In December, the board of trustees of Martin University, the only predominantly-Black institution of higher education in the state of Indiana, voted to pause the university’s operations indefinitely. Now, the college’s trustees have announced that Martin University will permanently close, according to a letter sent to the Indianapolis Recorder.
With no university endowment, combined with insufficient operating revenue from declining student enrollment, the board “had no choice but to move toward closure.”
Going forward, the board and university leadership are developing teach-out agreements and transition plans to ensure students can complete their degrees at other institutions. Additionally, the university will begin to sell its assets to honor existing financial commitments to creditors and employees.
“Our work now is to ensure that Martin’s legacy of access, faith, resilience, and opportunity does not disappear,” wrote the university’s trustees. “We will wind down operations with dignity, transparency, and compassion. We will continue to advocate for the educational future of our students. And we will honor the founders who dared to believe that higher education should be available to those too often left behind.”
They continued, “Martin University has changed lives. That will always be true. The closing of our doors does not erase the impact of this institution, nor the community that built it. We remain grateful, humbled, and committed to seeing this final chapter handled with the same purpose and integrity that defined Martin University from the beginning.”
