![CollegeSaintTeresaWinonaMN](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/CollegeSaintTeresaWinonaMN.JPG)
The College of Saint Teresa was a Catholic
women's college
Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...
in
Winona, Minnesota
Winona is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, in the state of Minnesota. Located in bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf. The city is named after legendary figure Winona, who ...
. Previously a
women's seminary, it became a college in 1907 and was operated by the
Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minnesota
The Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minnesota is a Roman Catholic religious congregation for women. The congregation was founded in 1877 by Mother Mary Alfred Moes in the Diocese of St. Paul of Minnesota. The motherhouse, which is in Roch ...
until its closing in 1989.
History
Mary Molloy (1880-1954) grew up as the only child
of
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the British ...
immigrant parents in Sandusky, Ohio.
In an age when few women attended college, Molloy earned her way through
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
and graduated, in 1903, with more honors than anyone else up to that time.
She went on to earn a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. and election to
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
at
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
. In 1907 she earned her doctorate at
Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
.
That same year, she began her career as a Catholic college educator in Winona, Minnesota, when she accepted a job with the Franciscan Sisters who, under the leadership of Sister Leo Tracy,
O.S.F., were creating the liberal arts College of St. Teresa. The two women persevered and successfully established and administered the new collegiate institution for Catholic lay and religious women.
Molloy was unique as the lay dean of a Catholic college, but in 1923
she became a Franciscan Sister, then known as Sister Mary Aloysius Molloy, O.S.F., and in 1928 became the college president.
As an educator, Molloy worked hard to improve the quality of women's education, wrestled with the unique problems of Catholic colleges, and carefully oversaw the development of her own school. By 1946, when she retired, the college was a firmly established institution producing outstanding graduate women. Molloy was one of the last among the founders of Minnesota women's colleges.
Closure
The closing of St. Teresa College came during an era that saw a general decline in women's colleges and the closing of, or switch to coeducation at, many smaller Catholic women's colleges. By the 1970s the College felt the effects of the shifted dedication of smaller religious communities, such as the Sister of Saint Francis, to broader social service.
Edstrom, Frances Muraine Bowler, "The College of Saint Teresa Celebrating 100 Years", ''Winona Post'', August 16, 2021
/ref>
Recruiting was to some degree hurt by the school's insistence on maintaining a strict code of student conduct years after such things had been abandoned at other colleges. Such rules as nightly curfew
A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...
s and bed checks for first-semester freshmen and a total, campus-wide ban on alcohol were not eased until the early 1980s, and then only slightly.
And in a sense the college found itself in a vortex from which it could not escape. As enrollment fell cutbacks in spending were made which, in turn, made it more difficult to attract and retain students. A major layoff of faculty and cutbacks in programs in 1980 led to a large number of student transfers and a corresponding drop in revenues. This, of course, worsened the financial situation and invited further cuts in spending. St. Teresa College might have survived with a reduced enrollment but as enrollment fell it was never able to stabilize at a consistent level.
The college was also hurt to some extent by over-reliance upon its signature nursing
Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...
program. Junior and senior nursing majors lived and studied in Rochester, Minnesota
Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic.
Acco ...
, fifty miles distant. As enrollment declined this left the main campus in Winona largely empty of upperclasswomen, making campus life unattractive for those who stayed in Winona.
In the 1980s a plan was developed to convert one the school's three large dormitories to a residence for older women who could have access to the college's programs in hopes of reviving St. Teresa College's financial prospects. A model unit was built and prospective residents found but the school was unable to find a bank willing to lend the necessary funds.
Before St. Mary's College went from male to coed in 1969 there were discussions between the two colleges about merger. The potential of such an arrangement is illustrated by the present relationship between the College of Saint Benedict
The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University are two closely related private, Catholic higher education institutions in Minnesota. The College of Saint Benedict is a women's college located in St. Joseph, while Saint John's Univ ...
and Saint John's University St John's University may refer to:
*St. John's University (New York City)
** St. John's University School of Law
**St. John's University (Italy) - Overseas Campus
* College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, St. Joseph, Minnesota and C ...
in Collegeville, Minnesota
Collegeville is an unincorporated community in St. Wendel Township, Stearns County, Minnesota, United States, near St. Joseph. The community is located near the junction of Collegeville Road and Old Collegeville Road. Nearby is Saint John's Abb ...
. Ultimately Saint Teresa broke off the discussions. While this proved in the end to be short-sighted, at the time St. Teresa College had a larger enrollment, higher admissions standards and a superior physical plant.
