Photo caption: photo: Father Paul Taylor, O.S.B., C’87, S’91, (left) president of Saint Vincent College, conferred honorary degrees to Sister Nicole Kunze, O.S.B., PhD (center) and William G. Laird, C’69 (right) during the College’s Founders’ Day Honors Convocation.
Press release courtesy: Saint Vincent College Marketing and Communications
Sister Nicole Kunze, O.S.B., delivered Saint Vincent College Founders’ Day reflection and conferred honorary degree
LATROBE, PA – Sister Nicole Kunze, O.S.B., PhD, prioress of the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery in Bismarck, North Dakota, delivered the annual Saint Vincent College Founders’ Day reflection on Nov. 21 at the Saint Vincent Archabbey Basilica. The theme of her address was the Benedictine core value of hospitality.
“We need to we need to offer hospitality and receive hospitality with an open heart,” Sister Nicole said. “We need to open our hearts to gently love those we meet and allow them to love us. … We need to offer hospitality with open hands. We need to be willing to do what needs to be done to serve the guest.
“Benedictine oblate and author Esther De Waal said Benedict gives us two simple questions we should ask ourselves as we're offering hospitality: Did I see Christ in them? Did they see Christ in me? I pray that your practice of Benedictine hospitality with an open mind, an open heart and open hands helps you to answer yes to both of those questions.”
During the College’s Winter Honors Convocation, Sister Nicole was conferred an honorary degree by Father Paul Taylor, O.S.B., MDiv, PhD, C’87, S’91, president of Saint Vincent College. Sister Nicole became a member of Annunciation Monastery in 1996. She was elected as the ninth prioress of Annunciation Monastery in May 2016 and was re-elected to a six-year term in March 2020.
As prioress, Sister Nicole is the spiritual and administrative leader of Annunciation Monastery and provides leadership in the Sisters’ sponsored institutions: St. Alexius Health, which provides medical assistance to uninsured and underinsured individuals; the University of Mary, a private, Benedictine college; and Ministry on the Margins, a volunteer-run food pantry. She is chair of the Conference of Benedictine Prioresses and is vice president of the Monastic Congregation of Saint Benedict.
Sister Nicole grew up near Valley City, North Dakota, and became acquainted with the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery while she was a student at the University of Mary. She received a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Mary and a doctorate in chemical education from the University of Northern Colorado. At her graduation, she received a citation for outstanding dissertation.
Prior to attending graduate school, Sister Nicole taught chemistry and biology for five years at St. Mary’s Central High School in Bismarck. She was an associate professor of chemistry for 10 years at the University of Mary and in 2011 received the University of Mary Regents’ Award for Teaching Faculty.
“Sister Nicole won that award In part because she has focused on helping students achieve their goals,” Father Paul said. “Her approach is based in the rule of Saint Benedict, which emphasizes, in her words, ‘the value of respect for persons and letting all be received as Christ. In any classroom, that means that means meeting students where they're at and helping them get where they're going.”
