FOX POINT, Wis. — Cardinal Stritch University's president spoke publicly for the first after announcing the school is closing permanently.
Dan Scholz has worked at the school for nearly 20 years. He has served as interim and then acting president since 2020.
In January, leaders anticipated a $6-million deficit by the end of the academic year if nothing changed.
Enrollment didn't meet expectations and infrastructure costs were mounting.
TMJ4 News asked Scholz why there was not any communication earlier on about the school's financial state and the possibility of closing.
"At that time, we believed that we had various pathways forward to close that gap. We certainly didn't want to say to anybody that we could close. We certainly didn't want to panic, and we believe that we had different routes we can do to close that fiscal gap," Scholz said.
Cardinal Stritch leaders looked at fundraising, bank loans, the possibility of merging with other institutions and talking with schools that have survived similar situations.
The board passed a resolution to wind down operations last week. The sponsoring Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi accepted it the next day which was Thursday.
Scholz was asked if he thought students, staff, and families had a right to know sooner.
"Well, they had the right to know, when when we'd had all the information," Scholz responded. "We proceeded as thoughtfully and as carefully as possible."
TMJ4 News pressed Scholz about the school's financial history of operating at a loss for several years, as well as the nearly $5 million in grants and PPP loan money that came in 2020 combined with the cuts to staff and costs.
"We like many institutions have struggled for a while. We just simply at this point just ran out of viable options. When your enrollment decreases and your revenue is decreasing. You obviously make adjustments on the labor side and expense side, but it had gotten to a point that there was nothing left to cut," Scholz said.
Scholz expects to have partnerships with other colleges finalized by next week to help students transfer.
Cardinal Stritch will work with other higher education institutions and hold job fairs to help staff find work.
Operations will start to wind down in late May after commencement.
Scholz said they have apologized to everyone impacted by the closure and stressed that the school did everything they could to prevent it, but now that the decision was made they are dedicated to helping students, faculty, and staff.
"It is true that under my watch as in previous presidents enrollment was dropping and it has been dropping for a long time. I'm the last piece of that history, and I was the unfortunate last president to say we cannot continue," Scholz said.
For now, it is not clear what will happen to the property or what is next for Scholz.
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