Sisters Alicia Costa and Sylvia Thibodeaux from the Sisters of the Holy Family will present “Faith, Race & Sisterhood: Exploring the Diversity Question with the Sisters of the Holy Family” during the 2022 Sister Mary Schmidt Lecture. The virtual lecture will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, 2022. While members of the Seton Hill community and Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill will hold a watch party in Cecilian Hall on the Seton Hill University campus, members of the public are welcome to view the lecture virtually through Zoom. Guests can register for the event here.
The Sisters of the Holy Family, an African-American congregation of women religious, trace their roots to Henriette Delille, a free woman of color, who founded the community in New Orleans in 1837. The congregation subsequently served in education, healthcare, social service, and pastoral ministry, among other causes, and continue to serve. In 1921, the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill volunteered to provide a teaching school for the Sisters of the Holy Family when Jim Crow laws prevented the sisters from continuing vital educational ministries for children of color throughout the South. This relationship blossomed into a 100-year long friendship of mutual respect and collaboration.
For the 2022 Sister Mary Schmidt Lecture, Sister Sylvia, recalling her experience as a young student of color while at Seton Hill, will share stories related to racism during the 1960s. Sister Alicia, a visiting professor of education at the university from 2004 to 2009, will reveal personal and professional challenges related to diversity and inclusion from a contemporary lens. The words and experiences of Sisters Sylvia and Alicia will empower and embolden us to identify and combat racial prejudice and to become agents of change in the world. Join us as the Sisters of Charity and Seton Hill University explore how to promote healing, embrace diversity, overcome the racial divide, and examine our own racism and prejudice.
Sister Sylvia Thibodeaux is the former Superior of the Sisters of the Holy Family of New Orleans, one of the earliest black religious orders in the United States. Sister Sylvia was educated by the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill and graduated from Seton Hill College (now University) in 1967 with degrees in English and American History. After earning a master’s degree in administration and supervision at Antioch College in Washington. D.C., she received a certificate in formative spirituality and theology from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. Sister Sylvia spent 18 years in Nigeria helping to found an indigenous religious order – the Sisters of the Sacred Heart – in the Benin City Archdiocese and the first church-based schools in Nigeria. After being elected Superior of the Sisters of the Holy Family in 1998, she led the congregation through the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. Sister Sylvia led the Sisters of the Holy Family until 2006 and then accepted a role as Executive Director of the Department for Religious in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, where she represented hundreds of sisters, brothers and priests until her retirement in 2013.
As a Sister of the Holy Family (SSF), Sr. Alicia Costa committed herself to becoming “a prophetic witness in proclaiming the Gospel message of compassion, liberation, healing, and empowerment to all peoples with a preferential love for the poor and the powerless” (SSF Charism Statement). It is through this religious institution that she has carved out the meaning of her life and live out her commitment to God and to the persons to whom she ministers. Sister Alicia, a New Orleans native, entered the Sisters of the Holy Family from St. Raymond Catholic Parish in 1969. She served as a teacher in multiple schools throughout Louisiana. She also taught education courses at Xavier University in New Orleans and Seton Hill University, PA. Her passion for mathematics and teaching awarded opportunities to a diverse group of students throughout her career.
The Sister Mary Schmidt Lecture Series is sponsored by the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill and Seton Hill University in order to support the Catholic identity of Seton Hill University; engage the Sisters of Charity and Seton Hill University in learning and dialogue on timely topics of social and environmental justice with global impact; and develop an understanding of Catholic Social Teachings and how they pertain to this dialogue.
Sister Mary Schmidt, SC, served as president of Seton Hill from 1971 through 1977. She also taught in the English Department at the University for more than 20 years and served as executive vice president and the director of Alumnae Relations.
