Madeleva: the Woman and Her Legacy Annual Fund
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Summer 2014 Madeleva: The woman and her legacy Annual Fund early 20 percent of Saint Mary’s alumnae graduated in the past A time to be N10 years. We know these Belles of the Last Decade (B.O.L.D.) are finishing advanced degrees and launching careers, setting up B.O.L.D. first homes, and starting families. We also know they are proud and grateful to be Saint Mary’s alumnae and are inspired by their experience to give back to the College. Last academic year alone B.O.L.D. gave more than $90,000 to their alma mater. Today’s B.O.L.D. alumnae are tomorrow’s alumnae leaders. Saint Mary’s is grateful for the many ways they already fill this role through their philanthropy and engagement with the College. Congratulations, Class of 2014, and welcome to B.O.L.D.! Read perspectives from B.O.L.D. alumnae online at alwaysbelles.tumblr.com. Annual Fund 138 Madeleva Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 Phone: (800) 762-8871 Email: [email protected] BellesGiveBack Online: saintmarys.edu/give page 4 page 6 page 9page 10 page 13 TABLE of CONTENTS volume 89, number 2 | summer 2014 More Features Memories of Madeleva . 4 Beauty Made Present: Madeleva’s Poetry . 6 Q&A with Sister Miriam Cooney ’51, CSC . 9 Teaching with Sister Madeleva. 10 Madeleva: A Play in Several Voices . .11 Congratulations, Graduates! Commencement 2014 . 13 Connecting Alumnae Th rough Our Avenue . 16 Welcome, Back! Reunion 2014 . .17 Faith Always, Action Now. C1 Depa rtments 2 . Upon Refl ection Excelsior . .29 3 . Avenue News Class News . .30 26 . For the Record Closing Belle . .inside back cover 28 . Club News On the cover: This portrait of Sister Madeleva, painted by Alice Schlesinger, hangs in Madeleva Hall. Visit saintmarys.edu/courier to view the Courier online. The Saint Mary’s College Courier Shari Rodriguez Courier Staff Class News The Mission (USPS 135-340) is published three Vice President for Shannon E. Brewer Rooney ’03 Send alumnae class news to: Saint Mary’s College is a Catholic, times a year by Saint Mary’s College, College Relations Editor Alumnae News Editor residential, women’s college in the Notre Dame, IN 46556-5001. [email protected] [email protected] 110 Le Mans Hall liberal arts tradition. A pioneer in the Nonprofi t postage paid at the Post Saint Mary’s College Karen Zagrocki McDonald ’76 Adrienne Latson education of women, the College is an Offi ce at Notre Dame, IN 46556 Notre Dame, IN 46556-5001 or Acting Assistant Vice President Staff Writer academic community where women and at additional mailing offi ces. email [email protected] Integrated Marketing develop their talents and prepare POSTMASTER: Send address Communications Gwen O’Brien to make a difference in the world. changes to Alumnae Relations, Saint [email protected] Director of Media Relations Letters Mary’s College, 110 Le Mans Hall, Founded by the Sisters of the Holy Christina Duthie Send letters to the editor to: Notre Dame, IN 46556-5001. Alumnae Relations Staff Cross in 1844, Saint Mary’s promotes Graphic Designer Courier Editor Copyright 2014 Saint Mary’s College, Kara O’Leary ’89 a life of intellectual vigor, aesthetic Saint Mary’s College Notre Dame, IN 46556. Reproduction Director of Alumnae Relations Janet Graham appreciation, religious sensibility, and 303 Haggar College Center in whole or part is prohibited without [email protected] Zara Osterman social responsibility. All members of the written permission. The opinions Hannah Ziegeler ’15 Notre Dame, IN 46556 Shay Jolly ’05 College remain faithful to this mission expressed are those of the authors or Photographers Assistant Director of (574) 284-4595 or and continually assess their response their subjects and are not necessarily Alumnae Relations email [email protected] to the complex needs and challenges shared by the College or the editor. [email protected] of the contemporary world. Courier | 1 Upon Reflection As I sat in the quiet room across from Sister Miriam Cooney ’51, CSC, a good friend of Sister Madeleva’s, I could hear the bustle of activity in an upstairs hallway of Saint Mary’s Convent. I saw a few birds darting about outside the window behind Sister Miriam. She is a quiet woman, frank and to-the-point, with a good sense of humor and an active mind. I imagine this professor emerita of mathematics is not unlike Sister Madeleva herself, whom Sister Miriam described to me as gracious, composed, and self-possessed. She related her fi rst encounter with Sister Madeleva as a new Saint Mary’s student. She remembers sitting rapt at Sister Madeleva’s feet, along with other students, while Sister Madeleva read her poetry aloud. She was in awe. After our interview, I