The Sisters of Mercy vowed to help the impoverished, sick and uneducated when they arrived in the Wyoming Valley in 1875.
In 1924, the sisters opened a small college for women on nearly 100 acres of land in Dallas. They named it College Misericordia — Latin for “heart of mercy.”
Today, that school, now Misericordia University, turns 100.
“We're very happy to continue on that tradition and provide the kind of education that we do here at Misericordia, which is really grounded in those mercy ideals,” said Daniel J. Myers, the school’s 15th president. "We're very proud of the work that we do here under that understanding of what education ought to be about."
The campus has grown to more than 250 acres and more than 2,100 students — with a coed student body since the 1970s. This fall’s incoming class of 468 was the second-largest in a century, as students study more than 50 academic programs and can participate in 30 NCAA Division III sports. More than 26,800 degrees have been awarded over the 100 years.
On Monday, the school unveiled contents from a time capsule — one of several events to celebrate the milestone. The sisters placed a lockbox in the new motherhouse’s cornerstone on Sept. 24, 1922. Students started at the college two years later.
“The items contained therein embody the struggles the founding sisters overcame and their hopes for what would become College Misericordia, Luzerne County’s first four-year institution of higher education,” Maureen Cech, university archivist and special collections librarian, told the group gathered to view the items in the art gallery.
Devotional items, including medals, medallions and statues, sit under glass. Some of the items in the lockbox were severely damaged and could not be restored.
Cech chronicles the school’s history — and in the early years, that includes loss, pandemic, war and financial hardships. The sisters acquired the land in 1914, but didn’t open the school until 1924, due in part to World War I. Mother Mary Teresa Walsh, instrumental in planning the college and raising funds, never got to see the dream realized. She died in a devastating fire at St. Mary’s in Wilkes-Barre in 1920.
The school graduated its first class of five students in June 1927, at the Irem Temple in Wilkes-Barre.
For more than 40 years, the school conducted a May Crowning ceremony. The May Queen, a member of the senior class elected by vote of the entire student body, crowned a statue or image of Mary with flowers. Being selected May Queen was considered the highest honor at Misericordia.
In 1972, the school served as an evacuation site for people fleeing the Agnes flood. For about a month, almost 1,500 people lived on campus. With the Nesbitt Hospital in Kingston also moved to campus temporarily, 52 babies were born at Misericordia. Sixteen years later, the college held a “Sweet 16” party for the babies.
Since 2000, the Women with Children program has provided single mothers with free housing and financial assistance so they can earn degrees– and help break the cycle of poverty.
“Everything goes back to our mission and our charisms of mercy, service, justice and hospitality that the sisters have given to us, that we work really hard to instill in our students and that we as a community try to live out every day,” Cech said.
Recently added programs include business economics, entrepreneurship, data science and criminology, along with specializations in finance, supply chain management, and secondary science in teacher education.
The date of Sept. 24, Mercy Day, holds special significance to the sisters and school. Catherine McAuley opened the first House of Mercy on the day in 1827. It’s also the day in 1922 when the cornerstone of the Administration Building was blessed by Bishop Michael John Hoban. Two years later, in 1924, the college officially opened.
Sister Cindy March joined Sisters of Mercy 43 years ago and worked at Misericordia for 27 years. As she viewed the items her congregation placed into the lockbox a century ago, she reflected on the future.
“I think the thing that really stands out for me about 100 years is that it's a testament to mercy endures forever. You know, in our world, we have a need for mercy,” she said. “The need is being fulfilled and lived, and we'll keep doing it another 100 years.”
