as a university,” Mount Mercy President Christopher Blake wrote in an Aug. 23 guest opinion column.

We're glad for that.

The Sisters of Mercy founded Mount Mercy as a women's junior college in 1929 in order to provide affordable educational opportunities for local women and teach the values of volunteerism, gratitude, hospitality and service.

Over the years, the faith-based school grew into a four-year, coeducational liberal arts college, receiving national accreditation in 1960.

The expansion is in keeping with their mission of providing a diverse group of students with the tools they need to lead meaningful, engaged lives and contribute to their communities.

The transition to university status is the next logical step, recognizing more recent changes - including adult career training as well as graduate programs in business, education, nursing, marriage and family therapy.

“To grow is to change, and to become perfect is to change often,” Archbishop Jerome Hanus of the Dubuque Archdiocese said during a celebratory Mass last week.

Archbishop Hanus blessed the construction site for a new 43,000-square-foot University Center, which is to open next winter and serve as a central meeting place.

It's part of a long-term $30 million campus master plan that includes program-specific buildings for athletics, fine arts, theater and wellness.

That plan relies on donations, which aren't always certain in these tight economic times. The school's new university status may help with fundraising as well, showcasing just how hard the Mount Mercy community has worked in recent years to broaden its reach and depth.

Continued expansion of Mount Mercy's educational offerings and greater community engagement won't only benefit Mount Mercy students, faculty and staff.

Mount Mercy University is making a commitment, an investment, that is good for the Cedar Rapids community and region. It expands education choices and helps the local economy. We welcome even more community visibility from this can-do institution.