{{Short description|Private college in Springvale, Maine, U.S.}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox university | name = Nasson College | former_name = | free_label1 = Newspaper | free1 = ''The Nasson Bell'' | motto = {{lang|fr|Vérité sans peur}} | mottoeng = "Truth without fear" | type = Private liberal arts college | established = 1912 | closed = {{End date|1983}} | Executive Director = | city = Springvale, Sanford, Maine | country = United States | colors = Red and white<br>{{Color box|#8c0b2b}} {{Color box|white}} | sports_nickname = Lions | mascot = Lion | coordinates = {{coord|43|27|56|N|70|47|52|W|type:edu_region:US-ME|display=inline,title}} }}
'''Nasson College''' was a Private liberal arts college in Springvale, Sanford, Maine, United States. It that was established in 1912 and closed in 1983.
==History== The college was founded in 1912 as the Nasson Institute.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Van Allen |first=Peter |date=November 30, 2022 |title=Last vacancies on former Nasson College campus to become market-rate apartments |url=https://www.mainebiz.biz/article/last-vacancies-on-former-nasson-college-campus-to-become-market-rate-apartments |access-date=August 31, 2023 |website=Mainebiz}}</ref> Nasson Institute offered a two-year women's program, becoming a four-year school in 1935 and co-educational in 1952. Nasson offered majors in such fields as biology, English, environmental science, government, history, mathematics, and medical technology.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Nasson College Alumni Association: History |url=https://www.nasson.org/history.html |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=www.nasson.org}}</ref>
===The New Division=== In 1963, President Roger C. Gay proposed the possibility of having one or more colleges under the control of Nasson College. The planning and preparation began and, in the fall of 1966, the New Division, an experimental college, was established. The New Division followed the model set by Goddard College and Antioch College, which encouraged extensive student participation in social, academic, and discipline policy and independent study.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Kruger |first=Charles 'Chuck' |date=2009-03-28 |title=Interview with Chuck Kruger by Mike Hastings |url=https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/mitchelloralhistory/102 |journal=George J. Mitchell Oral History Project}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> Like many schools at the time, Nasson hoped to challenge the traditional models of higher education.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Eastman |first=George |date=1967 |title=Resistance to Change Within Liberal Arts Colleges: Diagnosis and Prognosis |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27796082 |journal=The Journal of General Education |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=224–234 |jstor=27796082 |issn=0021-3667}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Higginson |first=Reid Pitney |date=2019-04-26 |title=When Experimental Was Mainstream: The Rise and Fall of Experimental Colleges, 1957–1979 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/history-of-education-quarterly/article/abs/when-experimental-was-mainstream-the-rise-and-fall-of-experimental-colleges-19571979/94EF2B144ECDCA2F7EA6BD65165E775D |journal=History of Education Quarterly |language=en |volume=59 |issue=2 |pages=195–226 |doi=10.1017/heq.2019.4 |s2cid=151238948 |issn=0018-2680|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The New Division operated from a separate, newly constructed building located west of the original campus, containing both housing and community facilities.
The realities of operating two substantially different educational models under the same college umbrella resulted in substantial conflict at Nasson. The old division comprised traditional students and conservative faculty, while the New Division was made up of hippies and more liberal professors.<ref name=":2" />
In 1969, Gay was replaced as president of the college by John S. Bailey.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-01-31 |title=Dr. John S. Bailey |url=https://www.timesargus.com/obituaries/dr-john-s-bailey/article_542f58af-4064-5e39-9512-877324740835.html |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=Times Argus |language=en}}</ref> Educational consultants recommended dissolving the New Division and consolidating its programs with the rest of the college, while students in the New Division protested the loss of autonomy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last= |date=1969-03-31 |title=The Nasson Situation; New Division: To Be Or Not To Be |url=https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/stein/26 |journal=The Stein |publisher=University of Maine Portland |via=University of Southern Maine Digital Commons}}</ref> The New Division closed before the 1970 school year.<ref name=":1" />
===Closure=== The failure of the New Division made the college risk-averse, and it struggled to respond to shifting enrollment and mounting financial pressures.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sternberg |first=Robert J. |title=Failure to Change |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/04/03/essay-why-some-colleges-cant-change |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=Inside Higher Ed |language=en}}</ref> Several overtures were made between Nasson and the University of New England, but no deal was ever made to merge the institutions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schneider |first=Richard |title=College for Sale: The Fall and Rise of a Closed College Campus |year=2012 |isbn=9781475946987 |pages=59 |language=English}}</ref> Nasson had been reliant on the Draft during the Vietnam War, both for G.I. Bill students and as a potential haven for those looking to avoid the war. With the end of the war, student populations dwindled, and the college ran out of funds. It filed for bankruptcy in 1983 and closed its doors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schneider |first=Richard |title=College for Sale: The Fall and Rise of a Closed College Campus |year=2012 |isbn=9781475946987 |pages=2–3 |publisher=iUniverse |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Nasson College board of trustees has voted to... - UPI Archives |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/04/26/The-Nasson-College-board-of-trustees-has-voted-to/3221420177600/ |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=UPI |language=en}}</ref>
=== Re-opening === A new owner, businessman Edward Mattar III, acquired the site and promised to open a new college there by 1985. The second incarnation of Nasson College offered business and management courses.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Writer |first=Ellen W. Todd Sanford News |title=Author chronicles the 'Fall and Rise' of Nasson campus Book's release coincides with college's 100th anniversary |url=https://www.fosters.com/story/news/2012/09/27/author-chronicles-fall-rise-nasson/49386594007/ |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=Foster's Daily Democrat |language=en-US}}</ref> However, it was not successful. The state seized several buildings in 1996 and auctioned them off to a bidder who turned out to be a proxy for Mattar, which led to further legal troubles.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Van Allen |first=Peter |date=July 9, 2018 |title=A Mainebiz reporter's memories of Nasson College |url=https://www.mainebiz.biz/article/a-mainebiz-reporters-memories-of-nasson-college |access-date=August 31, 2023 |website=Mainebiz}}</ref>
== Campus site after closure == Most of the buildings on the original campus have been reused for other purposes. The Nasson Memorial Student Activity Center was acquired by an alumni group and repurposed as a community center in 2002.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About – NASSON COMMUNITY CENTER & LITTLE THEATRE |url=https://nassoncommunitycenter.com/about/ |access-date=2023-08-31 |language=en-US}}</ref> A community health center opened in a former science building in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mendros |first=Dina |date=2012-08-28 |title=Health center to expand |url=https://www.pressherald.com/2012/08/28/health-center-to-expand-2/ |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=Press Herald}}</ref> In 2022, it was announced that - nearly forty years after the college closed - the last original buildings on campus would become apartments.<ref name=":0" />
== Notable alumni ==
* Beverly Bustin, politician * Daniel Hobbs, politician * Charles Kruger, politician, businessman, and former musician * James Libby, politician, college professor, and author * Janet C. Long, politician and educator * Holly Stover, politician
== References == <references />
==External links== * [http://www.nasson.org/ Nasson College Alumni Association] * [http://www.johnbarth.net/ The National Memorial, a novel of the effort to establish a charity school at the former New Division of Nasson College]
{{Universities and colleges in Maine |state=expanded}}
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Category:Universities and colleges established in 1912 Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 1983 Category:Defunct private universities and colleges in Maine Category:Universities and colleges in York County, Maine Category:Sanford, Maine Category:1912 establishments in Maine Category:1983 disestablishments in Maine