Onyx Anneau Fall 2020

Top L to R: Mary Ellen Long, previous Chief Development Officer, President Barbara Doherty, SP, ’53 and Angela White ’86, previous Vice President of Institutional Advancement at SMWC. Bottom: Sr. Barbara assisted in a fun game of tug-of-war with student mothers and their children on the campus lawn in 1997.

you a smile and an encouraging word or phrase.” White added, “And, she always called me ‘kid’ – and did so until the last time I saw her in February 2020 when I last visited The Woods. I know that my career path and my personal path in life have been shaped by Sister Barbara. I am forever grateful for that chance that she took on me! To use one of her frequent phrases, ‘You are SWELL!’ May she rest in peace.” Dottie King, Ph.D., president, shared that Sister Barbara as a faculty member and as president, was an inclusive and strong leader. “I have come to know, through the recollections of so many alumni, that she

I wear mine proudly, now with a tinge of bittersweet emotion, I am fully aware that my life’s path was forever enriched to have found The Woods during the time of her leadership and vision for the College.” Her many accomplishments as president of the College include establishing a

the way she supported us and led the staff is why our sports programs are so successful and have the backing that they do today.” The Woods now boasts 13 women’s and men’s athletic teams and will add men’s basketball in fall 2021. Sister Barbara was honored by the College with the Mother Theodore Guerin Medallion in 1992, as a Distinguished Alumna in 2015 and as an inaugural member of the Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017. She was awarded honorary doctor of letters degrees from Indiana State University and Dominican University. Doherty attended Providence High School in Chicago, where she met the Sisters of Providence. After graduation, she entered the Sisters of Providence novitiate in 1951. She held a bachelor’s degree in Latin, English and history from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, a master’s degree in Sacred Doctrine from Saint Mary’s College and a doctorate in Theology from Fordham University. The Sisters of Providence held a virtual wake on Aug. 26 from the Church of the Immaculate Conception followed by a Funeral Outside Mass. Memorial contributions may be made to the Barbara Doherty SP ’53 Endowed Scholarship online at giving.edu or by calling the College at 812-535-5270.

residential student mothers’ program, a women’s small business development center, an exchange program with Providence University in Taiwan and founding the Mari Hulman George School of Equine Studies. Among these accomplishments was one that would lay a foundation for future growth of athletics at The Woods. In 1994, Sister Barbara established the first scholarship athletics program in the history of the institution. Although SMWC had a long history that included a variety of sports teams such as golf, archery, riding and basketball prior to this time, a scholarship athletics program was a huge transition and would be a key enrollment strategy, creating a pathway for recruitment and growth for more formalized athletics programming commensurate with other private and public institutions throughout the nation. In 1994, the only other sports teams were in the equestrian program. Alumna Angie King Keith ’98, controller at PMC Regional Hospital in New Albany, Indiana, remembered the excitement Sister Barbara had for the players on the new basketball team. “She made us feel that each person on the team had such a significant impact that we were completely valued as a Woodsie and team member,” recounted Keith. “The impact that she had on the teams that were just starting is one of the reasons I continued my education and played basketball at SMWC. I have no doubt that

was beloved by the students of the College. She made classes in theology relevant and interesting, and she took the time to know the students well.” “I knew her during her retirement years and found her to be kind and sensitive. She held on to a wonderful sense of humor even in the midst of health challenges,” said King. “I counted her as a real friend!” According to alumna and SMWC trustee Beth Herzog Michel ’94 and ’09G, Sister Barbara was a gracious, kind presence on campus, who was always encouraging and calming. “I have never forgotten that it was she who blessed our Woods rings. As Sr. Barbara poses with Saint Mother Theodore Guerin in the Guerin Hall Rotunda in 2014.

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