McCarthy, Margaret Agnes

ENCAENIA, MAY, 1966
MARGARET AGNES MCCARTHY (SISTER FRANCIS OF ASSISI)
to be Doctor of Laws

The fledgling nun from New England, whom the poor of her adoptive parish knew rather as an Angel than a Sister of Charity, had already written a thesis on religious liberty in Nova Scotia. Of her forty-seven years as teacher in the city and archdiocese of Halifax, higher education claimed twenty-seven. Last year she retired as the second of two great presidents of the only women's university in Canada.

The calendar of Mount Saint Vincent College is pure Tennyson in prose; and perhaps our learned archivist will one day explore another liberty -- whether the author of The Princess inspired its foreword or, since dates permit, was by it inspired. None, of course but the suave Laureate, in his Victorian cocoon, could have written of

Prudes for proctors, dowagers for deans,
And sweet girl-graduates in their golden hair ...

but, had he lived, he could have found a better, and a Canadian, model for his woman President. Sister Francis is a far maturer student of human nature than Princess Ida. True, both dominies could advise, correct, and guide their tender charges, but Sister Francis, although

Three times more noble than three score of men,

is no suffragette. Diplomacy, tact, and a rock-like patience have been her weapons and with them she has won her way whether in her own Faculty or -- lone woman president -- in the National Conference of Canadian Universities. Only when her dearest principles were at stake, the education of women for women's highest capabilities, did the opposition feel "that iron will, that axe-like edge unturnable", which has made Mount Saint Vincent the unique institution it is.

She has recently been awarded the highest papal honour given to women in her Church, the medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice. Mr. President, I invite you to bestow on this dedicated scholar, educator, leader, and woman, our own highest honour. And let it be Pro Educatione et Mulieribus.

From:
Cattley, Robert E.D. Honoris causa: the effervescences of a university orator. Fredericton: UNB Associated Alumnae, 1968.