LINKSVolume 15, Issue 1 – Fall 2015

Laurel

Student Leaders Conference hosted by Beaumont School

Dear Friends and Colleagues in Ursuline Education,

Every year as we begin a new school year, we have the opportunity to fall in love with the ministry of education once again. How fortunate we are to have a “job” that is a life-giving ministry – life-giving for our students and also for all of us who are engaged in it.

Greeting former students or welcoming new ones, engaging with colleagues in sharing summer adventures and then getting to the task of solidifying the plans begun last spring for this school year make the first days exciting and energizing.

St. Angela’s prayer in the Introduction to the counsels seems appropriate for us right now: May the strength and the true consolation of the Holy Spirit be with you all so that you can maintain and carry out vigorously and faithfully the charge laid upon you.

In this issue of Laurel Links, you can read an interesting account of a historic event in the life of Ursuline Academy, Dedham, written by Dedham’s assistant principal, Dr. Catherine Muldoon. Discover the students’ favorite part of the Student Leadership Conference. Plans for students to participate in the United Nations sixtieth meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women are outlined in another article. Also included in this issue is information about UEN’s fall conference: Ursuline Values In and Beyond the Classroom. Deadline for making hotel reservations is November 2.

UEN is planning a conference June 8 and 9, 2016 for directors of admissions/recruitment; communications/public relations/marketing; advancement including alumnae relations. Ursuline Academy of Dallas will be hosting the conference. Expect to see an email soon asking for suggestions for topics to be discussed and recommendations for speakers. Conference details will be sent to the schools in late October or early November. Mark your calendars now!

The UEN office is making a more concentrated effort to keep you informed through Facebook and Twitter. Please let us know how we are doing and how we can be of greater service to you.

Sincerely,

Judith A. WimbergDirector, Ursuline Education Network

The June 8 & 9, 2016 Conference for directors of admissions/recruitment; communications/public

relations/marketing; advancement including

alumnae relations will take place in Dallas, Texas,

co-hosted by Ursuline Academy of Dallas.

More information will be sent to the schools in late October

or early November.

Student Leaders Gathered in Cleveland for SLC 2015Energy, enthusiasm, laughter, bonding. These words describe the young women from Ursuline sponsored high schools who gathered at Cleveland’s Ursuline College, Pepper Pike in June for the annual Student Leadership Conference, sponsored by Ursuline Education Network and its 2015 partner, Beaumont School. Formal introductions were hardly needed as the students bonded with each other almost instantaneously during Monday night’s opening session.

Tuesday’s program began with a presentation on the skills leaders need to be effective public speakers. “Monica Wagner, Beaumont parent, gave the students practical advice, leading one chaperone to comment, Monica Wagner’s talk on presentation skills was phenomenal. I really think we should include an element like that in future conferences.”

Staff from the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio engaged the students in consideration of various aspects of leadership: traits of effective leadership and identifying one’s own leadership style and the necessity of appreciating diversity and the value of collaboration.

Coreen Schaeffer, Dean of Students at Beaumont School, furthered the discussion by describing different leadership patterns as elucidated by Daniel Coleman, researcher and writer on emotional intelligence and leadership; and as lived by St. Angela. She asked the students to reflect on persons in their lives who model

various categories of leadership. With that information in mind, Mrs. Schaeffer challenged the students to reflect on what kind of leader they aspired to be.

Beaumont welcomed the group to their beautiful campus the second day of the conference. A panel of Beaumont alums reflected on two questions: Who is St. Angela for them today? How has their Ursuline education influenced their lives? These presentations inspired the students to understand and appreciate even more that the sisterhood they experience in an Ursuline school will not end at graduation. They are on a lifetime journey with their “Ursuline sisters.”

Sister Martha Mooney, OSU, Coordinator of Beaumont’s Mission Integration Team, talked with the students about the students’ role in furthering the Ursuline mission of their schools.

Spaced throughout the two days were presentations by each school’s delegation, describing a significant event in the life of their school. The girls enthusiastically noted similarities and differences as each school gave its presentation.

A highlight of the conference each year is the Fashion Show. Students proudly wear their school and athletic uniforms and explain various rules and customs that govern this aspect of school life.

Fun activities were a significant part of the conference schedule. On Wednesday evening the group enjoyed the weekly concert on the lawn adjacent to the Cleveland Museum of Art. The weather was perfect for the group to picnic with sandwiches and other offerings from food trucks or to enjoy supper inside at the Art Museum Café. The weather did not cooperate for the river cruise planned for Thursday afternoon, but still all had a good time.

