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The story
Idle Hour
Idle Hour was a 900-acre (3.6 km2) estate on the Connetquot River built in 1882 by William K. Vanderbilt. The wooden 110-room home was destroyed by fire on April 15, 1899, while his son, William Kissam Vanderbilt II, was honeymooning there. Willie and his new wife escaped. It was rebuilt of red brick and gray stone, with exquisite furnishings, for $3 million. His daughter Consuelo also honeymooned there when she married the Duke of Marlborough in 1895.
After Vanderbilt's death in 1920, the mansion went through several phases and visitors, including a brief stay during Prohibition by gangster Dutch Schultz. Around that time, cow stalls, pig pens and corn cribs on the farm portion of Idle Hour were converted into a short-lived bohemian artists' colony that included figures such as George Elmer Browne and Roman Bonet-Sintas.
In 1963, the estate became home to Dowling College until it closed in August 2016.
Founding
In 1955, Adelphi College began offering extension classes in Port Jefferson, Riverhead, and Sayville, New York. In 1959, Adelphi Suffolk became the first four-year, degree-granting liberal arts institution in Suffolk County, housed in an old public school building in Sayville. In January 1963, Adelphi purchased the former William K. Vanderbilt estate in Oakdale. Adelphi spun the campus off in 1968 as Dowling College, named after city planner and philanthropist Robert W. Dowling, who provided an endowment of over $3 million.
Operation
The Racanelli Learning Resource Center was constructed in 1974 to house the library, cafeteria and additional classrooms. A month later, a fire damaged the Vanderbilt mansion. The Hunt Room, the Foyer and Ballroom were all substantially damaged. A College committee, led by Alan Fortunoff, Dowling Trustee and son of Fortunoff founder Max Fortunoff, guided the restoration of the ornate woodwork, precious marble, and the elaborately carved stonework. The mansion was renamed to Fortunoff Hall to honor Paul and Emily Fortunoff.
Dr. Victor P. Meskill served as president of Dowling from 1977 until he was forced to step down in 2000.[1] Meskill attempted to shift the focus of the college from a small, locally focused institution to a global university, with an emphasis on the aviation focused Brookhaven Campus which opened in October 1994. A shakeup occurred in June 1999 when Meskill fired five top-ranking college officials on the same day as a cost-cutting measure, after Dowling's debt had increased to $34 million and the school's credit rating had been downgraded. Meskill was one of the most highly compensated college presidents in the country. Months later, Meskill was forced to step down by trustees and the officials he fired were reinstated.
Former Suffolk County Executive Robert Gaffney was made president in October 2006. Gaffney resigned in May 2010, then later in 2014 the college paid Gaffney over $400,000 in a settlement. In August 2013, the Brookhaven Campus dormitory, bookstore, and cafeteria were closed due to the college's financial struggles. However, these facilities reopened in September 2014 following a deal with Stony Brook University which allowed Dowling students to live in the dormitory alongside Stony Brook students.
After Gaffney stepped down in 2010, Dowling College went through a series of six interim leaders in five years, including Board Chairman Scott Rudolph, provost Elana Zolfo, Jeremy Brown, and interim President Norman Smith. The last of which was Albert Inserra, who became president in the fall of 2014. As of 2016, the college enrolled 2,256 total students, down from a high of 6,746 in 1999. Dowling College was approximately $54 million in debt with an endowment of under $2 million, its credit rating was "Ca", and it was in default on bond payments.
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Closure
Dowling College was accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. In November 2015, Middle States required Dowling to show cause as to why the school's accreditation should not be revoked due to the college's finances, a final warning before such action would be taken. In March 2016 Dowling announced that they had secured a partnership with Global University Systems, allowing the college to continue operating. On May 23, five days before the Class of 2016's graduation ceremony, the agreement with Global University Systems stalled and Dowling needed an emergency infusion of cash to survive until graduation.
In a total surprise to many students, faculty, and staff, on May 31 Dowling announced that the school would be closing in three days. Nearly all employees were laid off. The closing date was later pushed back to June 8. On that day, president Albert Inserra announced that negotiations had restarted and the motion to close the school was rescinded. A teach-out plan, required by Middle States, to help students transition to other institutions, was put into effect in partnership with Molloy College. However, since Dowling remained open, the teach-out plan was canceled and students were left on their own. On July 13, the board of trustees announced that they had failed to reach an agreement with Global University Systems, and the college would close on August 31, when Middle States would revoke its accreditation. Dowling College granted its last degrees and closed on August 31, then filed for bankruptcy protection on November 29, 2016. The mansion and grounds have faced extreme vandalism since its closure.
Long Island University has taken over as successor custodian of Dowling College's transcript records.
From Wikipedia’s article on Dowling College, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5