The Sisters of St. Joseph have a special way of touching the hearts of everyone they meet. To thank them for their eternal love and support, St. Joseph’s College is honoring its Sisters, in recognition of National Catholic Sisters Week.
The theme of National Catholic Sisters Week is “Celebrating Traditions, Changing the World” — an appropriate way to describe the sisters, who founded St. Joseph’s College in 1916. They built the College on strong, traditional values, while serving as role models for intellect and service — qualities that prepare students for career success and a life dedicated to making the world a better place.
In honor of National Catholic Sisters Week, three Board of Trustees members — who also graduated from SJC — shared memories of their time spent with the Sisters of St. Joseph.
Judith Stearns ’67
Judith Stearns ’67
Reflecting on meeting the Sisters as a student:
Stearns enjoyed the intellectual rigor of her classes taught by the Sisters. When she first stepped foot in the classroom, she was impressed by their ability to teach, as well as their depth of knowledge and excitement about their subject and their cultured minds.
“You were an individual, not just a collective in an educational environment, and you knew that they cared for you deeply as a person,” Stearns recalled. “They wanted to give you the best experience. They were educating you to be an educated person. That was St. Joseph’s to the core — and that still remains the same today.”
How her relationship developed with the Sisters after becoming a trustee:
After graduating with a history degree from SJC Brooklyn — then named St. Joseph’s College for Women — Stearns spent many years traveling and working. She recently reacquainted herself with the College through reunions and joined the Board of Trustees last summer.
It was comforting to return and see the Sisters continuing to inspire students, just as they inspired her many years earlier, she said.
“My experience (with the Sisters) hasn’t changed,” Stearns said. “I felt the same dynamic of caring, of attention to detail, scholarship.”
Her most cherished memory involving a Sister:
Sitting in Sister George Aquin O’Connor’s classroom.
“Her smile and her presence was so warming,” Stearns recalled. “She had such a knowledge of her field — sociology and anthropology — and that excitement that she exhibited pulled you into it. You felt like you were going on a journey with her — a journey to greater knowledge.”
Stearns said it came as no surprise, after experiencing S. George’s teachings, that her former professor would go on to become president of the College and further shape the SJC community.
“Her skills helped the College get to this point,” Stearns said. “I’m sure she’s smiling, knowing that nothing has been compromised and that her hopes and dreams for what St. Joseph’s could or should be have been realized, and continue to be realized.”
Her favorite Sister (if she HAD to choose!):
It’s impossible for her to pick just one.
“I think my favorite sister was the sister I was with at that point in time,” Stearns said with a laugh. “They all brought so many qualities. I was just so happy being with them! I love knowledge and I always wanted to be in the know.
“And they didn’t just throw information at you,” she continued. “They made you think, they made you analyze, they made you want to learn more, to question, to be curious — not just giving you information that allowed you to pass a test at the end. It was information for life.”
Matthew Barbis ’94
Matthew Barbis ’94
Reflecting on meeting the Sisters as a student:
“As a student, the sisters influenced us because they were people to look up to,” said Barbis, who earned a degree in business administration from SJC Long Island. “You aspired to be better as a person because they were there. They expected a lot from you, but they also gave a lot.”
How his relationship developed with the Sisters after becoming a trustee:
For Barbis, returning to St. Joseph’s as a Board of Trustee member, and getting to know them on a personal level, is the “icing on the cake.”
“It’s a lot more fun as a board member because you don’t have the pressure of the schoolwork,” Barbis said. “But working with the Sisters now, and being on an equal level playing field with them, is very interesting because they’re just absolutely incredible people.”
His most cherished memory involving a Sister:
Barbis said he could always count on the Sisters to make Student Life an enjoyable time. He’ll never forget the time Sister Elizabeth Hill ’64, CSJ, J.D., the College’s sixth president, surprised him during homecoming.
“We had the fire department here, and they had a crane that went up, I don’t know … 150 feet,” he recalled. “I was very surprised when Sister Elizabeth grabbed me by the arm and said, ‘Hey, let’s get on this and take a ride up there.’ So we had a very good time.”
Barbis also appreciates the small gestures from the Sisters. He recently confided in S. Helen Kearney ’67, Ph.D., about a personal problem and she gave him the most eloquent life advice, without skipping a beat.
“I was going through a personal struggle and (Sister Helen) was able to take me out of my own head in such a way that I never expected,” Barbis said. “(She) was really understanding, and she really decoded my thinking, and got it down to a base level.”
His favorite Sister (if he HAD to choose!):
It’s an impossible choice: “All of them! My answer is all of them,” he said.
Barbis added that he admires the way each Sister dedicates herself to upholding the College mission: Esse non videri — “To be, not to seem.”
“I think they are very influential in the mission of the College,” Barbis said. “The mission of the College was founded by the original Sisters. They continue that tradition and they continue to be more than just an educational facility. They teach us to be a whole person.”
Mary Butz ’69
Mary Butz ’69
Reflecting on meeting the Sisters as a student:
The Sisters of St. Joseph educated Butz nearly her entire life. She began her academic journey at St. Augustine Elementary School in Park Slope, and then St. Joseph High School in downtown Brooklyn, before continuing her education at St. Joseph’s College.
“I have enormous support for these women,” she said. “In my life, they have been kind, supportive, bold … They saw attributes in their students that perhaps we didn’t see in ourselves … I have no regrets. Just really, really fond memories of all the years I had with the Sisters of St. Joseph.”
How her relationship developed with the Sisters after becoming a trustee:
“They know I still adore them,” she said with a smile.
Now, Butz can take the lessons learned from the Sisters and ensure St. Joseph’s College upholds the Sister’s values as it educates future generations of students.
“As a Board member, I have a scholarship where I can support a child in the way the Sisters supported me,” Butz said. “Now I can give back in some way. And I’m going to spend the rest of my life giving back.”
Her most cherished memory involving a Sister:
Is it possible to pick just one?
Butz, a history major, made many lifelong friends at St. Joseph’s. Every time she gets together with her classmates they reminisce about their favorite memories about the Sisters.
“We have a 100 laughs, 1,000 laughs, about our great nicknames for the nuns — which I will not reveal right now!” she recalled. “We had a lot of fun, not making fun, but enjoying them in our lives. We’ll talk and say, ‘Do you remember this?’ or ‘Do you remember when so-and-so did this?’ I have so many great memories with these women.”
Her favorite Sister (if she HAD to choose!):
“My favorite teacher, and everyone who knows me knows this, was Sister John Raymond McGann,” Butz said. “She taught us how to be teachers, which ended up being my vocational calling in life … Which, in no small measure, is attributable to her and to all the things she taught us. She was a wonderful teacher.”
