[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 69 (Wednesday, April 27, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E418-E419]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         CELEBRATING THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF URSULINE COLLEGE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 27, 2022

  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak on the 150th 
anniversary of the oldest women's college in Ohio, Ursuline College. 
Here is a bit of its outstanding history.

[[Page E419]]

  In 1850, four Ursuline Sisters and an English laywoman left their 
monastery in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France and traveled by ship to the 
United States, where they established the first Catholic schools in the 
newly formed Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio. They had been 
invited to Cleveland by the Most Reverend Louis Amadeus Rappe, the 
first bishop of the diocese and former chaplain to this group of 
Ursulines in Boulogne-sur-Mer.
  Within a month of their arrival in Cleveland, the Ursulines opened an 
academy for 300 pupils. As their congregation grew, they opened more 
Catholic schools across Greater Cleveland.
  In 1871, Mother Mary of the Annunciation Beaumont, the first superior 
of the Cleveland Ursulines, obtained a charter from the State of Ohio 
to establish Ohio's first Catholic college for women. The new college 
was located in the same building as the motherhouse on Cleveland's 
Euclid Avenue--focused on the liberal arts.
  In its first 95 years, Ursuline College had five different locations 
in the City of Cleveland before opening its current campus in the 
Cleveland suburb of Pepper Pike, Ohio in 1966. There, it continues to 
emphasize the leadership role of women in a wide array of professions.
  In 1975, the Diocese of Cleveland closed its Saint John College and 
asked Ursuline to absorb St. John's Division of Nursing. Ursuline's 
current Breen School of Nursing and Health Professions grew from this 
strong foundation to become a nationally recognized Center of 
Excellence, as designated by the National League for Nursing in 2021. 
Nursing is Ursuline's highest-enrolled field of study, and Ursuline 
nursing graduates today help staff Cleveland's top hospitals.
  In 2000, Ursuline athletes began competing in inter-collegiate 
sports. The Ursuline Arrows are now a member program of the Great 
Midwest Athletic Conference at the NCAA Division II level.
  Now, 150 years since its founding, Ursuline remains the only women-
focused college in the State of Ohio, and one of the few in the U.S. 
founded and continuously led by women. True to its original vision, 
Ursuline continues to transform students for service, leadership, and 
professional excellence. Its thousands of alumnae, in turn, bring 
compassion and competence to their service to others in professional 
and community roles including nursing, business, law, teaching, 
historic preservation, social work, counseling, art therapy, and more.
  Together, we look forward to celebrating the next 150 years of this 
remarkable institution.

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