With intellectual curiosity one of the pillars of our mission statement, we hold fast to the idea that education is an important and ongoing endeavor.  Ursuline wishes to offer a unique opportunity to share informative and inspirational topics with its entire community to promote dialogue on important issues of the day. To that end, we offered a speaker series approximately once a month throughout our 75th anniversary year.

See info below on these specific events:

• April, 2021: Reverend James Martin
• May, 2021: Panel Discussion - From Brescia to Dedham
• June, 2021: Mark Shriver
• September, 2021: Federal Hill Farm - From Skinner Estate to Ursuline Academy
• October, 2021: Dr. Ellen Geminiani
• December, 2021: Molly Burhans
• January, 2022: Network Lobby Presentation and Discussion (students, faculty and staff)
• February, 2022: Dr. Lisa Damour
• March, 2022: Caroline Rufo - Art Installation and Presentation (in-person)

Year of Serviam: How do YOU serve?

As part of our 75^th Anniversary observance, we recommitted to the Ursuline value of Serviam throughout our extended community,  and invited the extended Ursuline community to tell us about the organizations you support in your daily lives.  Our goal was to serve 75 different organizations by May 14, 2022,  International Serviam Day  for Ursuline schools across the country. We are proud to report that we greatly exceeded this goal! We heard from so many of you who are doing great things.

All of our annual events like Reunion and our Evening for Ursuline gala will have a special 75th anniversary flair.  We hope you join us in this opportunity to celebrate our connections to the Ursuline tradition and to one another!

Upcoming events:

• June 20, 2022 - 30th Anniversary Fore the Girls Golf Tournament.  Click here for info and registration.
• September 24, 2022 - Reunion
• November 19, 2022 - Gala

Speaker Series: Rev. James Martin, S. J.
April 29, 2021

Fr. Martin is a Jesuit priest, editor at large of America magazine, and bestselling author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, and Between Heaven and Mirth. Father Martin has written for many publications, including the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and he is a regular commentator in the national and international media.  He joined us to discuss his new book, Learning to Pray: A Guide for Everyone.  

Speaker Series: From Brescia to Dedham - A Panel Discussion
May 20, 2021

Individuals with insight into the settings that formed Ursuline Academy's heritage - the town of Brescia, Italy; the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston; and Arlington Street and Dedham, MA - joined us for an interactive discussion on how these different locales contributed to the rich history of the Ursulines, culminating in the Ursuline Academy of today.

Panelists:

• Sr. Elisa Ryan, OSU, Ursuline Central Province
• Nancy Schultz, author of Fire and Roses: The Burning of the Charlestown Convent, 1834
• Sr. Angela Krippendorf '59, OSU, former Provincial of the Northeast Province

Speaker Series: Mark Shriver
June 16, 2021
 

Mark K. Shriver is Chief Strategy Officer at Save the Children.  Shriver joined Save the Children in 2003 and developed the agency’s domestic early childhood and school-age education programs, which today reach children in more than 200 underserved rural communities.  Shriver was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1994 to 2002. 

Shriver is the author of 10 Hidden Heroes, published in March 2021. He is also the author of Pilgrimage: My Search for the Real Pope Francis and A Good Man: Rediscovering My Father, Sargent Shriver.

75th Anniversary Golf Tournament
June 28, 2021

Thank you to all of the parents past and present, alumnae, and friends of Ursuline who came together in support of Ursuline Academy and its athletic program at the Fore the Girls Golf Tournament on June 28, 2021. 

Birthday Celebration with Ursuline Students
September 23, 2021

On September 23, 1946, Ursuline Academy opened its doors on Arlington Street, right across from the Swan Boats! To commemorate that occasion, birthday cake was served during lunch on September 23, 2021, 75 years to the day from that historic event!  Students enjoyed cake, photo props/selfie station and a special anniversary sticker giveaway.  In return, greeting cards were signed by all of the students and later sent to all of the remaining Ursuline alumnae who attended school during those years in Boston (1946-1959), and to all of the Ursuline sisters in convents across the United States.

Speaker Series: Dr. Ellen Geminiani '79 - Sports Medicine, Children's Hospital, Boston
Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Dr. Ellen Geminiani, MD, '79 is a sports medicine physician in the Sports Medicine Division at Boston Children's Hospital. In her role at Children's, she provides clinical patient care in sports medicine with a focus on figure skating and dance, as well as research and development to improve care and prevent injuries. Dr. Geminiani is also involved in clinical teaching of students, residents, and fellows.  In her program, Dr. Geminiani spoke about injury prevention relating to student-athletes.

