Message from Chair, John P. Murry

The Road Less Traveled

"It poured rain in the morning during prayers and chores but we prayed that it would clear up before 8:00. Sure enough it did. After Mass I sent Sister Elaine over to see if it had rained in the school. She telephoned back that there was water in the library, girls' lavatory and boys' lavatory. We hurried over to wipe it up before the students arrived."

These are the words Sister Jerome Keeler wrote in her diary the evening of September 12,
1949, describing opening day of the new Donnelly College, her dream that became a reality
that morning. It was an improbable beginning for an improbable mission. Sister Jerome had
convinced then Bishop George Donnelly that Kansas City, Kansas needed an urban community college to provide a higher education "especially for those that might not otherwise be served." That unique mission of Donnelly remains the same today.

As a former President of Donnelly, I am personally aware of how much over almost 60 years the Benedictine Sisters influenced the lives of thousands of students who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to continue their education beyond high school. During those years some 80 Benedictine Sisters contributed more than $4,000,000 of services to Donnelly. It is because of my deep personal admiration for the Benedictine Sisters and their extraordinary contribution to the education of young people that I feel privileged to serve as chairman of the Donnelly College Scholarship Dinner to be held on September 6 in the Sisters' honor.

Our goal is to raise $100,000 to establish a scholarship fund for Donnelly students in the
name of the Benedictine Sisters. As a long time good friend of the Sisters and of Donnelly, Bill Dunn Sr. has already pledged a lead matching gift of $50,000 from JE Dunn Construction
Company. We now need help to match that generous gift.

The theme for the dinner event is taken from the last two lines of the classic poem by Robert
Frost. That stormy September morning long ago, Sister Jerome and a cohort of Benedictine
Sisters started down a road "less traveled by." And now we can all see "that has made all the difference" to the lives of thousands.

We expect as many as 40 Benedictine Sisters to be present at the Scholarship Dinner. Many will be there celebrating their own direct contribution to Donnelly as teachers and administrators. Others will be there representing the much loved and courageous Sisters who in earlier years so greatly enriched Donnelly's history, such as Sisters Jerome, Mary Faith Schuster, Mary Richard Pendergast, Agnes Claire Schroll, Damien Boeding, Virginia Minton and many others. We hope the many friends of Donnelly and of the Sisters will come the evening of September 6 to celebrate with those present.

Dr. Murry served as President of Donnelly College from 1987-1998.