The College of New Rochelle Celebrates Centennial Year

    NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The College of New Rochelle
 (CNR) will inaugurate a year-long celebration of its Centennial on September
 14.  The opening events will include:
 
      Opening Liturgy and Reception
      Sunday, September 14, 11:00 a.m. at Holy Family Chapel
      Mass celebrated by Most Reverend Joseph Pittau, S.J., Secretary
      Congregation for Catholic Education, Vatican City
 
      Art Exhibit -- "Ursuline Artists: Expressing the Creative Vision"
      Opening Reception September 14 from 2:00-4:00 p.m. at Castle Gallery
      This wide-ranging multimedia exhibit pays tribute to the diverse voices
      and visions of artists who are members of the Ursuline order.
      Sculptures, paintings, ceramics, fiber arts, photography, and graphic
      arts will be on display through November 9.
 
      Opening Convocation and Reception
      Monday, September 15, 4:00 p.m. at Holy Family Chapel
      Keynote Speaker: Mary E. Lyons, Ph.D., President of University of San
      Diego (CA)
 
     The Centennial celebration marks 100 years of achievement and growth of
 the College to include more than 7,000 students at CNR's main campus in New
 Rochelle, as well as the five campuses in New York City.
     "For 100 years, The College of New Rochelle has been a community rooted in
 faith and committed to academic excellence, providing women with wisdom for
 life.  As the world has experienced dramatic social change, CNR has remained
 relevant by staying close to the core values that it was founded on, i.e., a
 commitment to academic excellence in the liberal arts with solid career
 preparation and an environment which allows our students to discover their
 full potential and dignity, often enough to be shared in service to the world
 around us," said Dr. Stephen J. Sweeny, President, The College of New
 Rochelle.  "We acknowledge the past because it has brought us to this moment
 of strength.  From this moment of strength, we plan for the next hundred years
 and beyond."
     CNR has witnessed a great deal of change and innovation, without
 compromising the principal values and mission it has held since September 14,
 1904 when Mother Irene Gill and the Ursuline sisters opened the doors to
 higher education to a long-excluded population by founding the first Catholic
 college for women in New York State.  Today, this Catholic college continues
 to be inspired by the founding spirit of the Ursuline sisters, educating both
 women and men of traditional age and adults, from diverse backgrounds and
 experiences. CNR has offered unparalleled educational opportunities not only
 in Westchester, but where people live and work in New York City in a unique
 urban model of liberal arts education, holding strong the tenets of diversity,
 access and the free expression of ideas.
     "CNR has provided a space for discovery and exploration.  In the richness
 of the liberal arts and the Catholic intellectual and social justice
 traditions, we take what is already known and examine the excitement of being
 human, and push the envelope of knowledge.  A liberal arts tradition does that
 -- every possible question is relevant, every subject is important," added Dr.
 Sweeny.  "The year-long celebration will be a wonderful tribute to our
 Ursuline heritage, to 35,000 alumnae/i who have contributed to society in a
 myriad of ways, and to our current students, who are our future."
     Other key centennial events at CNR will include:
      * Convocation:  "The Primacy of the Liberal Arts" (December 3);
      * Alumni Retreat:  "Reflections on St. Angela" (January 31);
      * Convocation with African-American Scholar Cornel West (February 19);
      * Convocation: "In Celebration of Women's Colleges" (March 23);
      * Human Rights Symposium (April 1);
      * Community Service Day (April 15);
      * Convocation:  "Education for Service" (April 21); and
      * Convocation: "The Second Century, Why Catholic?" (June 5).
 
     Among CNR's distinguished alumnae/i are: Barbara Calandra Moore, the first
 woman appointed U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua; Angela Cascarano, an Emmy-Award
 winning reporter for FOX TV; Mary O'Connor Donohue, Lieutenant Governor of the
 State of New York; Ellen Mooney Hancock, the high tech pioneer; Aulana Pharis
 Peters, the first African-American woman to serve as Commissioner of the
 Securities and Exchange Commission; Mercedes Ruehl, the Academy- and Tony-
 Award winning actress; Anne Marie Sweeny, president of ABC Cable Networks and
 Disney Channel Worldwide; and Patricia Tracey, the first woman Vice Admiral
 (3-star) in the U.S. Navy.
     The first Catholic college for women in New York State, The College of New
 Rochelle was founded in 1904 by the Ursuline Order. Today, it comprises the
 all-women School of Arts & Sciences, and three schools which admit women and
 men: the School of New Resources (for adult learners), the School of Nursing
 and the Graduate School.  The main campus of the College is located in lower
 Westchester County, 16 miles north of New York City.  The College maintains
 five other campus locations in New York City. Visit the College's website at
 www.cnr.edu.
 
 

SOURCE  The College of New Rochelle