The Sisters of ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Joseph of Carondelet founded the ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Mary's School of Nursing in 1887. The campus is now the Minneapolis campus of ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ.
Together, the 182 women of the Sisters of ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Joseph of Carondelet, ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Paul Province, have gifted ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ with the Minneapolis campus property, which they have owned for more than 130 years.
The Minneapolis campus of ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Kate’s was founded by the CSJs in 1887 as ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Mary's School of Nursing. It was later named ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Mary's Junior College. In 1986, ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Mary's Junior College merged with the College of ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Catherine.
This gift will serve as a lead gift in the University’s (currently paused) capital campaign. The largest gift in ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Catherine’s last capital campaign was a $20 million gift from the Sisters in 2000 which was essential in ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ Kate's ability to build Coeur de Catherine.
As with all gifts of property, there are many questions to answer about how we will best make use of this gifted resource within our strategic planning process. We know there will be many questions about what will happen with the Minneapolis campus now that it is under the ownership of the University. The answer to these questions is: we are weighing all of our options through an academic, strategic, and financial lens. What we do know is two things: we are deeply grateful to the Sisters for this gift, and want to ensure we are making the right decisions about the property. Our goal in all decision making is to secure ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ's financial health, offer effective and efficient programs, and always with outstanding academic excellence.
A celebration is being planned for early 2018, which will allow the University to publicly thank the CSJs for their vision and their generosity.