During the Ice Cream Social with the Ursulines, students could become the face of Angela.

Students from SHA, Louisville model their uniform, including the mascot Valkyrie (strong woman of great faith)

Students research an agency supporting women and girls as part of Global Girl

The Thursday morning sessions were devoted to the Global Girl Project, introduced by Jordan Martin, a 2015 Beaumont graduate who has led the way in being committed to service on a global scale. Through her own initiative, Jordan founded Jordan’s Wishing Well, a nonprofit organization that raises funds to build wells in Africa. Jordan was inspired to undertake this mission when she became aware that African children were brushing their teeth with their fingers and ashes. Her first response was to collect toothbrushes for the children, but soon discovered that the real need was water. She learned that she could fund the digging of water wells at a cost of $1500 each. To raise funds, Jordan began making and selling greeting cards. Soon she was able to fund two wells. This work continues today under Jordan’s leadership.

The students were divided into groups to research projects to aid women and children in poor countries around the world. Each group presented the agency they researched to the larger group. After the student groups’ presentations, the participants voted on one agency that they would ask their fellow students to support. The students choose PLAN International USA, started in 1937 when a journalist and a refugee worker decided they wanted to do more for children affected by the Spanish Civil War. Today, PLAN International works side by side with communities in 50 countries to improve the lives of 50 million children.

Before the morning session ended, the students met with their chaperones to discuss how they could elicit support for this Global Girl Project in their individual schools.

The conference concluded with a Commissioning Prayer Service in the Chapel of the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland. Chaperones commissioned the students to return to their schools modeling the leadership qualities of St. Angela as they serve their schools. The Ursuline sisters joined the students and chaperones for the prayer and then invited the group to an ice cream social in the Sisters’ Dining Room. Conference evaluations made clear that this was

the highlight of the Conference, not because of the ice cream sodas, although they were certainly enjoyed, but because of the opportunity for the students to interact with the Ursuline Sisters. On a 4.0 scale, the rating given by the students to the ice-cream social was 4.6. One student commented: “My favorite part was meeting the Sisters.”

Chaperone comments point to the richness of this experience for the participants:

“The opportunity for students to meet and discuss with other Ursuline students in invaluable, perhaps their first experience in networking.”

“No matter where it is or what we do, the students always come back so filled.”

“ Students bonding with each other is so important. It is a wonderful exposure to the Ursuline sisterhood which they experience as being larger than their own school community.”

Enhancing the experience for students and adults alike was Ursuline College’s hospitality. All enjoyed the beautiful campus, comfortable dorm rooms and fantastic meals.

Students enjoy visiting with the Ursulines

Student Leadership Conference 2016 will take place in

New Rochelle, New York, June 20-24,

co-hosted by The Ursuline School, the Academy of Mount St. Ursula and

Ursuline Education Network.

More information will be sent to the schools in late February.

An Invitation to Ursuline Students to Unite at the United NationsUrsuline students will have the opportunity to participate in the United Nations sixtieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 60)which will take place at UN Headquarters in March. Students at the Academy of Mount St. Ursula in the Bronx have had this opportunity for several years, thanks to Sister Alice Marie Giordano, OSU. Sister Alice Marie has been very gracious in assisting Ursuline Education Network in extending this opportunity to other Ursuline schools.

The UN Commission on the Status of Women is the principal world wide body dedicated exclusively to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. It was established in 1946 by the Economic and Social Council, making the March 2016 session the 60th time CSW has met.

In 1996 at the Beijing conference the ECOSOC expanded the Commission’s mandate to include taking a leading role in monitoring global progress in gender equality and empowerment of women. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action continues to guide the work of the Commission.

Active participation by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is critical in the work of the Commission. These groups sponsor parallel events to the “official” meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women. Their role is to educate participants in the work of the Commission, influence global policy and hold national and international leaders accountable to their promised commitment to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

Representatives of Member States, UN entities and accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world attend these yearly sessions. The Priority Theme for 2016 is women’s empowerment and its link to sustainable development. The Review Theme for 2016 is the elimination and prevention of all forms of violence against women and girls. An Emerging Theme is yet to be determined.

The CSW sessions are two weeks in length with student-friendly activities, experiences and presentations taking place during the first week. An orientation is offered to student participants on the Sunday before the actual sessions begin, which is tentatively scheduled on March 14, 2016.

Students will have the opportunity to hear from women around the world who are engaged in efforts to make life better for women and girls who suffer the effects of poverty, violence and a lack of

education. Students who attend the conference will learn ways that they can be in solidarity with women and girls around the world in their search for a better life.

