Brescia University will kick off celebrations of its centennial year by honoring its Ursuline legacy with an event this afternoon. A program highlighting the school’s impact on countless lives will be followed by a reception and art gallery viewing of the Madonna Collection.
This event will start at 4 p.m., with the program in Duffy Auditorium located in the C.E. Field Center for Professional Studies. The reception and art gallery viewing will follow at 5 p.m.
The program will include presentations from current students, Ursuline Sisters, an alumnus, current Brescia President Fr. Larry Hostetter, and incoming President Madison Silvert. Speakers will touch on the importance of the Ursuline legacy, and how their philosophies focused on teaching the whole person have shaped so many lives.
“This is Founder’s Week for us, and it’s such a beautiful way to begin the celebration of our Centennial year and all the ways the Ursulines have made an impact on our campus and community,” Hostetter said. “On Monday and throughout this year, we invite the community to join us in this celebration and to learn more about the role Brescia has played in Owensboro over these 100 years.”
The Mount Saint Joseph Junior College for Women was established in September 1925 by the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph.
“After World War II, the need for co-educational extension courses in Owensboro was evident. At the bequest of city leaders, the Ursuline sisters were called to the creation of a second campus in downtown Owensboro, which they named Brescia College to honor the Italian roots of the Ursuline Sisters’ Order,” a release from the University reads.
The two campuses were consolidated on the present site in 1950. In 1998, the name was changed from Brescia College to Brescia University.
During the reception, attendees can view the Ursuline Sisters’ Madonna Collection, which are replicas of the Madonna that once hung in the original Mount Saint Joseph Academy. Mother Aloysius Willett, the first mother superior at Maple Mount, secured a Madonna replica painting each year during her leadership.
The paintings were displayed in a parlor in the Mount Saint Joseph Academy building where guests were welcomed. After the Academy closed and was converted into the Mount Saint Joseph Conference and Retreat Center, the room was rechristened as the Madonna Room, and the paintings were displayed. Since the retreat center was deconstructed in 2023, the paintings were in archives at Maple Mount and have been loaned to Brescia University for this showing.
