Carol Ann Mooney

The History of
Saint Mary's College

Inaugural Address - Online

Inauguration Highlights: Friday, January 14, 2005: Symposium: “Educating Women, Transforming Lives: The Liberal Arts in the 21st Century” Speaker Profiles: - Nancy Bekavac - Thomas Gerety - Responder Profiles SISTAR/COSTAR Presentations Community Celebration Dinner Saturday, January 15, 2005: Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary Inaugural Ceremony Student Events PHOTOS

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Saint Mary's College Presidents Mother M. Pauline O'Neill, CSC 1895-1931 Sister Irma Burns, CSC 1931-1934 Sister M. Madeleva Wolff, CSC 1934-1961 Sister Maria Renata Daily, CSC 1961-1965 Sister Mary Grace Kos, CSC 1965-1967 Monsignor John J. McGrath, CSC 1968-1970 Dr. Edward L. Henry 1972-1974 Dr. John M. Duggan 1975-1985 Dr. William A. Hickey 1986-1997 Dr. Marilou Eldred 1997-2004 Dr. Carol Ann Mooney 2004 -

The History of Saint Mary’s College

In 1843, University of Notre Dame founder Father Edward Sorin wrote to his superior, Father Basil Anthony Moreau, to request that he send sisters to a new mission in the wilderness of northern Indiana “to look after the laundry and the infirmary…and also to conduct a school, perhaps even a boarding school.” Four Holy Cross sisters answered the call and, after a 40-day voyage from Le Mans, France, they arrived on May 30, 1843. They established the first school and novitiate in 1844 just north of South Bend, Ind., in Bertrand, Mich.

Answering the needs of their community, the sisters taught orphan girls and ministered to the poor and the sick. However, the town was small and lacked industrial life so Mother Angela Gillespie, the first American director of Saint Mary’s Academy, moved the school to its present site in northern Indiana in 1854.

In 1908, the charter for Saint Mary’s Academy was amended to authorize the legal existence of a college, and Mother Pauline O’Neill, then director, became the College’s first president. Known as the “builder for God” because of the unprecedented growth during her tenure, Mother Pauline’s most notable accomplishment––LeMans Hall––still stands as the most recognizable symbol of Saint Mary’s.

The distinguished tenure of Sister Madeleva Wolff began in 1934. She reminded leaders that “the essence of our college is not its buildings, its endowment fund, its enrollment, or even its faculty; the essence is the teaching of truth.” Some of her most tangible contributions included the establishment of the School of Sacred Theology and the construction of the Moreau Center for the Arts. Sister Madeleva was known for her poetry, her eloquence and her outspokenness. The Madeleva Society, composed of special benefactors of the College, bears her name, as well as Madeleva Hall, the Madeleva Memorial Classroom Building and the Madeleva Lecture Series. She retired in 1961.

Through more than 160 years and 10 presidents, Saint Mary’s College has embraced the mission envisioned by Father Moreau and has continued to make real in the lives of students and alumnae its core values: learning, community, faith and spirituality, and justice. From modest beginnings as a boarding school teaching and ministering to orphans, to offering five bachelor’s degrees and boasting approximately 18,000 living alumnae, the College has continued to grow and prosper as a Catholic women’s college in the liberal arts tradition.