As the oldest girl in my family I was predestined to attend the College of St. Benedicts. After all, both my grandmother and mom preceded me there. I remember arriving in a stylish yellow suit with my Dad. My mother was 9 months pregnant and didn’t want to risk the trip. I was thrilled to finally escape my parents’ strict rules only to discover the Bennie Handbook where the following words jumped out at me: “By senior year, a Benny is a woman who knows what is socially proper. She tries to please those with whom she comes into contact. She knows what to wear and when and how to speak to whom. A Benny is both a woman and a Catholic.”
Oops, just where am I? I nearly choked!
Well, our curfew was 8PM during the week with a Cinderella midnight on Fridays and Saturday was 11PM since we had church early the next morning. We were not allowed to wear pants and had one phone to share with everyone else on the dormitory floor!
Somehow, I managed to get a great education while testing the limits of the nuns and the rules. However, the 60’s were tumultuous times. We were blissfully unaware of many of the current events, but civil rights, the VietNam war and women’s liberation unavoidably creeped into our consciousness. As Bob Dylan famously sang,”Times they are a changin”.
The following pictures are from different reunions: 2024,2019 and 2014!
I survived my four years at St. Ben’s in spite of feeling the need to be married by the end of my Senior year. It took a long while but I’m happy with the woman I am today! I attribute much of my growth to the wonderful and amazing women who became my great friends during these formative years.
I spent a recent weekend on campus for my 55 reunion. Unfortunately there were only 12 of my classmates in attendance but it was worthwhile! These reunions bringing us back together are wonderful reminders and a reinforcemnt of our value to our sisterhood! Oh the hours we waited on this wall!!!
Aging Adventurer 