Staphylococcus aureus

The motherhouse of the Sisters of Mercy sits essentially at the heart of the Carlow campus, visible from most of the major buildings and impossible to ignore for any student, employee, or visitor walking along the main green quad. First and foremost a home to the Sisters, it is not used by the University apart from some rented office space in the west wing. To an outsider, its looming presence might seem almost foreboding, but that was not how most of the stakeholders in the focus groups described it. To them, it was not some mysterious, inaccessible fortress removed from the day-to-day activity of the University, but a benevolent presence anchoring the campus. As one faculty member described it,

I always have a tendency to park up on the hill, because I like to walk down through that convent, and then you see them (the Sisters). I just saw one of the residents walking her dog. You get a feeling of well-being, and then you get to see the children in the (Campus School)…It’s cozy…I like the way it looks and feels (Faculty Group). Other faculty saw the Sisters as a campus resource – experienced, accomplished women who are able to serve students in a sagacious, mentoring role. One professor stated that nursing students are required, as sophomores, to spend an hour in the motherhouse and write about it for a class:

A lot of them at first are very intimidated about going up, just not really putting their whole heart into it, but then I’ll tell you, after the experience…it was just, how much they loved it, and enjoyed all that they’ve learned from the Sisters and…the life that they’ve had and all that they’ve accomplished. And one Sister said, you know, here I am with a PhD right now, but they’re sitting there doing crafts, just because she was very

through some of the same experiences too.” Just because they’re a nun doesn’t mean that they’re not a human being (Faculty Group.)

Another professor echoed the sentiment, saying that she introduced some of the Sisters to her students, and afterward:

The students were like, “Oh my gosh, I didn’t know the Sisters did all that!”…The Sisters have been to all of these different countries around the world, and I have students who say, “Oh, and I thought it was just, you know, they walk their dogs in the afternoon…I didn’t know they did this or that.” And I tried to get them to realize…just how strong these, not only the founders who came to completely no country, in a time period when women didn’t do that, but even now, how these women go into places that I would guess that we probably wouldn’t want to go…So the students loved it. They were amazed (Faculty Group).

The student focus groups largely reinforced this perception by the faculty. Most students (with the exception of the graduate/nontraditional group) said that they had been to the motherhouse once or twice during their time at Carlow, and considered it one of the best memories of their college experience. None had ever visited on her own initiative; all had been required to go as part of a class assignment or a specific orientation program. Without exception, they said that the experience was meaningful. According to one:

I’ve been up to the convent because I’m a nursing major, so we’re required to go up there as well and kind of volunteer and visit and…do different activities with the elder nuns who aren’t as functionable (sic) as some of the other ones…The day I went, we went to a music class and sang and helped them play little instruments, and then we got to talk and we played different religious games, which was very cool, I guess. We threw

around a beach ball that had different questions, like, “Who is your favorite person in the Bible?” – that kind of stuff. And it was fun. I liked it (Resident Group).

In addition to these concrete experiences, some students expressed appreciation for the simple presence of the Sisters and the identity that that presence gives to Carlow, even if most of the Sisters stay behind the scenes. Two students (both of them non-Catholics) explained,

Student A: Something I think about sometimes is, they told us once, (when) we had to go on a tour of the convent, that the Sisters prayed for all of the students at Carlow every day. And that was just…that was nice, and it gave me insight as to what they do.

Student B: …Like she said, about the nuns over there praying for you every day is something that I kind of think about sometimes (Resident Group).

No student said that she had ever gone back to the motherhouse after those introductions, but all felt that the opportunity would be there for them if they wanted it. One student who had gone to Catholic elementary school and high school noted that she had seen the number of active nuns diminish in her lifetime, watching them retire and seeing them replaced by lay teachers. She saw the Sisters as a rare, disappearing resource that Carlow was fortunate to have – one that other Catholic schools at all levels were losing rapidly. To her, the continued presence of the Sisters of Mercy on campus was something to be appreciated and valued, and an important part of the way she experienced the University’s identity.

Considering how often stakeholders spoke of the Sisters, it was notable that only one Sister was ever mentioned by name: Sheila Carney, RSM, the Special Assistant to the President for Mercy Heritage and Service. When asked, “Who do you think has most responsibility for maintaining Carlow’s Catholic and Mercy identity?” faculty and staff responded almost instinctively by identifying “Sr. Sheila” in a kind of knee-jerk manner. Almost as quickly, both

groups walked back that initial reaction and said that “everyone” has some role in maintaining the identity, but it was clear that “Sr. Sheila” has left a major impression on faculty and staff and was the person they most associated with Carlow’s mission. They spoke of “Sr. Sheila” in a familiar way, as one would speak of a friend or a trusted colleague. Everyone seemed to feel that they were in her circle and that she was the authority figure who personified Carlow’s Catholicity. No one in any group singled out the president, the board of trustees, or any other high-level administrator in this role. Their responses suggested not only that Carney is visible and accessible to faculty and staff, but also that the relatively new position of Special Assistant to the President for Mercy Heritage and Service has already become an important point of reference for many in the Carlow community.

The only focus group not to make reference to “Sr. Sheila” was the graduate/nontraditional student group. All of the traditional undergraduates mentioned her by name, but they tended to see her as one of many individuals responsible for maintaining Carlow’s identity. One commuter student identified “Fr. Adam,” as an important campus leader (referring to Fr. Adam Verona, the University’s part-time chaplain), noting that he and Sr. Sheila seem to work well together. (However, no other stakeholders in any group ever mentioned Verona by name.)

Other undergraduates identified “all the nuns, just in general. They don’t really do much outside of the convent, but I see them as being part of (the Catholic identity)” (Resident Group). Several undergraduates (and one staff member) likewise referred to “the nuns” as a collective body who maintain Carlow’s mission, though only “Sr. Sheila” was ever singled out. The discussions suggested that many students see the Sisters of Mercy as an important but largely amorphous influence on the campus, and that “Sr. Sheila” was, for many of them, the person

who brought a human face to the order. Like many faculty and staff, the students felt that the Sisters contributed to Carlow’s uniqueness by their mere presence, and they had a positive opinion about the Sisters in part because they had a positive opinion of Carney and what she represented to them.