many ways had made itself demographically obsolete. Others have claimed that in contrast to Notre Dame and Rivier colleges, which were operated by less prestigious Catholic orders and whose students tended to be the daughters of local working-class families, Mount Saint Mary was operated by the Sisters of Mercy (who are often compared to the male Jesuit order as the great educators in the Catholic world), while its students were more often the daughters of upper-middle-class families primarily from the Boston metropolitan area. Consequently, the school would steadfastly resist abandoning its genteel image and traditions for the sake of survival, and in May 1978, after 44 years of educating young women, Mount Saint Mary graduated its final class of students. After closure For nearly three years, the college property was placed on the market for sale. In 1981, New Hampshire College (now Southern New Hampshire University), a private institution in Manchester, purchased the land to serve as its North Campus. Throughout the rest of the decade, the North Campus housed all graduate programs for the college, as well as the undergraduate program in human services and the English as a Second Language program for international students. However, by the early 1990s, New Hampshire College, preparing to assume university status, decided to consolidate all its programs at its main site in Manchester, and the property was once again placed on the open market. Following its purchase by a group of private investors, what was once the campus of Mount Saint Mary College has since taken on a diversity of functions: Mercy Hall is now a luxury apartment complex, and the building is aptly named the Mount Saint Mary Apartments. McAuley Library now serves as the public library for the town of Hooksett, and the convent is once again a private residence. One of the auxiliary buildings is now a day care and early childhood education center, another is a private residence, one has been demolished, and another functions as the maintenance and security headquarters for the apartment complex. The resident student complex had long fallen into neglect and disrepair after New Hampshire College sold the campus, and has since been demolished. Today, Mount Saint Mary alumnae maintain an active association, including a frequently accessed Facebook site. Alumnae reunions are held on the campus of Saint Anselm College simultaneously with the reunions of that institution. References Defunct private universities and colleges in