Student Center Chapel Named in Honor of the Sisters of St. Joseph

The chapel housed in the Long Island Campus’ new Student Center will be named Sisters of St. Joseph’s Chapel when the building opens later this year.

The 900-square-foot space will serve as a tribute to the Sisters of St. Joseph, who have guided the spiritual and educational vision of the institution since its founding. 

“A new liturgical and sacramental Catholic chapel on campus that is welcoming – and provides respite to the community – stays true to the roots of the Sisters of St. Joseph and the University,” said Vice President for Institutional Advancement Rory Shaffer-Walsh. “It will be a wonderful addition to the campus.”

The naming is honorary, but many who donated to the University’s Student Center Campaign did so in support of it. The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph has agreed to the name and expressed enthusiasm for it.

More than double the size of the chapel in O’Connor Hall, the Sisters of St. Joseph’s Chapel will accommodate more worshippers and encourage neighbors in the local community to celebrate Mass on campus. 

The space will include an interfaith room for prayer and meditation and will house a new campus ministry office. The facilities were developed with the goal of preserving the integrity, social responsibility, intellectual rigor and spiritual depth of the University.

The Sisters at St. Joseph’s

St. Joseph’s College for Women was founded by the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph and opened its doors in Clinton Hill for the first time in 1916.  

Since the institution’s inception, Sisters of St. Joseph have held prominent positions as faculty, staff members and administrators. 

S. Vincent Thérèse Tuohy became the institution’s first female president in 1956. Since then, two other Sisters have served as president – most recently S. Elizabeth A. Hill ’64, CSJ, J.D., who held the position from 1997 to 2014. 

“St. Joseph’s University continues to provide an excellent education in diverse fields, rooted in the charism and mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph,” said S. Suzanne Franck, who served the institution for 26 years and is the founder of campus ministry.

“The Sisters of St. Joseph are honored that their legacy will shine into the future through the new chapel.”