Dear Cornish College of the Arts Community:

On behalf of the rest of the Cornish leadership team, I’m thrilled to share that we have signed a binding agreement with Seattle University that provides for the establishment of Cornish College of the Arts at Seattle University. Today’s announcement comes on the heels of last week’s unanimous approval of the agreement, from both institutions’ boards, setting in motion a planned close for May 31, 2025.

It’s an incredibly exciting opportunity for the future of Cornish, especially for our faculty and staff, current and incoming students, parents, guardians, and their extended families. Since we began this exploration process several months ago, it has become abundantly clear that SU is the ideal partner for this agreement. The missions of our two institutions are seamlessly aligned, and SU is deeply committed to continuing Cornish’s long legacy of arts education for generations to come. 

After the agreement closes, subject to regulatory approvals, Cornish will contribute and transfer to SU substantially all our assets, including our facilities, real estate holdings, name and intellectual property. SU will also assume certain Cornish liabilities. It’s part of a transaction commonly referred to as an asset contribution, which provides SU with an extraordinary opportunity to enhance its arts and arts education offering to students and the broader community. 

This asset contribution will occur in connection with a formal closure and dissolution of Cornish after our current academic term. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, when the agreement closes in late May, SU will launch and operate the new Cornish College of the Arts at Seattle University at our South Lake Union campus, located just a mile from SU’s campus in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. 

Our institutions have executed Teach-Out Agreements that will permit all our current and incomings students the opportunity to complete their degrees through SU. Cornish students who participate in the teach-out arrangements at SU will have access to the support, services and wide array of student life activities and programming available to all SU students. They’ll also enjoy free and reduced-cost sports tickets and more. Shuttle service between the two campuses will also be available to accommodate any cross-campus commuting. 

Together, with SU’s leadership team, we are moving quickly and collaboratively to ramp up the work of our integration teams, prioritizing what is most important between now and the closing of the transaction. Several integration teams have already been engaging with their counterparts at SU to ensure a seamless transition. To that end, SU is in the process of reviewing the hiring of faculty and staff from Cornish and making those decisions prior to closing of the transaction to help facilitate a smooth transition to SU for current and incoming Cornish students.

Thank you, in advance, for embracing this new opportunity. It’s an incredibly exciting time in Cornish’s celebrated 111-year history, and I look forward to sharing more information with the Cornish community over the next several weeks. 

For now, click here to read our FAQ that will provide you with additional background on our agreement with SU.

Sincerely,
Emily Parkhurst
Interim President, Cornish College of the Arts