School Sisters of Notre Dame Commemorate 160 years: SSNDs uphold their mission to the college
By Hannah Brown
11/14/07
“Educating women to transform the world.” This phrase has been the School Sisters of Notre Dame’s (SSND) mission for 160 years and they will continue to strive for it for years to come.
This year marks the SSND 160th anniversary in the U.S. Mother Theresa, accompanied by five sisters made to the stormy voyage from Bavaria to the America in 1847. After only two years in America, Mother Theresa returned to Bavaria leaving 23-year-old Sister Caroline in charge of the missions, which stretched from Baltimore all the way up the Mississippi River.
At the time of Mother Theresa’s death in 1879, more than 2,500 School Sisters of Notre Dame were living the religious life according to her spirit. Over the years the SSNDs have established motherhouses in Milwaukee; Baltimore; St. Louis; Ontario, Canada; Wilton, Connecticut; Mankato, Minnesota; and Chicago.
The College of Notre Dame of Maryland was founded in 1895 by the School Sisters. Their goal was to educate women and pursue truth. The SSNDs are still a part of the everyday hustle and bustle of the campus. More than 20 sisters live on campus, as well as serving the school as administrators, faculty, and trustees. Others local institutes sponsored by the SSNDs include the Institute of Notre Dame, Notre Dame Preparatory School, and the Caroline Center.
The SSNDs are the world’s second largest missionary group of religious women with more than 4,000 sisters working on five continents. This dynamic sisterhood brings about a powerful force that Sister Sharon Kanis, SSND, Associate Professor for the Religious Studies Department, is proud to be a part of.
When asked to sum up the SSNDs, Sister Kanis contemplated all of the possibilities and all that the sisters offer to the world. “Expansive mind and heart. The sisters would never say ‘that is enough.’ [This is] a community that is doing something big, together.”
The SSNDs have started to respond to the crisis in Darfur. “There are needs in this world that I know my sisters all over the world are responding to,” comments Sister Kanis.
Sister Eileen Eppig, SSND, Associate Professor for the Religious Studies Department, believes that the SSNDs can be summed up as the “transformation of persons.” To her this means “having the opportunity to belong to a group of women aware of the needs of the world and their desire to make the world a just and better place.”
The SSNDs are not only helping those in need right now but some have dedicated their lives to helping people all over the world win the battle against Alzheimer's disease. David Snowden, Ph.D, is conducting a longitudinal study of aging and Alzheimer’s disease using data collected from the SSNDs across the country.
The Nun Study started in 1986, with 678 participants ranging from ages 75 to 102 years old. The average age of the applicants was 83, and 85 percent of them were teachers. The School Sisters that participate in the study agree to annual assessments of their cognitive and physical function, medical exams, blood drawing, and brain donation upon their death.
“There is a desire to give, even in death,” comments Sister Eppig. Sister Kanis is proud that even in death the School Sisters are “benefiting humankind,” and hopes to one day be a part of something of this magnitude.
The School Sisters of Notre Dame were brave enough to leave their homeland and come to a foreign country with nothing but the thought of helping those in need. We must never take for granted all of their work and every day live out their dream of educating women to transform the world.
