Abstract
The group that will be the focus of my pastoral project is the Saint Mary’s College (SMC) Indianapolis Alumnae Club. SMC is located in Notre Dame, Indiana, just north of South
Bend and across the street from the University of Notre Dame. SMC was founded in 1844 by
the Sisters of the Holy Cross, and is a Catholic, residential, women’s college in the liberal arts
tradition that promotes a life of intellectual vigor, aesthetic appreciation, religious sensibility,
and social responsibility. The core values of learning, community, faith, spirituality, and justice
have been practiced for over 160 years. As a result of the college experience, students acquire
the hallmarks of a liberally educated woman: keen self-knowledge, lively imagination, lifelong
intellectual and cultural interests, and the ability to make responsible choices about the future
(http://www3.saintmarys.edu). Presently SMC is known among feminists who have cited the
words of leading speakers in feminist discourse from the Madeleva Lecture Series.