Sally Dunne, NGO UN representative, Loretto Community who has brought students to the CSW events for many years reports that the experience has been life-changing for student and adult participants, affecting not only in the individual participants but also in their schools.

More information on the CSW and its annual March conference as well as the role of NGOs can be found at the website ngocsw.org. On that site, the Handbook for 2015 is accessible and gives the reader an idea of what the conference in 2016 will be.

We will send information about participating in this opportunity to the schools soon. Since this is the first time UEN has sponsored this experience, the group will be limited in number. Schools interested in participating should contact Judy Wimberg as soon as possible: judy.wimberg@gmail.com.

Educators In and Beyond the ClassroomUEN invites educators whose role is usually outside the typical classroom to its Annual Fall Conference, directors of student affairs, mission effectiveness, community service, diversity, and campus ministry.

Sister Diane Fulgenzi, OSU, Ursuline of the Roman Union, will ground the conference in our shared Ursuline values. Sister Diane is well-qualified to be the key-note speaker because of her life-time commitment to the Ursuline way of life, her experience in leading retreats and conferences on St. Angela and the

Diane Fulgenzi, OSU Keynote speaker for conference Ursuline Values In and Beyond the Classroom

Ursuline charism, and her experience as provincial of the Central Province.

Two beyond the classroom educators from Ursuline Academy, St. Louis, Terri Rogan and Nikki Weston, will reflect on Sister Diane’s presentation in the light of their experiences as Directors of Mission Effectiveness and Campus Ministry respectively. UA, St. Louis has a well-developed program of involving all co-workers in the Ursuline mission of the school.

Sister Martha Mooney, OSU, Coordinator of Beaumont’s Mission Integration Team, will describe how both faculty and students work together to enhance and deepen Beaumont School’s commitment to its Ursuline identity.

Thursday afternoon will be devoted to Cultural Competency and how a program works in Cincinnati in two Ursuline sponsored schools and the Jesuit High School. John Ravenna Director of Multicultural Initiatives at St. Xavier High School will lead this session, along with Toilynn O’Neal, Director of Diversity at St. Ursula Academy in Cincinnati. This presentation will be practical and inspirational.

Jennifer Mertens, whose columns appear in the National Catholic Reporter, will offer Reflections on Forming Women of Faith in Today’s World. From a Millennial’s perspective, Jennifer will explore the unique challenges facing young women in today’s world. Reflecting on her own Ursuline education and journey into teaching, she will reflect on the centrality of “companioning” in the formation of young women.

Kathleen McNally, Service Coordinator at Ursuline Academy in Dedham and Sister Pat Schfini, OSU, Campus Minister and Teacher at The Ursuline School in New Rochelle will offer reflections based on their experiences of forming women of faith in Dedham and New Rochelle.

Throughout the conference, participants will have the opportunity to interact with other Ursuline educators both formally in organized large and small groups and also informally at meals and during breaks.

A highlight of the conference will be a tour of Beaumont’s new addition as we travel there for a tour, reception and dinner Thursday night.

Registration forms and conference schedule are on the UEN website: www.ursuline-education.com

Please note the deadline reservations in order to book rooms at a special conference price.

The Destruction of the Ursuline Convent, 1834(By Catherine L. Muldoon, Ph.D. Adapted from a talk given at Ursuline Academy, Dedham, in March, 2015.)

Ursuline sisters first came to Boston from Quebec and set up a school in 1820. If you’re trying to situate yourself historically, imagine Abraham Lincoln as an eleven year-old. There was an Ursuline school here before there was a Boston College or a Boston University; Ursuline sisters were in Boston before Jesuits, Christian Brothers, and Religious of the Sacred Heart, to name a few of our current local counterparts.

So the Ursulines were true pioneers in Catholic education in Boston. Unfortunately, for some people, then as now, Ursuline education represented a frightening kind of progress. First, women ran the Ursuline school (ultimately named Mount Benedict) for the exclusive education of girls. At that time, not only did many Americans think that formal education was unnecessary for women, it was even thought to be harmful—to our marriage prospects, to our mental health and even to our reproductive abilities. In 1820, not only did American women not have the right to vote, but with very few exceptions, married women had the legal status of juveniles: they could not hold personal property in their own right and common law held that a husband could “chastise” his wife using “limited” physical abuse.

In this context, we can understand why the Ursuline sisters unnerved some of their contemporaries. The sisters lived in community together: this means that they not only were unmarried, they were also, (which was worse), unsupervised. These women were sophisticated, smart, and influential, and so were the students who attended their school: 75% of the Ursuline students were Protestant, drawn from families at the top of Boston society. (There was a method to this enrollment strategy, incidentally—tuition revenues at Mount Benedict helped fund initiatives that supported indigent Catholic immigrants.)

