Gannon University

Gannon University is a private Catholic university with campuses in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Ruskin, Florida, United States. Established in 1925, Gannon University enrolls about 4,600 undergraduate and graduate students annually. Its intercollegiate athletics include 18 athletic programs for men and women competing at the NCAA Division II level. It plans to merge with Ursuline College by the end of 2026. History Gannon University was established in 1933 as the two-year Cathedral College by the Diocese of Erie under the leadership of Joseph J. "Doc" Wehrle.[2] In 1944, the school became the four-year men's school Gannon College of Arts and Sciences, named for then-Bishop of Erie, John Mark Gannon, the driving force behind its opening and development. The college became coeducational in 1964 and gained university status in 1979.[3][4] The all-girls school Villa Maria College, which was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1925,[5] merged with the university in 1989.[6] Its Villa Maria School of Nursing retains the name of the original institution. In 2024, the university's board of trustees approved plans to merge the university with Ursuline College. Ursuline will become a part of Gannon as "Ursuline College Campus of Gannon University" with its own academic and athletic programs.[7]