The two schools then went their separate ways until the mid-1980s when a new President at St. Mary's College, Brother Louis DeThomasis, F.S.C., took an interest in helping St. Teresa College pull through its crisis. Joint programs were established to help expand Saint Teresa's offerings but it was too little too late. At the very end, when closing the college seemed inevitable, DeThomasis proposed a full merger of the two colleges but was vetoed by his Board of Trustees. It was generally assumed that the trustees concluded that the serious financial problems of St. Teresa College were too great a burden, or at least too risky, for St. Mary's College to handle.
Current status
Since its closing, the college has been best known for its scholarship programs available to women attending other Catholic colleges and universities, as well as its connection to the Saint Teresa Leadership and Service Institute
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...
at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, (SMUMN) is a private Catholic university with an undergraduate residential college in Winona, Minnesota; graduate and professional programs in Winona, the Twin Cities, and Rochester; and various course deli ...
. The St. Teresa campus is currently owned and operated by two educational institutions; it is the location of Winona State University's West Campus and it is the location of Cotter High School (a private Catholic High School).
Presidents
*Sister M. Leo Tracy, OSF, 1912–28
*Sister M. Aloysius Molloy, OSF, 1928–46
*Sister M. Rachel Dady, OSF, 1946–52
*Sister M. Camille Bowe, OSF, 1952–69
*Sister M. Joyce Rowland, OSF, 1969–80
*Thomas J. Hamilton, 1980–85
*Sister Michaea Byron, OSF, 1985–89
Notable alumnae
*Catherine Chesla
Catherine "Kit" Ann Chesla is an American nurse who is Professor Emeritus and former Thelma Shobe Endowed Chair at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing. Her research has considered families and chronic illness.
Early lif ...
'74 - Professor Emeritus at University of California, San Francisco
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...
*Elizabeth Erickson
Elizabeth Erickson (born 1942) is an American painter, feminist artist, poet, and educator. Her style of painting tends to gestural abstraction and the themes she explores occupy "the territories of ancient myth, religion, and spiritual feminism ...
, painter, feminist artist, and educator
*Pegeen Fitzgerald
Pegeen Fitzgerald ( Margaret Worrall; November 24, 1904 – January 30, 1989)Cox, Jim (2007). ''Radio Speakers: Narrators, News Junkies, Sports Jockeys, Tattletales, Tipsters, Toastmasters and Coffee Klatch Couples Who Verbalized the Jargon of the ...
, radio host, popular for decades in New York City
*Elna Jane Hilliard Grahn
Elna Jane Hilliard Grahn (November 15, 1913 – August 3, 2006) served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and later the Women's Army Corps (WAC) during World War II. Grahn commanded the 2525th WAC unit in Fort Myer, Virginia. Grahn was ...
, United States Army officer
*Anne Pellowski Anna Rose Pellowski, Polish American educator and author, was born June 28, 1933, on the family farm in the Trempealeau County town of Arcadia, Wisconsin, daughter of Alexander and Anna (Dorawa) Pellowski, both of whom were descended from Kashubian ...
, writer
* Pat Piper, Minnesota legislator
*Sister Mary Leontius Schulte
Sister Mary Leontius Schulte (September 4, 1901 – March 20, 2000) was an American nun, mathematics educator, and historian of mathematics.
Life
Schulte was born as Catherine Mary Schulte, on September 4, 1901, in Cleveland, Manitowoc County, W ...
(1901–2000), mathematics educator and historian of mathematics
*Sister Katarina Schuth
Katarina Schuth, O.S.F., is an American religious sister and academic.
Early life and education
Mary Ann Schuth was born on a dairy farm near Wabasha, Minnesota, to Marie (née Eversman) and Math Schuth. In 1959, she graduated from St. Felix ...
, O.S.F., educator
*Yvonne Selcer
Yvonne M. Selcer (born March 3, 1953) is a Minnesota politician and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), she represented District 48A, which included Hennepin C ...
, Minnesota legislator
* Lidia Sogandares, Bachelor of Arts in 1930, first woman doctor in medicine of Centroamerica and Panama
References
{{reflist
External links
Alumnae Association of the College of Saint Teresa
Saint Teresa Institute
Saint Teresa, College of
Defunct Catholic universities and colleges in the United States
Embedded educational institutions
Educational institutions established in 1907
Educational institutions disestablished in 1989
Buildings and structures in Winona, Minnesota
1907 establishments in Minnesota
Catholic universities and colleges in Minnesota
1989 disestablishments in Minnesota