Fontbonne University, a school in Principia’s athletic conference, is set to close the summer of 2025. In response, many students are transferring to other schools to continue their education, including Principia College. Several students and faculty from Fontbonne started at Principia this fall.
Fontbonne University, in St. Louis, is one of several liberal arts colleges across the United States that announced it needed to close in recent years, citing declining enrollment, a shrinking endowment and financial difficulties.
The transfers said it’s been a strange journey, but they’ve felt welcomed at Principia.
“The transfer has been weird and long,” said sophomore Mark Fisher, who transferred from Fontbonne to Prin this fall, “but Principia has been helping and trying to help us out the best they can.”
Fisher transferred in with his fellow track and field friend sophomore Quan Daniels.
“With all the rumors that were going around,” Daniels said, “hearing that they were $5 million in debt, we kind of expected it to be closed soon, but not as soon as it did.”
Even though Fisher and Daniels said they could have stayed for the rest of the year at Fontbonne, they chose to come to Principia and this year. Both said they have had a different learning experience here compared to Fontbonne.
There are two new athletic faculty members that have left Fontbonne to join Principia College. One is Emily Bay, head strength and conditioning coach and assistant Track and Field coach. Bay spent four years as a physical performance coach at Fontbonne University, where she was also the associate head track and field coach the past two years.
“I thought that it would be a crazy transition,” Bay said, “but everyone has been too helpful and kind but it has been smooth.”
She said she is excited to work with student-athletes to help them get to where they want to be physically.
With Fontbonne closing soon, and the anxiety that comes with that, she said she was worried students weren’t getting the quality education they needed. She said she feels like coming to Principia was the best decision she could have made, too.
“I want to stay here till I retire,” Bay said, “and help build that Division III dynasty.” Bay hopes to help Principia athletes get better and advance, taking Principia to the next level.
Justin Halley, the new interim associate head coach for cross country and associate for track and field, also came from Fontbonne.
“It is sad that [Fontbonne] is closing,” Halley said, “because that’s where I got my first head coaching job and where it started from nothing to being a national qualifier last year.”
Knowing that Principia goes against Fontbonne in the same St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) conference as Principia, Halley said that it will be weird going against them, but it will be exciting at the same time.
Halley, Bay, and the rest of the athletes will get to have the chance to see Fontbonne students and coaches finish out their last year. They won’t be on the same side of the competition, but they will get a chance to see each other.
Fontbonne University was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1923, according to its website, and reported its enrollment dipped from 2,000 a decade ago to 874 last fall. Washington University of St. Louis said it would takeover the school’s 16-acre campus.
Principia Admissions representatives did not reply to request for comment.
