Angela Laurent and Mary Kathryn Spohn King, '33

The beginnings of the Alumnae/i Association brought forth various activities which included alumnae/i and students to form the Carlow Community. These bridges created a strong bond between Carlow and the community at large.

Throughout the 1930’s, 1940’s, and 1950s, the Alumnae/i Association sponsored senior dinners, discussion clubs, card and swim parties, annual dances, Christmas parties, fashion shows, and teas for incoming freshman. It was at these points in time that Alumnae/i began to sponsor the annual fund, scholarship benefits, the annual building fund, and alumnae/i reunions. As the Alumnae/i Association grew, elections were held for new officers and this growth eventually necessitated the creation of the position of Director of the Alumnae/i Association. Monthly updates were published in the McAuleyan (the student newspaper) and an alumnae/i newsletter began publication.

Currently, the Alumnae/i Association holds true to many of its traditions continuing with luncheons, retreats, fashion shows, scholarship benefits, Christmas parties, and reunions. Recent years have seen the development of the Carlow Alumnae/i Noontime Network (CANN) and the Carlow Alumnae/i Lifelong Learning (CALL) program.

Though the organization has changed over the years, its original mission remains the same and it continues to be committed to serving the needs of the alumnae/i and the Carlow community as a whole. Below is a more detailed account of the development of the Alumnae/i Association. Its history has grown rich alongside the University.

Sara McQuade Connell '33, 1st student of Carlow, Alum President

• At the suggestions of Sister M. Regis (Grace), then Dean of Mount Mercy College, members of the first graduating class formed the Alumnae/i Association. In June 1933, the founding members met in the parlor of Saint Mary’s Convent for the initial formation meeting.
  
• Charter members of the group were: Sarah McQuade Connell, Mary Beck, Florence Brighenti, Marie Dezort, Dorothy Engle, Helen Greene, Mary Catherine King, Angela Laurent, Alyce McKeever, Marguerite Manella, Katherine O’Loughlin, Jean Pannier, Anna Scheib, Irma Snelsire and Kathleen Wynne; members of the first graduating class.
• Irma Snelsire was elected first president of the Alumnae/i Association and the organization began organizing and sponsoring events to: entertain incoming freshmen; induct new graduating classes; elect board members, fund the Mount Mercy Alumnae/i Scholarship Fund (created in 1936); forward life-long learning through the monthly Study Club begun in 1938; promote a forum for the expression of the arts through the creation of the Alumnae/i Music Group; and promote the religious tradition of the College through Alumnae/i retreats. It is during the Association’s early years that the first by-laws were written.

• After Sister Rose Marie Hauber joined the faculty as Classics

  Sr. Rose Marie Hauber

  Professor, Sister Regis Grace asked her to serve as the moderator of the Alumnae/i Association. In the mid-forties, Sister Rose Marie set up the first Alumnae/i Relations Office in Antonian Hall (adjacent to the Lobby). All alumnae/i files were centralized here giving the Alumnae/i Association “a home” on campus.

• In August 1959, the college administration engaged Mary T. Strauss ’57 as full time Executive Secretary (later the titled the Director of Alumnae/i Relations) to the Mount Mercy College Alumnae/i Association. The main duties of the Executive Secretary were to publish the Alumnae/i Newsletter and to manage the Annual Giving Fund which was founded and launched by Ruth Kane Tobin ’51 during the 1958-59 fiscal year.

• In the late seventies, the Development Office became increasingly responsible for the Alumnae/i Fund as part of the Annual Fund and in 1981 Anita Sammartino Dacal ’69, who was hired to reinstate Alumnae/i Programs, became Director of Alumnae/i Relations. From 1981-1985 the Alumnae/i Office’s main focus was to create Alumnae/i programming in order to involve Alumnae/i once again with the College and to promote the Alumnae/i Fund. By 1991, the Development Office became totally responsible for administering all of the Alumnae/i Annual Fund along with the fund drives for other Carlow constituencies.

• The Alumnae/i Office maintained all the traditional programs; consulted to the Development Office for the Alumnae/i Fund and became active in the area of career support for both students and alumnae/i. Through the Alumnae/i Mentor Program, the Alumnae/i Office lined students with alumnae/i who are working in the fields to which the students aspire. Through “THE NET”, begun in 1991, the Alumnae/i Association helped alumnae/i help each other to achieve their career goals.

• Throughout the 90’s, several Carlow alumnae/i held the director position. Rebecca Bennett Biddle ’86 succeeded Anita Dacal as the Director of Alumnae/i Relations when Dacal was named Executive Director of Advancement. Biddle went on to become the Director of Advancement Planning and Administration and was succeeded by RoseAnn Opferman ’93, who was followed by Kathleen Totten ’92, and then by Acting Director of Alumnae/i Relations, Jennifer Kennedy ’93.
  

  Sherrie Hickler Kovach '93, Bernadette Burger Skoczaylas '69, and Lupe Mangan '85

• Today, the Carlow University Alumnae/i Relations office is currently located in Grace Library on the 5th floor, with Institutional Advancement. Ann Eichenlaub Paul '75 currently serves as President of the Alumnae/i Association. Linda Madden-Brenholts ‘88 has diligently served as Director of Alumnae/i Relations since September 1999. In 2005 she accompanied 22 Alumnae/i, family and friends on a trip to Ireland to experience the roots of Carlow University. In October 2007--where 59 people traveled to Italy.

Information gathered, added, and verified by the Carlow University Archives Department.

For more information, please contact:

Linda R. Madden-Brenholts, MA '88
Director, Alumnae/i Relations
Phone: 412-578-6274
E-mail: madden-brenholtslr@carlow.edu