From Past to Present
“It was an age of youth. They wanted youth and they got it.”
Video Interviews of Past Presidents
Ann Marie Durst, SHCJ, JD 8th President 1971-78
A member of the SHCJ since 1955, Sister Ann Marie began her tenure as president at the young age of 33 and on the heels of the tumultuous 1960s. Students across the country, including those at Rosemont, were demanding more independence. She noted then that her role in the Rosemont community was to facilitate and create unity within all groups on campus for the good of the whole, encouraging others to be aware of the needs of students, faculty, and administration.
Dorothy McKenna Brown, EdD 9th President 1979-91
As one of the many ways that Rosemont College is celebrating its Centennial year, members of the Education Sub-Committee met with five of the College’s past presidents (Dr. Sharon Latchaw Hirsh ’70, PhD; Margaret M. Healy, PhD; Ofelia Garcia, MFA; Dorothy McKenna Brown, EdD; Sister Ann Marie Durst, SHCJ, JD) and current president Jayson Boyers, EdD, to provide them with an opportunity to reflect on their time serving the College. Led by veteran broadcaster and alumna Pat Ciarrocchi ’74, the conversations reveal both the joys and the challenges that have impacted each president’s collective days at Rosemont and reflect on how life at Rosemont has mirrored the broader context of the world and society during their presidencies. The interviews found here tell the story of how Rosemont has met “the wants of the age” through the voices of these six of the College’s 14 presidents who have led us through the years. Supplemented with archival and present-day photos that capture the changing faces of the students, the fashion of the day, and key campus events, this video series will take you on a journey through Rosemont’s history and is best viewed in chronological order.
“Not all would be able to go on to graduate school, medical school, or law school. They’re going to have to get jobs, so we have to think about ways to encourage that and get them set up.” As a scientist, the first lay president in Rosemont’s history, a wife, and a mother of two young daughters, Dr. Brown continued the foundational work of her predecessor Sister Ann Marie Durst in expanding beyond the traditional liberal arts education at the College to meet the wants of a new age. The first business courses, business major, and master’s-degree program were introduced.
“Think of what could be offered to others and when. It was at that time we began an experiment. We became the first. We provided an accelerated degree completion program.”
Ofelia Garcia, MFA
10th President 1991-95 Garcia, a Cuban refugee, appreciated the opportunities presented by a women’s college to prepare its students for leadership positions in an environment without the competition of, and deference to, young male students. If something were to be done, it had to be done by women. But she also looked at the significant competition for students along the Main Line and found a way for Rosemont to stand out by meeting the wants of the age and leveraging local employers who had tuition reimbursement programs.
11 | RO S EM O N T C O L L E GE
