St Josephs College - Footprints Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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By 1930 the College had been accredited by the Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools of the Middle States and Maryland, by the University of the State of New York, by the Catholic Education Association, and by the Department of Education of the State of New York. It had also been invited to. and accepted, membership in the American Council on Educa- tion, and the Association of Colleges of the State of New York. During the decade 1930-40. the College pio- neered a program of pre-school child develop- ment courses within the framework of the liberal arts curriculum. In October 1934 the Pre-School for children between the ages of two and four- and-a-half came into being. It was largely the work of Miss Margaret Gardiner with the en- couragement of Father Dillon. Sister Charitina became Executive Secretary of the School and two of the Sister-students became assistants. In establishing the Nursery School the College had as one of its aims the broad education of the col- lege student. In 1940 the College introduced a major in Child Study with a view to the vocational prepa- ration of those students who were interested in teaching children of pre-school age. Further progress was made toward professional accredi- tation for its graduates when, in 1944. an affilia- tion was made with the New York City Board of Education whereby students were enabled to do practice teaching in the public school kinder- gartens. By 1941 the enrollment of the College was 469 full-time students. The graduating class of that year numbered 108 members, and the fac- ulty comprised 49 members, fifteen of whom were nuns and five, priests. The College was now twenty-five years old. and had an alumnae num- bering 1200. The second quarter-century, like the first, was to commence on the eve of American involvement in a catastrophic war. Another very significant development of the forties was the election of two members of the Alumnae to the Board of Trustees of the Col- lege. Dr. Helen D ' Albora and Mary St. John Murphy had both been intimately involved for many years in college affairs and would become even more so as active members of the Board. The imprint of the mind and personality of Monsignor Dillon on the collegiate institution which he guided for so many years more than warranted the title of President that was fin- ally bestowed upon him in 1945. For the next ten years he was to continue to exert his energies in behalf of the College, but, in 1955, Arch- bishop Molloy appointed him pastor of the Church of St. Teresa of Avila. His interest in the Colle?e, however, continued since he remained on the Board of Trustees until his death on Oc- tober 12. 1964. Archbishop Molloy. whose love for and in- terest in the College and its students (including alumnae) was second only to that of Monsignor 11

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Dillon, had died on November 26. 1956. Thus. by this year the two men whose influence had been strongest left their legacy of loving concern to another generation. Sister Vincent Therese Tuohy. one of the Sis- ter-graduates of 1939 was chosen President of the College by the Board of Trustees in 1956 and was formally inaugurated on May 22. 1957. During the intervening year between Monsignor Dillon ' s departure and Sister Vincent ' s appoint- ment. Monsignor Francis X. FitzGibbon, Dean of the College, had acted as chief administrative officer. In 1956, however, he was appointed Pastor of Christ the King Church in Springfield. Long Island. Sister John Baptist Hull, therefore, succeeded him as Dean in that year. She was a graduate of the College of New Rochelle and of Catholic University, and had been a member of the Speech Department at St. Joseph ' s College for several years. The arrival of a new Bishop in the Diocese at this time meant that the College also had a new President of the Board of Trus- tees, the Most Rev. Bryan J. McFntegart. former Director of Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of New York, and, most recently. Rector of Catholic University in Washington, D. C. Under new Administration for the last ten years, there has been a fundamental commit- ment to the ideals and principles of the found- ers, combined with an awareness of the needs of a rapidly-changing society. Sister Vincent Ther- ese has made it her chief business to educate the public as well as the educational and business communities, concerning the valuable role which 13