Laurel K. Kessler-Quinones: The Last Freshman Class
A member of the last freshman class recalls the news that the college would close, the students' effort to save it, and a return visit to a campus that had changed.
Laurel K. Kessler-Quinones writes as a member of the last freshman class to enroll at Ladycliff; she would have been class of 1983. She recalls hearing near the end of that first year that the school was closing, the news crews, the concerts and singing engagements, and a later visit when she found the chapel gone and her dorm turned into a hotel. She asks whether those who attended without graduating may join the association. The page holds only her own text. The site's dated copy is from April 2018.
Unfortunately, I was part of the last freshman class to enroll at the “cliff”. I’ll never forget we were just about to complete the year when we heard the news that the school was closing. We rallied to keep the school going. I remember when the news crews came out and all the girls at the college joined together.
While I wasn’t fortunate enough to graduate from the “cliff” I will never forget the beautiful time I spent as a scared unsure freshman in college. I still consider myself a Ladycliff gal. If the school hadn’t closed I definitely would have finished my Bachelor’s degree at the school. I remember all the concerts we performed and singing engagements. I still have photos.
I recently went back a few years ago just to peek around and my heart broke. The chapel is no longer there and I remember the little path behind the dorm where we could sit on the cliff and just look out over the hudson. Spellmen Hall appeared the same but my dorm totally changed. The grand piano is no longer there is no slate staircase, in fact no open space at all. Now it is just a hotel, but I walked the halls anyway and could hear the voices of all the girls.
I don’t know if you are allowing membership for those of us who attended but didn’t graduate. I hope so.
Laurel K Kessler – Quinones
and I would have been “class of 83”
A few questions
Why did the writer never graduate from Ladycliff?
She belonged to the last freshman class to enroll. Just before the year ended, the students heard the school was closing. She says she would have finished her Bachelor's degree there, and she would have been in the class of 1983.
What did students do when they learned the college would close?
The writer says they rallied to keep the school going. She remembers news crews coming out to the campus and all the girls at the college joining together, and she recalls the concerts and singing engagements her group performed.
What did she find when she visited the campus years later?
She found the chapel gone, though the path behind the dorm where students sat on the cliff above the Hudson stayed in her memory. Spellman Hall looked the same, but her dorm was changed, with the grand piano and slate staircase gone, and now a hotel.
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