“My father had the greatest influence on my life. He was physically challenged from the age of 18 months. He walked on crutches and was in a wheelchair, yet he always thought to serve, he thought to make his community better, he took his role of parent very seriously, and he instilled in me that you can never do enough to serve your God, your family and your country.”
Sister Vivian Bowles, back, left, is one of four women presidents of the four major colleges and universities in Owensboro. The others are Dr. Anne Cairns Federlein, back, right, of Kentucky Wesleyan College, Dr. Jacqueline Addington, front, left, of Owensboro Community and Technical College and Dr. Marilyn Brookman of Western Kentucky University, Owensboro Regional Campus. |
Sister Vivian Marie Bowles, an Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph and president of Brescia University since 1995, was talking about her father, the late James Bowles of Jeffersontown, who served two terms as mayor of that community.
She continued, “I have tried to follow my father’s model as best I can, and even though he’s been dead now for over 20 years, I still feel his presence a lot with me, his encouragement. Here’s the lease that he instilled in me – that even if you are female, you can accomplish what you want. You may have to work twice as hard, you may have to be twice as good as a man, but don’t ever let yourself be limited by being a woman.”
Sister Vivian took her father’s advice to heart and moved quickly from teaching third and fourth graders at Saint Pius X Grade School to presiding as president of Brescia University, the only Catholic college in the Diocese of Owensboro and the only Catholic university in Kentucky outside of Louisville.
She was the only child born to James and Willa (Billie) Francis Bowles of Jeffersontown. Outside the mayor’s office, her father was an accountant who owned his own insurance company. Her mother was employed by the drivers license bureau of Jefferson County.
Vivian Marie Bowles attended first through sixth grades at Saint Edward grade school in Jeffersontown, where she was taught by the Ursuline Sisters of Mount Saint Joseph. She went away to boarding school and attended Mount Mercy Grade School in Pee Wee Valley for the seventh grade before returning to Saint Edward for the eighth grade.
Sister Vivian is pictured with four members of her cabinet, l. to r., Dale Cecil, vice-president for business and finance, Dr. James Ahern, vice-president for academic affairs, Chris Houk, dean of enrollment, and Verlyn Schueler, director of development. |
After graduating from Saint Edward, she received high school scholarship offers from Mount Saint Joseph, Nazareth in Bardstown and Louisville Presentation. “I visited all three schools and felt best when I visited Mount Saint Joseph,” Sister Vivian recalls. “It was like a teenage decision. When I met the sisters there I found them loving and caring, just like the Ursulines I had had in elementary school, and I didn’t get that feeling at the other places.” She chose Mount Saint Joseph for high school.
After two years at the Mount, Sister Vivian says she “started feeling like ‘I think I want to be a sister.’ The feelings first came during a retreat, and I talked to the community about entering. We decided it would be best for me to wait.
“In my senior year, I talked to the Sisters of Mercy about my feelings. I contemplated joining the Mercies because one of my best friends had and she seemed very happy. But I became uncomfortable with that decision and at the end of my senior year decided that I really wanted to be an Ursuline sister. It was just a feeling that they were just excellent role models. I read The Life of Saint Angela Merici and that was what sealed it for me!”
Did any of the Ursuline sisters have an influence on her decision making process?
“Yes, there were three,” recalls Sister Vivian. “My principal Sister Joseph Therese (Thompson), my violin teacher Sister Mary Ivo (Thompson) and my freshman home room teacher and Latin teacher, Sister Lennora (Carrico).
Sister Vivian meets regularly with her department heads, including Dr. Carol Maillet (back), chair, math and natural sciences, and Sister Mary Diane Taylor, chair, division of fine arts. |
“Sister Mary Ivo, the poor thing. I have no music talent, but I took music and I studied hard because I loved Sister Mary Ivo.
“Sister Lennora would come down to recreation and play Canasta with us. To see the fun side of her I started feeling more and more comfortable with the Ursulines.”
“There were two other Ursuline sisters I always looked up to all my life,” says Sister Vivian. “Mother Teresita (Thompson) and Sister Mary Celeste (McCue). They didn’t teach me. I had family connections with Mother Teresita and knew her from the time I was a child. I always respected her and felt so encouraged by her as I did by Sister Mary Celeste, who was the postmaster. She took an interest in many of us as students and gave her time to us and would listen to us.”
Sister Vivian entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph in the fall following her graduation from high school and began taking Brescia College classes at the Mount.
She began her teaching career in 1960 at Saint Pius X, teaching “the whole curriculum” to third and fourth graders for five years. She then taught English to fifth and sixth graders for four years and served as sponsor of the new school newspaper, produced by eighth graders.
It was on to Saint Joseph School in Leitchfield, teaching third, fourth and fifth graders for two years and then to Saint Thomas More in Paducah for five years, teaching “a huge fourth grade class” for one year and then seven and eighth graders for four years. Then it was back to Owensboro and Immaculate School, teaching seventh and eighth graders and serving as counselor for two years, her last years teaching grade school.
Brescia board member Charlie Kamuf visits with Sister Vivian. |
In 1973, she came to Brescia as a counselor and a teacher in the education department. After two years, Brescia initiated a psychology program and a formal counseling center, and Sister Vivian served a number of years as professor of psychology and director of the counseling center.
In 1980 she was named division chair of the social and behavioral sciences, a position she held until 1992, when she was elected to the Mount Saint Joseph Leadership Team, serving under leadership director Sister Mary Matthias Ward. She served on the leadership team until 1996.
In September of 1995 Sister Vivian Marie Bowles was named president of Brescia University, a position she still holds today.
Those who have worked with her at Brescia have been impressed with her leadership.
