Marmion Academy to begin co-ed enrollment after nearly 100 years of boys-only

Marmion Academy, a Catholic college-prep high school in Aurora, plans to implement a hybrid coed model, ending more than 93 years as an all-boys school.

The move was met with pushback from members of the public.

The decision was made Nov. 16 after a vote by the Marmion Abbey chapter of monks to approve the implementation of the new model. The plan is to begin accepting female students as early as the 2026-27 school year.

“Throughout our long history, Marmion Academy has implemented changes in its structure while remaining true to our values of academic achievement, spiritual formation and character development for our students,” Abbot Joel Rippinger said in a news release. “After a year of intense study, discernment and prayerful reflection, we’ve determined that it was the right time to make this change. Our values, rooted in the Catholic Benedictine tradition, will remain at the heart of our mission.”

Early outlines of the new model would have freshmen and sophomore students attending single gender classes and upperclassmen attending coed classrooms. Other details, including exact timelines, will take shape over the next several months, according to the release.

Rippinger said the move to a coed environment delivers key benefits, including:

• Preparing students for the diverse, interconnected world they will encounter after graduation. A coed setting fosters richer discussions, a variety of perspectives and essential collaborative skills – traits that are increasingly important in today’s world.

• Meeting the needs of the Catholic community in the Fox Valley and surrounding areas, where many families value the Benedictine tradition and Catholic education and are eager to provide their daughters with the transformative experience that Marmion Academy offers.

• Positioning Marmion for long-term growth to ensure a strong and healthy Marmion is available for many generations of young people to come.

“We are confident that this move is in the best interests of our students and the needs of our community,” Rippinger said. “We look forward to this new chapter in our history and the many opportunities it will bring for our students.”

Marmion spokesperson Michael McGrath said the decision had been in consideration for about a year but was not definitive until the monks’ vote last week. He said while he is aware of concern from the community, most of the conversations he’s had with Marmion families have been positive and supportive of the decision.

“Anytime there’s significant change there’s going to be unease,” McGrath said. “The majority of people that we’ve spoken to are supportive, but we recognize it’s a change and want to do everything we can to assure people that the academic rigor and the community itself will remain.”

In the coming months, Marmion will be in conversation with students, parents, faculty and the greater school community to examine the best ways to make the change successful and beneficial to everyone, according to the release.

Marmion Academy welcomed its first students in 1933 after Abbot Ignatius Esser and the monks of St. Meinrad Abbey took over the Fox Valley Catholic High School for Boys, which opened on the campus off Lake Street in the early 1920s.

Marmion Military Academy, as it was known then, closed the Lake Street campus and moved programming to the Butterfield Road campus before the 1971-72 school year. The school transitioned away from being a military academy in 1994 and has since been known as Marmion Academy. The academy closed its residential program in 2002.

Community pushback

Several community members, alumni, parents and former teachers of Marmion Academy have responded to the announcement with outrage. The Facebook post from Marmion Academy announcing the change has garnered nearly 200 comments, most expressing concern and disappointment with the decision.

A petition was created against the change, which received more than 1,300 signatures in 24 hours. It was later taken down by its creator Jacob Hutchison because of an influx of what he said were “egregious” comments.

Several people have expressed concern on social media over what this change will mean for Rosary High School and the long-standing relationship the all-girls school has had with Marmion. For decades, the two schools have been known as brother-sister schools, collaborating to host dances, extracurricular, athletic and social events.

McGrath said it will be a long transition and there is a lot of work to be done to listen to the community and hear what the potential impacts are going to be in terms of facilities and procedures.

“We have been communicating with the Dominican Sisters on this specific issue for over two years,” McGrath said. “We hope and expect that the special relationship between our two schools will continue. We value our relationship with Rosary as much today as we ever have.”

Rosary released statements from the Dominican Sisters of Springfield on Nov. 16 and the Rosary board on Nov. 18 in response to the announcement by Marmion.

In the statement from the Dominican Sisters, it was said that Rippinger informed the convent of the decision in a phone call Nov. 16. In the phone call, Rippinger expressed the willingness of the Benedictine community and the Marmion board to continue collaboration with Rosary College Prep High School, according to the statement.

“As a part of that ongoing collaboration and in future planning, Rosary board and leadership will ensure that our ways of partnering are defined to ensure the students are afforded the full opportunities in all co-curricular and extracurricular activities they have always known and deserved,” according to the release.

“The nature of the ongoing collaboration between Marmion and Rosary will be the focal point for the Rosary Governing Board in the best interests of our students. ... In many cases, what has been good for Rosary has been good for Marmion and it is our intention to engage in efforts that honor the decades of collaboration between the schools,” the board said in the statement. “On one point we must be clear: Rosary is not closing, is not facing financial hardship and has no imminent plans to merge with any other institution. Rumors or suggestions to the contrary are inaccurate.”