Reunion, a longstanding tradition that brings Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) alumni back to campus each year, featured five award winners during the Banquet on Saturday evening.
Awards were given honoring recipients from 2020 and 2021 as the event was postponed last year due to the pandemic. In addition, a new award honoring graduates of the last decade was introduced this year.
Two Frances Murphy Rumely Awards were presented. This award is presented annually to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding dedication to and leadership within civic, religious or education organizations. It is given in memory of Frances Murphy Rumely, class of 1935.
The 2020 recipient of the Rumely Award, Betty Borders McAndrews ’65, exemplifies the criteria by which this honor is awarded. She has shown her commitment to family, community, the Catholic faith and education in everything she does.
with 2020 Frances Murphy Rumely Award winner
Betty Borders McAndrews ’65.
In her career, she shared her zest for life with the world as a flight attendant. She is an active member in her parish and serves as a member and leader of the Catholic Daughters of America where she shares her faith with others while promoting educational opportunities.
Borders McAndrews is committed to the empowerment of future generations through education. In 2003, she established the Borders Sisters Endowed Scholarship at SMWC. She serves as a liaison to the Education Enhancement Fund for the Archbishop Borders Elementary School in Baltimore, Maryland.
Borders McAndrews has dedicated herself to helping others through works such as service with Meals-on-Wheels and the Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity Soup Kitchen.
“I’m very honored and very humbled,” Borders McAndrews said during the banquet. She was joined by family along with classmates.
Connie Kramer, SP, ’64.
Connie Kramer, SP, ’64, noted for her ability to offer hope and care for the poor, is the 2021 recipient of the Frances Murphy Rumely Award.
Her desire and vision to increase the quality of life in the Wabash Valley resulted in the creation of Saint Ann Medical Clinic, Saint Ann Community Outreach Service and Saint Ann Dental Services. The clinics she founded have now become the Wabash Valley Clinic, where her legacy lives on today.
Sister Connie served as a Pastoral Leader for 21 years to the Community of Saint Ann Parish, where she ran programs and the clinic. Along with her work at the clinic, her career guided her to be a high school teacher, high school business manager and development director, director of religious education, group counselor, group consultant, parish pastoral associate and parish life coordinator.
“I want to celebrate what God has given me and what God has done through me,” Kramer said. She called upon words of Sister Ann Burkman from The Woods, who inspired Sister Connie for much of her work, “When you’re blue little girl, when you’re blue, do something for someone quick.”
Two alumni were recognized as Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Award winners. The award is given in honor of Guerin, the foundress of The Woods, recognizing the value-based educational legacy she established at SMWC. Recipients embody the spirit and virtue of the foundress.
The 2020 Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Award was awarded to Fran Froehlich ’64. She is noted for being a consistent and tenacious voice for social justice for more than 40 years.
Fran Froehlich ’64.
After teaching young children for more than 10 years, she moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to serve as the director of religious education at St. Jerome’s Parish. Once she witnessed the hardships of the poor and homeless in Boston, she worked to address these issues.
By 1980, she and her friend Kip Tiernan founded Rosie’s Place — the first women’s shelter in the U.S. She also co-founded the Poor People’s United Fund and created Community Works.
Froehlich later shared her passion for social justice in other outlets such as serving as a fellow, teaching at University of Massachusetts Boston and writing articles with Tiernan. She continues to work as a consultant for Community Works, where more than $5 million has been distributed to social justice organizations since its inception.
“I am filled with gratitude to all the women who illuminated a path for me to learn how to struggle for social justice and try to help to create a decent life for everyone,” Froehlich said.
Carol Jean Kinghorn-Landry ’61 was presented as the 2021 Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Award winner. She followed her passion by forging new ground in the education of children through music.
Carol Jean Kinghorn-Landry ’61.
After she began teaching in West Terre Haute, she realized her greatest need was for music to speak to her students and connect them to God. This was the beginning of her vision for HI GOD. Kinghorn-Landry and her husband, Carey, collaborated to create a workshop, which resulted in the HI GOD Teacher’s Manual and to produce the HI GOD Program of Religious Education.
Working as a full-time musical missionary, Kinghorn-Landry learned sign language as she cared for a hearing-impaired child. This sparked her to introduce gestures as part of the HI GOD series, resulting in revolutionary music education for children.
“I just want to say to all of you thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Kinghorn-Landry said, and also signed, to the audience.
The G.O.L.D.E.N. Oak Award recognizes an SMWC Graduate of the Last Decade Engaging Now. A newly established award, it celebrates professional achievement, continued service and outstanding personal characteristics.
Rachel Leslie ’14G.
The inaugural G.O.L.D.E.N. Oak Award winner is Rachel Leslie ’14G. Her work at the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce and at SMWC in external relations propelled her to establish her own company, RJL Solutions, an advocacy firm in Terre Haute. It is a certified woman-owned business. Continuously working on behalf of her community and fighting for resources for economic growth, she is active in building the West Central Indiana region. In the last few years, she was instrumental in the development of a new Terre Haute Convention Center by lobbying for legislation to support a food and beverage tax.
Outside of her work, she serves as president of the National Defense Industrial Association of Greater Indiana, president of the board for the Terre Haute Regional Airport and vice president of the Indiana Defense Network. She continues to be involved in the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, the Terre Haute Children’s Museum and The Woods.
Leslie has sought economic growth due to her passion for the community. She is an active volunteer, philanthropist, mother of two boys and wife.
“I love this place in so many ways,” Leslie said. “The celebration lies in the fact that we get to see each other face-to-face. Thank you to the Alumni Association, the Board of Trustees and Dottie King and the cabinet.”