walked quickly back to my offi ce in Haggar, closed the door, and sat down with Th e Four Last Th ings: Collected Poems by Sister M. Madeleva Wolff , CSC (Class of 1909). Th e voice of a woman I knew only through stories and quotes (her famous “We promise you discovery,” quote is etched into the side of the Welcome Center) spoke from the page. Her simple dedication struck me right away: To My Favorite Author Dear God, Herewith, a book do I inscribe and send To You Who are both its beginning and its end; A volume odd, Bound in some brief, allotted years, Written with love and tears; Fragments of which You are the perfect whole Book of my soul. Break, break the sealing clod And read me, God! In her introduction to the 1986 edition, Sister Eva Mary Hooker ’62, CSC, says, “Th e Four Last Th ings is many diff erent things as a book of poetry, but it is profoundly a book of the self in which we, the readers, as well as God can fi nd a complex person unveiling herself.” To be “read” by God, seems to me a fundamental wish of the human soul, and while I am no expert on theology, or on Sister Madeleva herself, I connected with her immediately through that simple line. I know I’m not alone. In this issue, fi fty years after her death, we attempt to discover a little of Sister Madeleva as a woman, an accomplished woman, yes—even a great woman. She was a renowned scholar and poet who inspired generations of Saint Mary’s women. Whether we knew Madeleva, the woman, or are inheritors of her passion to establish Saint Mary’s as a premier, Catholic, women’s college, her legacy touches each of us even now as we continue to live out her promise of discovery as women of faith, compassion, creativity, and intellectual vitality. Shannon Brewer Rooney ’03 is the editor of Courier. 2 | Summer 2014 AVENUE NEWS Hypatia Day Spirituality Monday Discussions What happens when faith and reason meet? What is the relationship between spiritual traditions and the exercise of reason in an academic discipline or a profession? Th roughout the spring semester, Saint Mary’s faculty and students joined together for Spirituality Mondays to discuss these questions. “Coming into the [discussion series] I feel that most students clearly connect their personal values to their faith,” explains Jill Vihtelic, business professor and chair of the Department of Global Studies. “Once students start to see that they cannot separate their work lives from their personal lives and be a person of integrity, I believe that they begin to see the intersection between faith and business as vast and all encompassing.” Vihtelic was one of several professors who spoke at Spirituality Monday events. Topics from professors and students alike included spirituality and health in aging populations and sacramentality of nature poetry. In March dozens of middle school girls shadowed Saint Mary’s Henry V math, computer science, chemistry, engineering, and biology majors for Hypatia Day. Hypatia was a female mathematician at a time in Greek history when girls weren’t allowed to be educated. She symbolizes the continuing struggle to combat industry stereotypes. Hypatia Day is unique to Saint Mary’s College. In 1991 Sister Miriam Cooney ’51, CSC, professor emerita of math- ematics, started the annual program to encourage young girls to follow careers in the STEM fi elds (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Dance Marathon “From this day to the ending of the world, but we in it shall How do you get 400 college students to stay on their be remembered—We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.” feet for 12 hours straight? Saint Mary’s women will tell you No band of brothers stood before the audience in O’Laughlin they do it for the kids. On April 5, more than 400 students this spring as an all-female cast performed the mostly male participated in the ninth annual Saint Mary’s College Dance roles of the classic Shakespeare play, Henry V. Marathon, standing without sitting or sleeping for 12 hours. Benefi ting Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Mark Abram-Copenhaver, associate professor of theatre and Health, this year’s event raised $86,765.70, bringing the total the play’s director, says, “Th is story about war, to be told by a raised over nine years to more than $600,000. group of female performers, gives a diff erent lens on the play.” “We stand on our feet for 12 hours and we dance for those who Shakespeare’s original work, conversely, includes nearly all can’t. So many children lose their chance to be a kid when they male roles. Th is cast included 18 students and fi ve faculty/staff are in the hospital—whether it be running, dancing, jumping, members, ranging from experienced actors to fi rst-time performers.