Independent women were a cause for concern, but Catholicism itself, in the popular press of the day, was actively alarming. Like the phrase jumbo shrimp, the phrase American Catholic back then sounded like a contradiction in terms. Many Bostonians viewed the pope as a foreign tyrant and Catholics as the pope’s willing army. And Mount Benedict was just a short walk from Bunker Hill, where American patriots fought to rid themselves of a king and establish democracy. Had those men died throwing off King George III just to have Pope Gregory XVI take his place?

By 1830, a storm was brewing. The growth of Mount Benedict coincided with the growth of anti-immigrant, nativist sentiment in Boston. Irish-Catholic immigrants were seen by many working class Americans as a threat to their economic security. When Irish immigrants in Boston were disproportionately affected by an outbreak of cholera, some Bostonians’ xenophobic tendencies increased. Melodramatic media coverage made it seem as though Catholic foreigners with foreign customs and foreign diseases—illiterate brutes from Ireland—were going to arrive in waves and overwhelm American society. The nuns on Mount Benedict, it was said, were just the tip of the Catholic spear.

At the same time, a specific suspicion of nuns and convents emerged in the popular press. A best-selling book purported to reveal immoral activities that took place in cloistered convents, and word spread in Boston of Rebecca Reed, a recent convert and novice in the Ursuline convent, who had “escaped” from the convent and wanted to reveal the crimes that went on within it. While Reed’s charges were examined and shown to be false by an independent commission, further rumors emerged of the mistreatment of Protestant girls by sinister and “foreign” nuns.

The violence started slowly: first a local man beat up the Irish immigrant groundskeeper of Mount Benedict. Then someone shot the man’s dog. Finally, at 10:30 on the night of August 11, 1834, local men dragged barrels of tar up the hill to Mount Benedict, lit them and told the headmistress, Sr. Mary Edmund St. George, to get her students out or else.

As Sr. St. George argued with the mob beneath her window, the fire department arrived… only to stand by and watch as members of the mob began to light torches and break windows.

Sisters ran to wake up the students, who were between the ages of 8-16, and they all escaped through the back door of the dormitory. When they got to the fence at the back of the property, some were trapped—but the bigger students and teachers lifted the little ones over the fence, and they ran for shelter at the houses of neighbors.

Meanwhile, the mob invaded: they stole chalices and communion vessels. They destroyed pianos with axes. They looted the personal property of students. They even dug up the bodies of deceased nuns from their graves, and strewed their remains over the grounds. Finally, on two successive nights, they burned Mount Benedict down to its foundation, systematically, deliberately, and with a clear purpose: to take back “their” country; to protect

“their” privilege that the combination of foreigners, Catholics, and independent women threatened to overturn.

Bishop Benedict Fenwick concluded, in light of ongoing harassment of the sisters in the aftermath of the assault, that Boston was not ready for all-girls Catholic education. Fenwick revoked the school’s charter, compelling the reluctant sisters to retreat to Canada. More than a century passed before the Ursulines returned to Boston.

Before she left Boston, Sr. Mary Edmund St. George said that “the property that belongs to the present inmates of the community belongs, equally, to those who succeed us.” She must have known that the tactical retreat was temporary, because we, Ursuline Academy of Dedham are indeed the heirs of the students and teachers of Mount Benedict. Our heritage resides, of course, in our Ursuline identity, symbolized by two physical artifacts that, astonishingly, have come down to us through the decades. The first is the ciborium that belonged to the sisters’ chapel: it was recovered on the grounds of Mount Benedict and was kept safe for over a century by parishes and religious communities before it was restored to Ursulines in 1938. The second is the chapel bell that somehow, according to Ursuline oral history, survived the blaze. When we ring the bell to kick off this school year, we will be taking Tennyson’s exhortation to heart:

Ring out false pride in place and blood

The civic slander and the spite

Ring in the love of truth and right

Ring in the common love of good.

We will try, even from our current privileged positions, to “ring out false pride in place and blood,” and to remember what it was like to be marginalized, to be the objects of religious, ethnic, or gendered hatred. And we will make a joyful noise, which we are pretty certain will reach the ears of Sr. Mary Edmund St. George.

(For a thorough and engaging account of the foundation and destruction of Mount Benedict, please see Fire and Roses: The Burning of the Charlestown Convent , 1834, by Nancy Lusignan Schultz.)