Sister Marie Madeleine of Jesus, p.m., Ph.D.

Founder of Rivier College
 

            At its 2003 Commencement ceremony on May 10^th and as part of its ongoing 70^th anniversary celebration, Rivier College will award a posthumous Doctor of Humane Letters degree, honoris causa, to its founder, Sister Marie Madeleine of Jesus, p.m., Ph.D.  In anticipation of this event, Sr. Sue Bourret, Chair of the Corporation, has asked Sr. Lucille Thibodeau to prepare a brief statement about the life of Sr. Madeleine, a little-known yet truly remarkable woman.  Sr. Lucille has also recently finished writing the biography of Sr. Madeleine.  This longer work will become available at a later date.

            Laura Beatrice Getty was born on July 4, 1883 in Danielson, Connecticut, the youngest of six children.  After being educated in local parochial and public schools, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary at the age of 19.  From the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., she earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1922, a Master of Arts in 1928, and, in 1931, a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Classics and Comparative Philology.  Her dissertation, entitled The Life of the North Africans as Revealed in the Sermons of St. Augustine, was widely and favorably reviewed in national and international scholarly publications and subsequently published in CUA’s distinguished series in Patristic Studies.  Reviewing her thesis in The Classical Review, the official organ of the classical association and of the philological societies of Oxford and Cambridge, the world-renowned philologist Alexander Souter wrote: “Everyone interested in ancient society should read this extremely attractive work.”  And in a personal letter to Sr. Madeleine he stated: “You have treated a most interesting subject in an entirely satisfying way.”

            Two years later, eager to open the doors of educational opportunity to young women otherwise destined to work in the mills and shops of Depression-era New England, Sr. Madeleine founded Rivier College.  A few Sisters whom she had directed toward university studies and who shared her vision formed the core faculty of Rivier when it opened in Hudson, New Hampshire in the Fall of 1933 with a student body of three and a faculty of four.  By 1941, the College needed a larger campus, so Sr. Madeleine purchased within a few short years several properties in south Nashua to accommodate the needs of a rapidly growing number of students.  For the next five years, she continued to guide the young institution, recruiting students from all over New England and beyond, and teaching them by example what she often repeated to them: “There is no road to peace and contentment that is not characterized by self-discipline.”

            For many decades prior to the 1940’s, strong resistance on the part of some to the assimilation of Franco-Americans into the broader context of American culture had made itself felt from time to time throughout New England.  By mid-1946, this resistance, articulated primarily by a few Franco-American newspapers in the region, targeted certain of Sr. Madeleine’s decisions by which she hoped to make Rivier an ever more hospitable academic home to students of every ethnic and linguistic background.  Unfortunately, her efforts were viewed with suspicion by those who mistakenly believed that her open views would threaten the preservation of their faith, values, and mother-tongue.  The forces marshaled against her broad and inclusive vision were formidable, but she would not compromise her convictions.  By November 1946 the opposition was so strong, however, that she was obliged to leave the College.    After a year spent in post-war France, and now in poor health, Sr. Madeleine was transferred to the infirmary of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary in St. Hyacinth, Quebec.  A few years later, upon hearing her story, the Jesuit paleontologist and theologian, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, said to one Sister: “I thank the Lord for allowing me, through you, to meet a soul-sister.  She and I shall meet someday in a better world, in God.”

            On March 4, 1965, after 17 years in the infirmary, Sr. Madeleine of Jesus died peacefully, responding with a simple “Amen” to the prayer of one of her Sisters,  “Praised be Jesus Christ.”  Dr. Jeannette Vidal, an alumna of Rivier’s first graduating class and a dear friend of Sr. Madeleine, wrote: “Her greatest legacy was the value of her redemptive suffering in her last years at St. Hyacinth.”  Another alumna, who had also known her personally, stated: “Her death brought home the realization that Rivier was someone’s personal dream, the dream of a woman of vitality, of warmth and tremendous foresight who was idealistic enough to envision a college where there was none, and forceful enough to nurture it into existence.”  The Sisters who understood Sr. Madeleine’s vision made it their mission to continue to nurture the College; the monument to her heroic efforts, and theirs, is the Rivier College we know today.

            A woman religious of deep faith, an accomplished scholar educated in the grand tradition of classical rhetoric, an exceptional teacher and leader, a visionary founder of unparalleled principle and integrity, an unflagging advocate of women’s education, Sr. Madeleine of Jesus inspired a generation of women, and the College she founded continues to inspire and challenge generations of women and men of diverse backgrounds to dream, to hope for, and to work toward a noble life of personal achievement in the service of others.