University of Bridgeport

fell to 1,300 in 1991. Debt rose to over $22 million in 1991–92. Serious plans to merge the university with Sacred Heart fell through in 1992; the law school instead wanted to associate with Quinnipiac University, but Sacred Heart maintained that any takeover would have to include the Law School. There were other universities willing to take over the school, but were unwilling to take on its debt. The university's charter required the trustees to enter into "serious negotiations", and they accepted the offer, giving the PWPA sixteen spots as trustees, constituting a majority. The PWPA invested $50.5 million in the university on May 30, 1992, enabling the university to keep its accreditation.
A two-year faculty strike, started in the midst of the university's financial troubles, intensified when the trustees gave control to the PWPA. Eventually, sixty-six professors and librarians agreed to a "divorce" with the university in return for compensation of up to a year's salary. In a similar move, the Law School decided …