Mount Marty College is changing its name to Mount Marty University.
College administrators wanted to officially accommodate their addition of graduate programs as well as a growth in enrollment.
The process started about two years ago from an editorial in the Yankton Daily Press and Dakotan that advocated for the name change.
“Some board members saw it, got really excited about it,” Mount Marty College president Marc Long said. “And then, subsequently, [I] got into conversation with the sisters—they were enthusiastic about it, so the board approved it in spring of 2019.”
This isn’t the first time Mount Marty changed its name. Originally the 83-year-old institution was known as an academy and then a junior college before adopting the current college name.
Mount Marty continues their trend of change from last year, where they started to build a new fieldhouse and residence hall to accommodate more students.
Bryant Dvorak is a junior studying physical education at the college. He said he’ll now consider attending the school’s grad programs.
“It’s going to give that opportunity to if the time comes that I want to further that, I can come right back here to Mount Marty University and get that master’s, that doctorate degree, which will be something special,” he said.
The university name change goes into effect on July 1st.