Speaker Series: Molly Burhans, founder/executive director, GoodLands.
Thursday, December 2, 2021

"Making Land Work for Good: Property as a Powerful Force for Change"
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our virtual event with Molly Burhans, an internationally recognized leader in cartography, social entrepreneurship, conservation, and innovation for faith-based impact-driven property use and management. She is the Executive Director and Founder of GoodLands, a social enterprise at the forefront of geospatial information policy, standards, and security related to the Catholic Church and affiliated organizations worldwide.  Molly is a recipient of the Sierra Club's 2021 EarthCare Award and the 2019 United Nations Young Champion of the Earth Award for North America. She is a 2021 National Geographic Emerging Explorer, a 2020 Henry Arnhold Conservation Fellow, and an Ashoka Fellow for social entrepreneurship. Molly was profiled in the New Yorker in February 2021.  CLICK HERE to watch the program.

Speaker Series:  Mary Novak, Executive Director of Network, and Sr. Erin Zobal, O.S.U., Chief of Staff of Network - Catholic Social Justice and Activism
Thursday, January 27, 2022

What does is mean to be part of Ursuline, and what does it mean to live with the spirit of Serviam? As part of Ursuline Academy's celebration of the Feast of St. Angela on January 27, our students, faculty, and staff participated in a presentation and discussion with members of Network, a national social justice advocacy group of women religious, to discuss what it means to be called to serve and to create positive change in the world.  

Ms. Mary Novak, executive director of Network, and Sr. Erin Zobal, O.S.U., chief of staff of Network joined our community in a virtual event to talk about Catholic social justice, activism, and how we can all follow in the footsteps of St. Angela.

Speaker Series: Dr. Lisa Damour
February 16, 2022 

"Managing anxiety, stress, and the challenges of parenting teenagers during COVID-19" 
Lisa Damour is the author of two New York Times best-selling books, Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood and Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls. She writes the monthly Adolescence column for the New York Times, co-hosts the Ask Lisa podcast, appears as a regular contributor to CBS News, works in collaboration with UNICEF, and serves on the Advisory Board for Parents magazine. Dr. Damour also maintains a private practice and consults and speaks internationally. 

Email 75years@ursulineacademy.net for the password to view the recording of this presentation.

Intervisible:
Redlining and Blind Stitching in the Fabric of Greater Boston

Thursday, March 10, 2022
6:30 - 8 p.m.
Angela Hall
Ursuline Academy
85 Lowder Street, Dedham, MA

An immersive art installation by Caroline Rufo,
exploring the experience of white blindness to structural racism.
Remarks by the artist with reception to follow.

Click here to RSVP.

Caroline Rufo, a member of Ursuline Academy's Department of Fine Arts since 2012, earned her BFA in Graphic Design from the Rhode Island School of Design and her MFA from the Massachusetts College of Art's Studio for Interrelated Mass Media.  Her installation Intervisible is a critique of historical redlining practices targeting African-American homeowners around Boston. It was hosted by the Bromfield Gallery in Boston from March 2, 2020 to August 2, 2020.

In the spring of 2021, a committee gathered to begin the work of establishing an Ursuline Academy Athletic Hall of Fame to recognize the exceptional achievements, leadership skills, and values demonstrated by select individuals and teams at Ursuline Academy.  After months of planning, preparation, and careful consideration, eight Ursuline Academy Athletic Hall of Fame members were inducted into the prestigious inaugural Class of 2022, on April 9, 2022, as part of Ursuline's 75th anniversary celebration.

Congratulations to the
Inaugural Hall of Fame Class of 2022

2005 Championship Basketball Team

Coach John Forte P'06

Kristan Gately '91

Molly Griffiths '07

Coach Marisol Rios Henderson

Susan Katchpole '70*

Katherine Kenney '11

Elaine Pagliarulo '93

Caitlin Murphy Valair '03
 

*inducted posthumously.

This year, we worked other Ursuline schools across the country to coordinate a Day of Serviam on May 14th. Knowing of their desperate need for help, we focused our plans on raising funds for our Ursuline Sisters in Poland by means of a Yard Sale on campus.

We invited the Ursuline community to help with our Yard Sale, either by donating goods to be sold, by helping collect and sort, or by staffing the event. All funds raised were sent directly to the Ursulines in the Polish Province. Ursuline sisters throughout Eastern Europe are sheltering and caring for refugees at this time and funds raised in Dedham were put to immediate use.

Over 80 student and parent volunteers and countless donors from the extended Ursuline community helped us raise over $3,000 for Ukraine. Many other charities were also helped by this effort, including the Blessing Barn in Mattapan, Philippine disaster relief programs, the Prison Book Program, and, of course, Planet Earth (reduce, reuse, recycle)!