Former president of Carlow University
A Sister of Mercy since she was 18 years old, Sister Marylouise Fennell — or “Weezie,” as she was known — devoted her life to helping the underprivileged by promoting and expanding access to higher education.
To her, education was the great equalizer.
“She had a burning commitment to fostering individuals who had less than others,” said her niece Maureen Auger, of Old Saybrook, Conn. “Her way of serving God was through education.”
Sister Marylouise, former president of Carlow University and a consultant in higher education, died Oct. 12 after a series of recent health problems at her retirement home in West Palm Beach, Fla. She was 83.
A native of Bridgeport, Conn., Sister Marylouise joined the Sisters of Mercy in 1957, taking a vow of service to the poor, the sick and the uneducated.
When her sister Harriet Fennell Auger died in 1975 with six children from ages 6 to 16, Sister Marylouise stepped in to help raise her nieces and nephews.
“Weezie was the matriarch of our family when my mom passed away,” her niece said. “Our Uncle Ed raised us, but my aunt also played a role in our development growing up. She fostered each one of us in some way and she really played a role in keeping me and my siblings together.”
Sister Marylouise was a lifelong learner with multiple degrees in education, culminating with a Ph.D. in 1976 from Boston University.
She taught at the University of Hartford and Boston University before accepting a position at the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford, Conn., from 1976 to 1982, where she was a tenured faculty member and department chair.
She also founded and directed a graduate studies program in counseling at the school and served as assistant dean of the graduate division.
Around the same time, she traveled the world, studying in Europe and Central America and even living in a kibbutz — a farming community — in Israel before joining Carlow University in 1982.
“She loved traveling and she loved people,” her niece said. “She blazed trails.”
During her seven years at Carlow, Sister Marylouise expanded the curriculum with cutting-edge programs in computer science, chemistry and journalism, current President Kathy W. Humphrey said.
Sister Marylouise legacy at Carlow continues through an endowed scholarship in her name for students in financial need.
“Sister Marylouise was a gracious and vibrant leader who made an immensely powerful impact as Carlow University’s president,” Ms. Humphrey said in a statement. “Her influence touched lives nationally and internationally. Sister Marylouise never stopped giving back and advocating for the disadvantaged. She will be remembered as a model leader and pioneer for generations of Carlow University students to come.”
“I think she saw it as an amazing opportunity,” her niece said. “Carlow was a place that was very important to her. She was very proud of her time at Carlow.”
A well-known author in the higher education sphere, Sister Marylouise wrote hundreds of articles and more than a dozen books with her writing partner Scott D. Miller, president of Virginia Wesleyan University.
“We collaborated on 18 books about college presidential topics,” he said. “We became close friends and colleagues and it was a great relationship. I was the writer — she was the thinker. We would vigorously debate various subjects.”
The two developed a series aimed at helping college presidents navigate various challenges.
“She was also a great writer and those two together wrote a major article every month or so on everything from increasing enrollment to financial issues,” said George Pry, who served as president of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh while Sister Marylouise chaired its board of trustees. “She was an extremely prolific writer. Weezie was one of those amazing people you don’t come across too often in life and she was a great friend.”
Though she was a nun, Sister Marylouise was no shrinking violet, friends and colleagues said.
“She was funny, but at the same time, she was not afraid to speak truth to any power,” her niece recalled.
“She was tough. She was never shy about stating and defending her opinion,” Mr. Miller said. “She was always the spokesperson for the underrepresented population. I mean, she had 45 honorary degrees — it goes to show what the higher education community really thought about her.”
After her tenure at Carlow, Sister Marylouise helped to organize an accreditation program for colleges in Central America, the Association of Private Universities of Central America (AUPRICA).
She served on numerous local and national boards and received dozens of well -earned, though unsought, accolades over the years, colleagues said.
“She was world renowned at independent, private and religious universities, and she was instrumental on national and local boards,” Mr. Pry said. “She had an unbelievable wit. She could get to the germane point of any issue very quickly and she did it with style and wit.”
In 2009, Sister Marylouise and her longtime colleague and friend Cheryl Hyatt established Hyatt-Fennell Executive Search, a firm that specializes in matching executives with institutions of higher education and nonprofit groups.
“We met about 33 years ago,” Ms. Hyatt said. “She was very wise and had been a teacher, a professor and a college president. She had done it all. She had a huge heart. She would share all of her knowledge and wisdom with anyone who asked.”
“Weezie was a strong guiding compass, drawing everyone she met close to her and always available to deliver wisdom, experience and strength to any situation,” recalled Carrie Butler, communications consultant for Hyatt-Fennell. “After a conversation with Weezie, the way forward just literally lights up with a path paved by truth, courage, experience and intellect.”
“She was probably the smartest lady I ever met,” Mr. Pry said. “She knew more about everything than anyone else I knew. She had vast contacts and ran a college administration search team that probably placed hundreds of executives in positions at colleges.”
Along with her niece, Ms. Fennell is survived by many other nieces and nephews.
In addition to her sister Harriet, Sister Marylouise was preceded in death by her other siblings Elizabeth, Joseph and Edward Fennell.
An Irish wake is being planned for the near future.