College closing: When layoffs will begin at Eastern Nazarene in Quincy

QUINCY ? Eastern Nazarene College will cut 125 jobs between Aug. 29 and the spring of 2025, according to MassHire’s Department of Career Services.

The announcement came 10 days after ENC’s board announced it will close the Wollaston campus due to “financial headwinds” after more than 100 years in operation.

ENC notified MassHire as required under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988, which gives employers 60 days to inform MassHire, local government officials and employees of mass layoffs or plant closings.

ENC will continue to serve students on track to graduate by year’s end and retain staff and faculty needed to do so, as well as staff needed to close the 20-acre campus, according to its website.

The college has also pledged to provide employees with job-placement support, counseling and financial support.

Students not on track to graduate by the end of 2024 can transfer to Gordon College in Wenham; Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Mount Vernon, Ohio; and Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee. 

The Wollaston campus currently hosts a processing center and temporary shelter for homeless migrant families, which opened in the summer of 2023.

Operated by the Massachusetts Office of Health and Human Services and local social service providers, the programs will not be immediately impacted by the college’s closure, according to ENC’s webpage.

In its June 25 announcement, ENC’s board of trustees said it will transition into a “new educational enterprise.” In and FAQ section of its website, ENC says the this will entail “annual scholarships for Nazarene students from the Eastern Field to attend another Nazarene IBOE (International Board of Education) school.”

According to U.S. News and World Report, ENC enrolled 492 undergraduates and 155 graduate students in 2022.

Last September, Mayor Thomas Koch introduced an overlay district to reserve the campus for senior housing in the event that ENC should close. City Council referred the overlay to committee, where it remains.

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Peter Blandino covers Quincy for The Patriot Ledger. Contact him at [email protected]. 

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Mass layoffs at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy due to closure