From the President

Monsignor james

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

-John 13:14

The University of Mary’s main campus was so very still and quiet this past summer. Some days, working alone in the Benedictine Center for Servant Leadership, I would walk over to our Board Room, named for the great and generous North Dakota entrepreneur, Harold Schafer.

The floor-to-ceiling glass of the Board Room opens to the western horizon over the valley of the Missouri River below, vast and crowded with tall cottonwoods.

From that vantage, I could just barely see the cross that marks the final resting place of the Sisters of Annunciation Monastery. And then I would turn and gaze for a while upon a lovely, painted icon, hanging there in the

Board Room. It depicts Jesus on the night before He died, kneeling down to wash the feet of His disciples. You know, this was Sister Thomas’ favorite scene from the Gospels.

And I would think of her.

At the heart of everything, Sister Thomas Welder was a woman of faith.

Sister’s life was an astonishing paradox of grace: it was in her humility that she was radiant in leadership; it was in her stability that she was dynamic in vision; it was in her own death to self that she found life – her own life, and the life of generations of students and friends of the University whom she served so beautifully.

All of this is true because, at the heart of everything, Sister Thomas Welder was a woman of faith.

We’ve needed faith like that in the challenge of these past months. The swift arrival of the coronavirus pandemic led us to send our students home a month early to learn remotely for the remainder of the semester. We canceled concerts, sporting events, and most heart-breaking of all, Commencement.

But at Mary, we are women and men of faith. So we rolled up our sleeves and set to work, crafting a comprehensive, thoughtful plan for the re-opening of campus. As students arrived to resume their studies, many things looked different for them. But all of us are in this together as we move forward in resilient joy, confident that there is an astonishing paradox at play here, too.

Out of this trial – as we love and care for one another – we will discover God’s tender and most surprising grace. • Our Engineering students and faculty moved into a brand-new facility this fall. It is state-of-theart and so beautiful. • As of today, our incoming freshmen class is larger than last year’s, despite the pandemic! • Our alumni continue to be bright lights wherever they are, rising up as servant leaders in their respective fields.

As you know, the University of Mary was founded for students, to “prepare leaders in the service of Truth.” As we continue to serve them, I know that Sister Thomas is with us still, praying for us and teaching us how to lead and live well.

Dear friends, you and your loved ones are ever in my prayers. May the Lord bless you in everything these coming months. Pray for us!

In Mary,

Monsignor James P. Shea, President