Endicott Announces $20M Partnership with Cummings Foundation
At a ceremony to break ground on the new School of Nursing and Health Sciences building, Endicott College today announced a historic $20 million partnership with Cummings Foundation.
In recognition of this commitment—the largest in Endicott's history—President Dr. Steven DiSalvo revealed that the nursing school will be renamed the Cummings School of Nursing and Health Sciences.
“We are thrilled about this new partnership with Cummings Foundation and very thankful for their continued generosity and the commitment to philanthropy demonstrated by Bill and Joyce Cummings. Their support will ensure the continued development of our future nurses and health science professionals, which is critical, particularly during this current public health crisis,” said President DiSalvo.
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The partnership builds on Cummings Foundation’s legacy of support to the school. Cummings Foundation was founded in 1986 to better Massachusetts communities, and has since grown to become one of the three largest private foundations in New England.
The funding will support a new state-of-the-art educational space for instructing future nurses, and represents an investment in American healthcare, which has seen a nursing shortage exacerbated by the pandemic. The building will also house the Sport Science program providing students with interactive lab spaces and traditional classrooms.
“As home to our Cummings Center and Dunham Ridge business and technology campuses, Beverly has long been an important community to the Cummings organization. And Endicott is certainly one of Beverly’s finest gems,” said Bill Cummings, founder of Cummings Foundation and Cummings Properties. “With the highest appreciation for the College’s innovative learning programs, Cummings Foundation is so delighted to partner with Endicott to help fulfill the vital need for nursing and health sciences professionals.”
Rendering of a new lab and classroom space in the Cummings School of Nursing & Health Sciences.
The Cummings School of Nursing and Health Sciences will continue to provide students with an enhanced learning environment that supports professional development. It offers a traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing; Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing; Master of Science in Global Health Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Education, and Family Nurse Practitioner; plus a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing.
The Cummings School of Nursing and Health Sciences will also house the School of Sport Science, which offers a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science, Bachelor of Science in Sport Management, Bachelor of Science/Master of Science 3+2 Exercise Science/Pre Professional Athletic Training, a Master of Science in Sport Leadership, and a Master of Science in Athletic Training.
The funding is accompanied by a large-scale conceptual orange “iron butterfly” sculpture installed on Endicott’s campus outside of the Wylie Inn and Conference Center on Hale Street. In mid-2021, Cummings Foundation erected 22 iron butterflies at various properties associated with the Cummings organization. Plans were drawn by Jim Trudeau, a long-time Beverly resident and Chief Design Officer at Cummings Properties.
The striking artwork is symbolic of the rebirth and transformation of the monarch butterfly and representative of the emergence from the global COVID-19 pandemic. Some observers have likened the sculptures to the large-scale contemporary public art pieces created by renowned sculptor Alexander Calder.