The sisters of Mount St. Scholastica, the religious order affiliated with Benedictine College, is cutting ties with the institution, KCTV reported.
“After much prayer and consideration, we have discerned it is time to discontinue active sponsorship of Benedictine College,” Sister Mary Elizabeth Schweiger, the Prioress of the Mount, said in a video statement. “Today, we believe God continues to call us to educate, to offer spiritual enrichment and to serve and advocate for the poor, particularly women.”
The nuns nonetheless promised to continue collaborating on college activities and programs and maintain relationships with students, faculty and staff.
The order, which has 78 members remaining, founded Mount St. Scholastica College; it merged with St. Benedict’s College in 1971 to create the institution that exists today.
The sisters’ relationship with the college has had ups and downs. Notably, the nuns publicly slammed a controversial commencement speech given by Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker in 2024, which praised women wanting to become homemakers and mothers.
“It is with heavy hearts but with grateful understanding, that we accept the decision of the Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica Monastery to withdraw from the governing responsibilities related to sponsorship of Benedictine College,” read a joint statement from the St. Benedict’s Abbey and Benedictine College. “While the formal, juridical connection between us will end, our close relationship and our friendship in Christ will not.”
The move represents a trend in Catholic higher education as sponsoring religious orders pull away from the colleges and universities they founded because of limited membership and governance capacity.