“Sister Vivian spends almost every waking hour working to improve and grow the university,” says Dale Cecil, vice president of business and finance. “I doubt there is any other president in higher education or industry that is more dedicated than Sister Vivian. She has a tremendous responsibility and the extremely difficult task of making tough decisions for the future of Brescia University faced with the divergent opinions of students, alumni, faculty, staff, donors, and trustees.”
Sister Vivian and three other members of the Diocesan Marriage Tribunal are shown at the Tribunal's Christmas dinner at the American Bounty Restaurant. The others are, l. to r., Father Mike Clark, J.C.L., Judicial Vicar, Father Joe Mills, J.C.L., Defender of the Bond, and Father Leonard Alvey, a member of the tribunal staff. |
Chris Houk, Brescia’s dean of enrollment, says, “The ultimate compliment regarding Sister Vivian is that I don’t think anyone cares more about the university than she does. She works for Brescia University 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I can only remember one time in the 18 or 19 months I’ve been here that she took even one personal day – she’s that dedicated to her job at the university.”
Dr. Carol M. Maillet, chair, division of mathematics and natural sciences, has only known Sister Vivian for a short period of time (she’s been at Brescia for a year and a half). But in that short period of time she has been impressed with what she’s seen working with the university president. “In that time, it’s been obvious that Sister Vivian is a tireless worker on behalf of the University both in the community and in the region,” says Dr. Maillet. “She has also been active in improving the physical environment of the University, taking it from what (I understand) was a campus bisected by a fairly busy street and making it an oasis of learning in an urban area. She’s been the prime mover in turning a group of buildings into a campus focused around a
Also attending the Tribunal dinner were Father John Vaughan, J.C.D., left, a member of the Tribunal staff, and Father Titus Ahabyona, J.C.L., Tribunal Judge . |
place of faith (the chapel) and a place for student activities (the campus center). Changing an area from a collection of buildings into an emotional and psychological haven where learning occurs freely is no mean feat.”
As Sister Vivian approaches her 12th year as Brescia’s president, what has she enjoyed most serving in that position?
She says, “To be able to fulfill Saint Angela Merici’s admonition to us to read the signs of the times and to adapt. I’ve tried very hard to do that with Brescia in the sense of the academic programs, trying to take our institution from a ‘concrete” college’ – as many had called us – to creating a campus environment and increasing the number of residential students.”
Brescia’s enrollment was in the 500s when Sister Vivian became president. After peaking at 851, the enrollment is now in the 600s. Western Kentucky University’s offering of more local classes was the main reason for the drop in the numbers.
Western Kentucky’s presence in Owensboro continues to be a concern for Brescia. “Western Kentucky having a freestanding university in Owensboro is going to be an outside threat for Brescia,” says Sister Vivian as she looks to the future. “Part of our adaptation is to continue to make sure that a student learns more both in the classrooms and in leadership and social skills by going to Brescia. I think the liberal education, the value system that we try to impart is going to be the key to our sustaining our mission and ministry.”
Two of the many international students on the Brescia campus are Zizi Dostinov, left, of Macedonia, a student in the English as a second language program, and Paulo Martins of Brazil, a sophomore business major. |
She continues, “As the only Catholic college in the diocese, I think we have a real mission that would not be fulfilled if we were to close. So I’m hoping that working together we can make sure that this mission is continued…that is probably our biggest challenge.”
The recruitment of more international students during her presidency has resulted in one of the biggest changes Sister Vivian has seen at Brescia. “The international students bring a very different flavor to campus,” says Sister Vivian. “Last year we had about 80 international students from over 24 countries. That exposure of cultures on our campus is very educational, very enriching for our students.
"We have more traditional age students now. When I first came here in ’73, the students were extremely active on campus. They planned almost all the liturgies and were very involved in the Catholic life on campus. They were very involved in the theater, campus play productions and in many other organizations on campus. But today, so many of our students are athletes and it seems that playing games and practicing consumes so much of their out of the classroom experiences that they do not have time to be as active on campus as I’d want them to be.”
Sister Vivian with secretary Sally Halbig. |
Sister Vivian is pleased with an increase in the school’s scholarship endowment. She says, “I’ve also enjoyed seeing our scholarship endowment grow significantly so that we can provide much better financial aid to our students. Over 95 percent of Brescia students receive some type of financial aid, if you include tuition reimbursement by employers.
Sister Vivian’s interests aren’t limited to Brescia University. She has been a member of the Diocesan Marriage Tribunal at the Pastoral Center since 1983, the year Bishop John McRaith activated the tribunal. Father Joe Mills invited Sister Vivian to join, its first woman member. A marriage and family therapist, Sister Vivian brought many talents to the tribunal. She now serves as a “perita” on the tribunal, an expert who looks at the psychological dispositions of parties involved at the time of marriage.
She is a member of the Owensboro-Daviess County Airport Board, the U.S. Bank Regional Board of Directors, and the Diocesan Sexual Abuse Review Board. She is a former member of the Owensboro Municipal Planning Commission.
Is Sister Vivian optimist about future of Brescia University? “I am optimistic, “ she says with no hesitation. “I think there’s a good cabinet in place to help. I think we have a dedicated and well-educated faculty. We have a super support staff. I think working together we can attract the kind of student we want at Brescia. We still educate a lot of first generation college students who need special attention. We have a very strong Student Support Services program, which allows us to work with students who need extra support with all the free services we can offer, and they graduate and are so successful. So I think our success record makes me optimistic.
“I’m also optimistic because of our alumni. We have an outstanding alumni. You see them in leadership not just in Owensboro and Daviess County, not just in Kentucky, but also in many places, and I think they believe in Brescia enough to send us students. There are many employers who call and want Brescia graduates because they know Brescia has academic excellence in the Ursuline tradition, and I think the employers appreciate that and also recognize the ethics, morals and values that our graduates bring to a position.”
