Blog Archive » Trinity Alumnae

Occasionally on life's journey, we are fortunate to cross paths with someone so extraordinary that we find ourselves walking along the way with her, heedless of direction but feeling that, somehow, we must be heading to the right place.  Before I met Sue Ann Shay in 1988 — before I became Trinity's president, but when I was first a member of our Board of Trustees and she joined our board — I had never met a Sister of Notre Dame who was also a lawyer.  Or a sailor.  Or such a talented professional woman who had heard the call to her vocation at mid-life.   I knew many Sisters of Notre Dame who were passionate about the congregation's mission in action for social justice, but few left me as routinely astonished with her firey commitment to the world's underdogs as Sue Ann Shay.   We became fast friends, and soon co-conspirators in our belief that our beloved alma mater, Trinity, should embrace new directions for the education of the world's women as a matter of social justice.

When I learned that Sue Ann died last week after a long illness, I smiled at the thought that she was now, at once, at peace after a long struggle, but also probably raising hell in heaven about some injustice on the other side of those pearly gates.  She surely would not sit around for long letting some souls have great mansions while others have only small flats.   She might have a word with St. Peter, or even The Boss, about equalizing housing opportunity up there. Full Article

"…history is largely about how people with power stomp all over those who don't have it…"

Mary Meehan, Class of 1963, blows past the screechy stereotypes too often associated with Pro-Life advocates in the contemporary political climate.   An ardent anti-war activist — a real "lefty" back in the day! — who campaigned for Senator Eugene McCarthy when he ran for president, Mary professes the fully integrated view of what it means to be truly Pro-Life, which means that she not only opposes abortion but also the death penalty, war and all forms of violence against human life.   She eschews partisan labels in favor of working across the chasms that too-often separate people who, fundamentally, share the same values and views on moral issues.   As I listened to Mary speak when she visited Trinity on October 1, I found myself wishing that more women like her could win the headlines and talk-show appearances that are too often dominated by demagogues who harm the cause of life. Full Article

If Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were your teenage son, he'd surely be grounded for the rest of the year for his, "Make me!" taunt this morning in response to the demands of the U.S. and allies that Iran cease and desist developing nuclear weapons capacity.   Responding to the stern warning from President Obama & Co. by throwing stuff around the room — in this case, by launching short-range ground-to-ground missiles in an ostensible "test" — is a provocation that dares the allies to respond even more aggressively.   Iranian President Ahmadinejad seems to be a disciple of his older comrade-in-rogue-misconduct Kim Jong Il of North Korea who has used similar tactics to taunt the leaders of the civilized world.  Whether these threats are more than incorrigible behavior is a question for the intelligence communities of the allies to answer.  Thus far, neither Iran nor North Korea have the actual capacity to build nuclear weapons or launch long-range missiles; the goal of nuclear non-proliferation efforts is to prevent these states and others from ever doing so. Full Article

We've been welcoming more than 700 new students to Trinity in the last few days — 700+!!  We are experiencing a remarkable surge in all of our student populations — several hundred women and men entering our School of Professional Studies and School of Education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and more than 330 new students in our women's college, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences.   Hooray!   Trinity College has not enrolled more than 300 new students since the late 1960's — the renaissance of the women's college is a remarkable story, a triumph of persistence, faith and willingness to adapt to new generations of women who can reap great benefits from Trinity's powerful educational model. Full Article

Another magnificent Trinity moment — Susan Flood Burk, Class of 1976, became an ambassador today, taking the oath of office as the Special Representative of the President for Nuclear Nonproliferation in the elegant Benjamin Franklin Room at the Department of State.   Former  Congresswoman Ellen Tausher, now the Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, conducted the swearing-in while Susan's husband David held the Bible. Full Article