Ursuline Sisters Establish Significant Scholarship
The Ursuline Sisters have a long and splendid history in Toledo, beginning in 1854 when they came from Cleveland and established residence at the corner of Cherry and Erie Streets and, not four days after their arrival, began St. Ursula Academy.
The Ursulines’ influence continues to be strong. Recently, the Sisters made a deliberate sacrificial gift to St. Ursula Academy – the largest ever given by the community – to provide scholarships to St. Ursula Academy students who demonstrate both desire for an SUA education and financial need. The Sisters chose to make this important gift as a concrete demonstration of their passion for the “vision of St. Angela working with women and helping them with a foundation of dignity and independence,” said Sr. Donna Frey, President of the Ursulines of Toledo.
Since the foundation of the Ursulines by St. Angela Merici in 1535 in Brescia, Italy, the Ursulines have been committed to the education of women. Those roots continue to hold firm for the Toledo community, with St. Ursula Academy continuing to be an institution of pride and joy. When approached to the make a gift to the Academy’s Commitment to Values Campaign, the Ursuline Convent of the Sacred Heart Foundation concurred that the idea of supporting scholarships fit perfectly with their mission and history, and they committed to furthering their legacy.
Sister Donna took the idea to the Ursuline community as a whole. They felt strongly that they wanted to provide immediate assistance to young women who have both the need and the desire for a St. Ursula Academy education. It was decided that they would provide, in the first year, three full and two partial scholarships. Five new scholarship recipients will be selected each school year for the next three years, with the result being that the Ursuline Sisters’ Scholarship will have helped educate twenty young women in northwest Ohio.
The scholarship selection process includes an application and essay. This year, a selection committee of three Sisters reviewed ten applicants, which they narrowed to five. Once the girls were accepted as SUA students, the Sisters interviewed the girls and asked them what they could do for St. Ursula, what values they could add to the school community, and what their personal school and life goals were.
This year’s scholarship recipients are: Maggie Kelly (Toledo ’15), Selina Rodriguez (Swanton), Mikayla Sprague (Toledo ’15), Jaquelyn Kulisch (Toledo ’17), and Erin Kelly (Toledo ’15).
Sister Donna Frey, OSU (President, Ursulines of Toledo), Maggie Kelly, Selina Rodriguez, Mikayla Sprague, Jaquelyn Kulisch, and Erin Kelly.
The scholarship recipients are required to volunteer in the community. Their scholarships are renewable at the end of the year and the girls are again interviewed about how their school year went and what their goals are for the following year.
Much has transpired in the 155 years that the Ursuline Sisters have been part of the history of Northwest Ohio. While spreading the Gospel through education has been the prime mission of the Ursuline Sisters, they continue the works of St. Angela. Today the Ursulines work as volunteers in hospitals, in parishes, in religious education, as counselors for individuals and families, visitors to nursing homes and in active roles that empower women through education to strive for peace and justice in our modern society.
In 1959, St. Ursula Academy moved to its current location on Indian Road, and in 1985 the Sisters themselves joined them on the same campus. St. Ursula Academy is Toledo’s oldest, all-female, Catholic college preparatory high school, and has been educating young women of today for tomorrow since 1854. The mission of St. Ursula Academy is to educate young women to develop their spiritual, intellectual, physical, and emotional well-being in light of the values found in the Gospel and reflected in the life of St. Angela Merici. Soli Deo Gloria, for the Glory of God Alone, is the Ursuline and School motto, reflecting the heritage and founding by the Ursuline Sisters in 1854.