College of St. Teresa

The College of Saint Teresa was a Catholic women's college in Winona, Minnesota. Previously a women's seminary, it became a college in 1907 and was operated by the Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minnesota until its closing in 1989.

Mary Molloy (1880-1954) grew up as the only child of Irish Catholic immigrant parents in Sandusky, Ohio. In an age when few women attended college, Molloy earned her way through Ohio State University and graduated, in 1903, with more honors than anyone else up to that time. She went on to earn a master's degree and election to Phi Beta Kappa at Ohio State University. In 1907 she earned her doctorate at Cornell University. That same year, she began her career as a Catholic college educator in Winona, Minnesota, when she accepted a job with the Franciscan Sisters who, under the leadership of Sister Leo Tracy, O.S.F., were creating the liberal arts College of St. Teresa. The two women persevered and successfully established and administered the new collegiate institution for Catholic lay and religious women.

Molloy was unique as the lay dean of a Catholic college, but in 1923 she became a Franciscan Sister, then known as Sister Mary Aloysius Molloy, O.S.F., and in 1928 became the college president. As an educator, Molloy worked hard to improve the quality of women's education, wrestled with the unique problems of Catholic colleges, and carefully oversaw the development of her own school. By 1946, when she retired, the college was a firmly established institution producing outstanding graduate women. Molloy was one of the last among the founders of Minnesota women's colleges.

Since its closing, the college has been best known for its scholarship programs available to women attending other Catholic colleges and universities, as well as its connection to the Saint Teresa Leadership and Service Institute at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. The St. Teresa campus is currently owned and operated by two educational institutions; it is the location of Winona State University's West Campus and it is the location of Cotter High School (a private Catholic High School).

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