Sister honored for work on behalf of women
It would be easy to assume that one reason Sister Rita Yeasted is so involved in the American Association of University Women is because she is a professor at La Roche College and dedicated to education.
But Sister Rita, 75, also knows how difficult it can be to earn a college diploma. When the Shaler native graduated from St. Joseph High School in Harrison, she worked her way through business school and then through undergraduate school.
“There weren’t many options for women back then,” she said. “You could be a housewife, secretary, nurse or a teacher. I wanted to be a teacher, but my family couldn’t afford for me to go to college.”
She didn’t let the lack of funds stop her. She not only finished her bachelor’s degree but obtained a master’s degree and a doctorate. In 1980, she joined La Roche College as an English professor and still teaches there today. She also began her connection with the American Association of University Women North Hills- McKnight Branch, which met at the college.
When the group asked Sister Rita to assist with its annual program, she was on board.
“I like the idea of these wonderful women all meeting to help and promote other women, especially young women. They are committed to the education of girls and equity in the workplace, issues important to me that I have supported all of my life,” she said.
For her dedication to the association, Sister Rita was recently honored as the North Hills-McKnight Branch Outstanding Woman of 2015.
Linda Tozier, president of the chapter, said Sister Rita’s 25 years of service to AAUW along with her efforts to raise money for the group’s scholarship appealed to the board.
Sister Rita has served as a leading fundraiser every year for the AAUW Sister Matilda Kelly Incentive Grant, an annual scholarship awarded to a woman enrolled in a bachelor’s degree program at La Roche College.
“Sister Rita has been an inspiration to both La Roche students and AAUW members for her strong interest in women's issues. Her most significant contribution has been to our AAUW La Roche incentive grant given each year to a La Roche rising senior,” Ms. Tozier said.
“We started with a $100 scholarship that has grown to $2,000,” Sister Rita said.
When she was the eldest of six children growing up in Tarentum, Sister Rita had early aspirations of becoming a Catholic nun.
“I wanted to be a nun since first grade when my teacher at St. Joseph’s asked us who was going to take her place as she got older and I thought, ‘I will,’” she said.
But when she was in high school, she decided she wanted to go to Robert Morris University, then a business school, to become a secretary.
“After I graduated, I worked in an office and I knew that I didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life. I wanted to teach,” she said.
She started attending night school to pursue her degree and was drawn back to her thoughts of becoming a nun.
Soon she entered the Sisters of Divine Providence and continued her education.
“I entered when they were still under Carlow College in 1959, then they [came under] La Roche College in 1963,” she said.
EDUCATION: Bachelor’s degree, La Roche College; master’s degree and doctorate, Duquesne University
HOBBIES: Gardening, reading and writing
“We started with a $100 scholarship that has grown to $2,000” Sister Rita Yeasted
Sister Rita started her teaching career at St. Bonaventure School in Shaler and taught various grade levels before she returned to La Roche in 1980 as a professor.
In 1985, she took a leave of absence from the Sisters of Divine Providence because she wanted to live off their grounds, something she couldn’t do while serving with them.
At the end of her threeyear sabbatical, she had to decide whether she wanted to return to the Sisters of Divine Providence.
“I decided that I would join the Sisters for Christian Community. I would be able to still serve but also live off campus, something that was very important to me,” she said.
Sister Rita was surprised when she learned of her honor with AAUW.
“It was kind of like listening to ‘This is Your Life,’ right in front of you. I was really kind of shocked,” she said.
The honor was especially important to her, she said, because it came from women she not only respects and admires but also considers friends.
“This is a wonderful group of women,” she said. “We promote and talk about relevant topics and really promote other women.”