Fenwick at a Glance
Mission & History
The ground was broken on the building that would one day become Fenwick University's Carbunk Campus Center in the spring of 1889. It was then that the original members of the Tolle Lege Literary Society, a small group of academics and artists which included such illustrious figures as Percival Strouse, Phillip Gluck, Charles Blackwood IV, and Elias Reznick purchased a plot of land in order to build a meetinghouse to hold private gatherings and public lectures. It was at one such gathering that those in attendance dreamed up the founding of a small academy dedicated to an appreciation of art, conversation, and the development of character. Less than a decade later, Fenwick opened its doors and welcomed its first students to campus. A place of promise and hope, Fenwick was home to the most audacious and artistic minds and ventures for over one hundred and twenty years.
In the spring of 2020, Fenwick University closed its doors in response to the global pandemic. At the time, no one dreamed it would not open them again. Alas, after two years of failed reopenings, severe fiscal constraints caused its Board of Directors to shutter the University for good. Fenwick has now returned to its original mission of serving as home to a community of likeminded scholars and artists. It is not a functioning university nor does it have any business or economic interests. Its entire endowment is being spent to foster the social, cultural, and literary endeavors of associated faculty and staff, whose contracts the University has agreed to honor.