On March 30, the University of Missouri–St. Louis invited the Daughters to help celebrate UMSL’s College of Nursing’s 35th anniversary. The UMSL College of Nursing and the UMSL Honor College occupy the former residence, Villa, library, Seton Retreat Center, Shared Services buildings and more on the former Marillac campus, now known as the South Campus of the University, in Normandy.
Current undergraduate and graduate nursing students, the Dean of the College of Nursing, the UMSL Chancellor, some faculty members, and staff members welcomed the Daughters “home again!” Some of the attending Sisters had returned to the former campus during the last 15 years since the departure; some had not.
The festivities began in the former chapel where Sister Joanna Vasa, D.C., offered a devotion and Sister Bernice Coreil shared a bit of history. Sister Joanne invited those in attendance to look around, to look up at the solid oak beams, and to think about the strength they conveyed. Sister Bernice shared briefly about the Daughters’ beginnings in France, in the US, and in St. Louis. The Dean and Chancellor both emphasized the desire to maintain the legacy of care begun so long ago by the Daughters.
UMSL nursing students–several of whom had never been inside the former chapel–were truly taken with the beauty of the chapel upon entering. They waited until the end of the official ceremony, but, upon exiting, were quick to take out cell phones to capture the stained glass and surroundings. (UMSL maintains the former chapel carefully, keeping the chapel doors locked unless an event is held there–weekly Mass, weddings, and meetings.)
A luncheon followed and Sister Kati Kline soon realized one of her former first-grade students at St. Matthias in St. Louis County currently serves on the UMSL Nursing College faculty! Former teacher and student were reunited.
After lunch, Sisters were invited to tour the student nursing labs (located on the lower floors of the former Retreat Center) and the former Shared Services building. The primary uses of these locations have changed, but the spirit of work of caring of the sick and injured remains.