Copyright Joliet, IL Patch
Palos Heights Mayor Bob Straz calls the college's closure "a sad day for Palos Heights and more so for the Trinity community." PALOS HEIGHTS, IL — Even before Trinity Christian College’s announcement this week that it would be closing its doors at the end 2025-2026 academic year, students said the campus seemed less full than it did when they started as freshmen four years ago. “There have been rumors since the beginning of the year,” said John Kvek, a junior who is attending Trinity on a basketball scholarship. “It started in late August, early September, but then it died off.” Kvek told Patch that the college had a lower freshman enrollment at the beginning of the year. Then, the college president, Aaron Kuecker , resigned in August after two years in the top post, to head up the non-profit Hope Chicago. There were also reportedly multiple layoffs. “It left a lot of talk among faculty and students about gearing up for a shut-down, but we thought it would be temporary,” Kvek said, who is from Grant Park, IL, but lives on campus. “With people and faculty leaving, there was talk about seeing the writing on the wall.” He found out about the closure when a friend called him early Tuesday morning, after the college sent an email to students that this would be Trinity’s final year. “I was in shock, I was not expecting it,” Kvek told Patch. “The experience here has been great, which is part of the reason I’m upset. The faculty and professors are all really good. It was never my intention to leave. I never gave it another thought.” The college said it would work with students to transfer to other colleges with whom it has teachout agreements, including Saint Xavier University, Olivet Nazarene and Calvin University. Kvek says he’s still figuring out where he could complete his finance and business degree. “I might be done with basketball,” he said. “It’s hard to join a new team.” Senior Chris Henthorn, of Mokena, never dreamed four years ago as a freshman that he would be a member of the last graduation class. He says while he wasn’t surprised to get the email of the school’s closure Tuesday morning, it was still a shock. “Yeah, I heard rumors,” said Henthorn, a finance major and member of the Trinity Trolls basketball team. “It has been going on for a little bit. I heard we were good for a couple more years. We were confident.” Following Tuesday’s announcement, Henthorn told Patch that morning classes were cancelled and a student-only meeting was called by Acting President Jeannie Mozie, board of trustees chair Ken Dryfhout and a facilitator. “It lasted about 30 minutes,” Henthorn told Patch. “It was about a pathway forward, places to go to where everything transfers. Someone asked if a donor came in and gave “x” amount of money, would it change things? They said no.” “Even though I’m a senior, I feel bad for my friends who are juniors,” Henthorn continued. “I feel bad for the faculty who poured so much of themselves into that place, and now they’re out of work.” Mayor Bob Straz called the college’s closure “a sad day for Palos Heights and more so day for the Trinity community.” Straz told Patch that he had a conversation with college officials over the weekend, but could not say what was discussed due to signing a non-disclosure agreement. “The president called [Monday night] after the [board of trustees] meeting and the vote was taken, so I did know before the press release went out [Tuesday],” the mayor said. Straz said he was taken off guard by the college’s sudden announcement. “They were starting up new programs, setting up an exchange program for nursing students at Northwestern Palos Hospital,” Straz said. “The college lowered tuition and set up internships, so students could earn money while they attended school.” to earn money while attending school.” He sympathized with the Trinity community because his own college alma mater, St. Joseph College, a small, private Catholic college in Collegeville, Ind., closed in 2019 after over 100 years. “Many small colleges are having the same problem,” the mayor said. “It’s a hard environment for small colleges to make it with changing patterns of kids going to school and paying for it. Resident, too, in the Navajo Hills subdivision, where Trinity Christian College was built on a former golf course, were stunned when heard the college was shutting its doors. Neighbors said they had a good relationship with the college, with students frequently being hired to babysit and for landscaping work. “They’ve been a wonderful neighbor,” Navajo Hills-resident Ann Glynn said. “We’re concerned about what happens next?”
